Metro PR Promotes Rebecca Rolnick Knaack And Andrew Valdes To VPs, Hires Elizabeth Villafan
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EXCLUSIVE: There are some executive moves happening over at Metro PR. Rebecca Rolnick Knaack has been promoted to Vice President of Entertainment while Andrew Valdes has been upped to Vice President of Media Relations. In addition, the firm has hired industry vet Elizabeth Villafan as Account Supervisor for brands at the intersection of entertainment and technology. The new VPs will report to agency co-founders Tess Finkle, CEO and Laura Michael, President & COO, with Villafan reporting to SVP Dana Block.
“Andrew and Rebecca are an integral part of Metro’s rapid growth. During their time at the company, they’ve led award-winning campaigns for talent, studios, and producers, while also helping traditional talent build their digital brands,” says Laura Michael, President & COO of Metro PR. “As we look at the next phase of the company, we are thrilled to elevate their roles and welcome Elizabeth to the family.”
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Before joining Metro in 2017, Knaack launched her career as an assistant at Gersh before spending four years at PMK*BNC in the entertainment department. She specializes in content launches and awards campaigns, as well as brand building for producers and their media companies. Her client list includes Marta Kauffman and her company Okay Goodnight, Yeardley Smith and her company Paperclip Ltd, Dan Harmon, Kevin Nealon, and RuPaul’s Drag Race producers World of Wonder, among others.
As Vice President of Media Relations, Valdes will be tasked with elevating company-wide media relations strategies and innovations. He will also continue to spearhead campaigns for Metro’s roster of digital studio and technology clients including Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud; Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake, content studio Tongal and Kevin Nealon, among others. Prior to Metro, he served as a digital entertainment publicist at Bender/Helper Impact.
Villafan was at Ketchum before joining the Metro team. In the new role, she spearheads a roster of multi-hyphenate clients that cross between lifestyle, entertainment, and technology. While at Ketchum, she led consumer and technology accounts including Whirlpool, Kohler, and AAA. Prior to that, she held an in-house role at wet n wild beauty, and began her career in PR at Allison + Partners.
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