Brad Turell is lacing up his pristine, white sneakers and sprinting over to APA — where he has been named the tenpercentary’s new chief communications officer. Turell makes the shift after five years at ICM Partners, which he departs now that the agency has been officially acquired by CAA.
Turell will join APA full time in its Los Angeles office on July 18. The news was announced Monday by APA CEO Jim Gosnell and president Jim Osborne.
“We have experienced first-hand where Brad has been a major difference maker at every company he has worked for in his illustrious career, utilizing his renowned strategic acumen, impeccable press relationships and the sheer will of his leadership skills to help companies make significant leaps forward, which makes him the perfect fit for APA as we embark on the next phase of our growth strategy,” Gosnell and Osborne said in a joint statement.
At APA, Turell will oversee all internal and external communications, advertising, branding and social media for the agency.
Turell has worked closely in the past with both Gosnell and Osborne; during the standoff between the Writers Guild and the Association of Talent Agents over packaging, Gosnell was president of the ATA while Turell represented ICM Partners in meetings regarding that issue. Meanwhile, Osborne was an agent at Paradigm when Turell handled communications at that agency.
APA marks the third agency for Turell, who was head of corporate communications at Paradigm before moving to ICM Partners in 2017 to lead their corporate communications department.
Prior to the agency world, Turell also ran communications at three different networks, as head of worldwide corporate communications for Turner Broadcasting, exec VP of network communications and talent relations at the Frog network (a.k.a. The dubba dubba WB) and senior VP, corporate communications and talent relations at Fox.
“APA is best positioned to take advantage of the void created with ICM Partners going away and I look forward to working closely with Jim Gosnell and Jim Osborne to help execute their bold and aggressive growth plan, because there are thousands of incredible artists looking for an alternative to the Big 3 and APA is committed to being the best agency for them now and into the future,” Turell said.
Turell replaces Manfred Westphal, who has exited APA for other opportunities, including writing a book, after more than a decade at the agency.