Expanding its ability to serve multi-platform entertainment clients, MPRM announced that Sylvia Desrochers will be closing her Big Time PR agency to join the firm along with her colleagues Tiffany Wagner and Karen Tran Wood.
Desrochers will become a member of MPRM’s executive team as a senior vice president and, along with Caitlin McGee and Natalie Yallouz, will report directly to company principals Rachel McCallister and Mark Pogachefsky. She will be charged with overseeing the company’s film team in addition to working across the agency with corporate and television clients. Tiffany Wagner, who has been at Big Time PR since its inception will join MPRM as a senior consultant, focused on corporate clients. Karen Tran Wood moves over as an account executive to work on film and awards campaigns.
Big Time clients that will be moving over to MPRM include John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, American Crime) and his NO Studios arts space, USC Libraries Scripter Awards, Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television, and the City of LA’s ReelAbilities Film Festival. Big Time’s recent campaigns include Tastemade’s new Roy Choi hosted series Broken Bread, SXSW-winning documentary For Sama for PBS and Frontline, the Slamdance Film Festival, Tribeca X award winner History of Memory for HP Inc., the Ad Council’s Shelter Pets campaign, and theatrical PR for the hit documentary Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami.
“Sylvia shares our commitment to embracing new ways to help our clients tell their stories, build their brands and engage with audiences, both business and consumer,” said McCallister and Pogachefsky. “Together with her colleagues Tiffany and Karen, Sylvia will enable us to expand our current service offering to better address the needs of clients who are driving the entertainment industry forward.”
“Over the past 11 years Big Time earned a reputation for hands-on, personal campaigns that yielded real results for our clients, taking their careers and projects to the next level,” said Desrochers. “Joining MPRM will allow us to continue to provide unparalleled service to our clients while expanding the depth and breadth of what we can offer. MPRM has some of the best PR and marketing strategists in the business and the three of us are excited to join this top notch team.”
During her two decades in Hollywood, Desrochers has worked with lauded filmmakers such as John Ridley, Freida Mock, James Moll, Sofia Coppola, Curtis Hanson, Alfonso Cuaron, Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski, Kim Peirce, Mira Nair, and Philip Kaufman. In 2008 she founded Big Time PR, a boutique agency known for handling truly independent projects, including feature films, web series, and television, as well as corporate clients in the storytelling space, including Loyola Marymount’s School of Film and Television, Slamdance Film Festival, Anna Deavere Smith’s The Pipeline Project, The Ford Foundation, Vimeo, Final Draft, The USC Scripter Awards, and The American Pavilion at Cannes.
She began her film career in 1999 at Bumble Ward & Associates where she worked on theatrical and awards campaigns for American Beauty, Wonder Boys, and Y Tu Mama Tambien, among others. Prior to that she handled PR for major touring musicals in Boston, including Rent, Beauty & The Beast, Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk, and Les Miserables.
With Big Time since its inception, Wagner was involved in setting strategic direction and fostering client relationships. Her clients have included Ad Council, USC Libraries Scripter Awards, Loyola Marymount’s School of Film and Television, Verve Talent and Literary Agency, Grandview, and Slamdance Film Festival among others. Prior to joining Big Time, she was Director West Coast Publicity at IDP Distribution, working on campaigns that included Supersize Me, The Squid and the Whale and Ladies in Lavender. She first met Desrochers when they were both working at Bumble Ward and Associates. Wagner began her career at First Look Pictures.
Tran Wood joined Big Time PR in 2016 where she managed publicity campaigns for Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America, Stéphane Brizé’s A Woman’s Life (Une vie), the USC Shoah Foundation’s The Girl and the Picture, and Funke by Tastemade Studios. She also helped oversee The USC Scripter Awards, COLCOA French Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, and John Ridley’s No Studios. Prior to Big Time, Karen was at the Michele Robertson Company (MRC) and Film Independent.
