Anna Van Slee Email & Phone Number

Thousand Oaks, California, United States

Thousand Oaks, California, United States

Thousand Oaks, CA

- Managed highly-successful collectibles brand- Developed brand through the creation of graphic novels, prose storytelling, and entertainment- Oversaw and curated a slate of licensees, including clothes, jewelry, gaming, mass-market collectibles and more

Chicago, IL

• Manage entire end-to-end production and development process for the playCHIC Fashion Show:
• Leading sponsor sales and relationship management
• Managing creative development process of the couture looks with brands and designers
• Oversight of PR, social media and marketing
• Production of event materials
• Coordination of venue, catering and day-of event activities

Everywhere

• Having fun. Solving problems. Looking for the right home. 50% Creative, 50% Operations and 110% Passionate about Play.Leading teams from strategy through launch. Currently providing some freelance swordsmanship to:
• Sideshow Collectibles
• Fulton Works
• HasbroAnd speaking all over the place:
• CES Gary's Book Club (Jan 2015)
• SXSW Hack-a-thon for Social Good (Mar 2015)

• Initiated strategic partnerships with Hasbro, NatGeo & UIC
• Established Inventor Relations process and maintained network of 50+ inventors
• Produced multiple assessments/revisions of the product development process, focused on pre-production phase, pushing the development timeline 3-5 months closer to the ideal
• Oversaw Creative Services (packaging and copywriting) production, and hired freelancers that expanded ID and engineering capabilities

35 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago IL

• Maintained Kunoichi accounts through acquisition transition
• Launched digital marketing campaign for Furby Boom and product launch of Nerf Rebelle
• Transitioned to healthcare brands; Managed/grew business with Humana, Cardinal Health and Aptitude (Novation)
• Led strategy and successful bid for $1MM+ innovation project with biotech Amgen

Chicago, IL

• Co-managed nimble 6-person design/invention studio
• Designed dozens of products and pitched hundreds of companies, including Hasbro, Mattel, Leapfrog, Bananagrams and more
• Directed consulting work, including a complete re-imagining of the Little Orphan Annie brand for Tribune Media Services. Project output led to numerous entertainment and licensing deals for TMS

Chicago IL

• Grew digital service offering from asset production for virtual worlds to include web widgets, web sites, social media and mobile apps
• Added to client roster: Nerf, Furby, Transformers, Nerf Rebelle, Happy Meal, Mr. Potato Head, Play-Doh, Playskool, Elefun & Friends, Monopoly, Scrabble, Zynga and more
• Co-managed privately owned company through acquisition by Manifest Digital

• Grew service offering from packaging and publishing (comic books) to include product concept and design; animated series (end-to-end production - from storyboarding and animation, to sound recording and final editing).
• Expanded in-house team from 5 to 12 employees
• Maintained client roster and grew business with brands including G.I. Joe, Chuck & Friends (Tonka), Baby Alive, My Little Pony, Marvel, Transformers and more
• Co-led in-house team, and managed network of 30+ freelancers

• Directed freelance teams of 20+ artists, designers, writers and animators
• Managed and creatively directed 30+ projects annually, on average 7 simultaneously
• Clients included G.I. Joe, Chuck & Friends (Tonka), Baby Alive, My Little Pony, Marvel, Ouija, Jurassic Park, Mask of Santo, NinjaTown, MyBaby, Shaun White Snowboarding and more

• Developed and edited content for neurology e-newsbrief on a 24-hour news cycle
• Managed 6-person team dedicated to esoteric diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and schizophrenia
• Big Pharma and biopharma subscribers included Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, Merck & Co., AstraZeneca, Amgen, Watson, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly

Master Of Science (Ms), Medill School Of Journalism

Activities and Societies: Focus on New Media Reporting

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Journalism / Photojournalism & Hci