Metro Public Relations, a 12-year-old female owned-and-operated PR and brand marketing firm that was one of the first arrivers to the online video space, has tapped digital PR vet Dana Block to serve as its SVP of digital entertainment and consumer technology.
Metro’s client roster includes noteworthy players from all corners of the industry, including major film studios, Kevin Hart and Lionsgate’s Laugh Out Loud network, talent firm Select Management Group, Group Nine Media, World of Wonder Productions, inspirational publisher SoulPancake, Fine Brothers Entertainment (FBE), Univision Creator Network, beauty brand Morphe Cosmetics, VidCon, RuPaul’s DragCon, and BeautyCon.
Metro also represents entertainment industry producers as well as traditional and digital talent, including NBA star Baron Davis, Insecure’s Amanda Seales, Rick & Morty creator Dan Harmon, The Simpson’s Yeardley Smith along with her production company Paperclip, Angela Kinsey, Colleen Ballinger, Patrick Starrr, Alyson Stoner, Hannah Hart, Mamrie Hart, and more.
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Block, given her decade of experience helming campaigns and strategy for the likes of Wattpad, Tongal, Hulu, NextVR, and Jukin Media, will be tasked with helping Metro further build out its growing digital entertainment business and onboard new consumer tech clients. Most recently, Block served as VP at Allison + Partners. Before that, she was an account supervisor at MPRM. She will be based out of Metro’s Los Angeles offices and report to president and COO Laura Michael, who founded the PR firm with business partner Tess Finkle.
Michael tells Tubefilter that Block’s hire arrives amid a period of massive growth for the company, including threefold personnel growth over the past three years, a brand new office space in Southwest Hollywood, and the establishment of a presence in New York. The company has also forayed beyond PR into content creation under its Metro Productions banner, selling shows to the likes of Conde Nast, MTV (the Webby-winning Lit! Dance In Atlanta), and Fox Sports Digital.
“Metro has propelled the digital-first movement,” Block said in a statement, “and I’m thrilled to be joining a female-led team of creative storytellers whose mission is to drive strategy and business results for an impressive portfolio of game-changing clients.”
Michael and Finkle founded Metro when they were just 22 years old, and came together amid a reckoning that the agencies where they previously worked fostered toxic environments. As a result, establishing a supportive and healthy culture that prizes collaboration over competition is a top priority, Michael says. In addition to having an informal “no-asshole rule,” the company hosts ‘Crockpot Wednesdays’, which serve as a family meal of sorts. “And we promote from within,” Michael says. “We’re committed back to those who are committed to us.”
The duo started in the traditional entertainment PR business and then pivoted to digital after sensing an enormous white space. Early clients included Paul F. Tomkins’ Speakeasy interview web series, Break Media (which would go on to become Defy Media), and AweMe’s Man At Arms. Another big break was for a 2012 viral Movember campaign starring the comedian Nick Offerman.
In its next chapter, Michael says that the firm intends to pursue more consumer tech clients.
“With all of the tech startups bubbling out of Silicon Valley, and given our expertise in entertainment, we see an opportunity to act as a go-between for Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach, to serve as a translator between the entertainment and tech industries.”
Employee growth at Metro isn’t set to slow anytime soon with Block’s hire, Michael said, and new recruits are joining the company every few weeks — from entry-level positions to top-tier roles. “At the beginning of our careers, Tess and I never had mentors,” Michael says. “We didn’t have females supporting us, and that’s exactly what we’re looking to provide to anyone who joins our team.”
