Back to jobs

Managing Director

Los Angeles (Hybrid)

About Elevado

Elevado is a creative studio built at the intersection of AI, VFX, and production. We connect daring brands with visionary artists, producers, and AI tools to create work that defies traditional limits and delivers unprecedented results.

Part production company, part innovation lab — Elevado is powered by AI, elevated by artists. We don't bolt AI onto old production models. We've built an entirely new one. Our clients include Adobe, Netflix, Apple, Universal, and Hilton.

We are at an inflection point. Our creative output is accelerating, our reputation is growing, and now we need a commercial leader to match our ambition — someone who can translate Elevado's unique positioning into a sustainable, scalable business.


Position Overview

The Managing Director role at Elevado is fundamentally a new business role. This is the person who will build our client pipeline, define our go-to-market approach, and take our studio from a well-respected creative shop to a must-call partner for the world's most ambitious brands.

You will own the full commercial function — from outbound prospecting and agency relationships to pitch strategy, deal-making, and client retention. You'll work side-by-side with our CCO and EP to ensure that every new engagement is set up to succeed creatively and financially.

This is a rare opportunity to shape the commercial identity of a studio that is genuinely differentiated: an artist-led, AI-native production company operating at the highest level of brand and entertainment content.


Location and Salary

This is a full-time, exempt role with a salary range of $215,000-$265,000 and a bonus target of 20-40%, depending on experience. Ideally this person will be LA-based and available to come into the Saylor office in Echo Park twice a week. If not in LA, this person can be based in New York City.


Key Responsibilities

New Business & Revenue Growth

  • This is the primary mandate. You will own the full new business pipeline — building it, managing it, and closing it.
  • Develop and execute a proactive new business strategy targeting brands and agencies.
  • Build and manage a healthy pipeline of inbound and outbound opportunities across live action, animation/VFX, and AI-driven production
  • Lead all pitch activity — from briefing the creative team to presenting credentials and negotiating contracts
  • Cultivate and maintain relationships with brand-side marketing leaders, agency production heads, and creative directors
  • Identify high-value categories and verticals where Elevado's AI + production model creates a clear competitive advantage
  • Represent Elevado at industry events, festivals, and forums to build visibility and generate opportunities
  • Partner with reps (Minerva, CCCo) to align outreach and avoid channel conflict

Strategic & Operational Leadership

  • Translate the studio's creative vision into a coherent commercial narrative and market positioning
  • Build scalable systems for quoting, scoping, and converting opportunities — from first contact through signed SOW
  • Partner with the EP and CCO to ensure new business commitments are production-ready and margin-sound
  • Set and track revenue targets, conversion rates, and pipeline health on a regular cadence
  • Identify partnership opportunities — co-production, technology, or platform deals — that expand Elevado's reach

Financial Performance

  • Own revenue forecasting in partnership with the EP and founding team
  • Monitor project margins and flag resourcing or pricing misalignments early
  • Support pricing strategy across project types — ensuring rates reflect both market positioning and studio economics
  • Help define and track KPIs that measure both commercial and creative health

Client Success & Retention

  • Ensure a seamless handoff from sale to production — setting clear expectations and maintaining client confidence throughout
  • Develop account expansion strategies for existing clients, identifying upsell and repeat opportunities
  • Serve as a senior point of contact for key client relationships when needed
  • Gather market intelligence — client feedback, competitive positioning, industry trends — and feed it back into studio strategy

Studio Leadership & Culture

  • Serve as a key member of the leadership team alongside the CCO and Executive Producer
  • Help shape a high-performance, high-care studio culture that attracts and retains exceptional talent
  • Collaborate with the CCO on the studio's long-term vision, ensuring commercial strategy is in service of creative ambition
  • Maintain operational oversight that allows the founding team to focus on creative leadership and innovation

What We're Looking For

  • You are a proven commercial leader in the production, creative, or advertising space who thrives on building new relationships and closing meaningful work.
  • You are energized by the sell — but you sell with taste.
  • You understand what makes great work, and you know how to articulate that to a CMO, a Head of Production, or an agency ECD.
  • 8+ years of experience in business development, executive producing, or commercial leadership within a production company, creative agency, or post/VFX studio
  • A track record of building and winning new client relationships at the brand and agency level
  • Deep understanding of the commercial production landscape — how brands buy, how agencies work, how projects get greenlit
  • Fluency in AI-driven production, emerging content formats, and the evolving brand content ecosystem
  • Strong financial acumen — comfortable with project economics, margin analysis, and revenue forecasting
  • Exceptional communication and presentation skills — you can walk into any room and make Elevado's case compellingly
  • Entrepreneurial mindset — you're comfortable building from a strong but early foundation
  • Based in or willing to relocate to Los Angeles

Why Elevado

Elevado is not a legacy production company trying to adapt to AI. We were built for this moment. Our co-founders bring decades of creative leadership from MPC, Alkemy X, and Taylor James — and we've assembled a team of artists who are masters of their craft and fluent in the tools defining the next era of production.

The Managing Director will have real ownership over the commercial side of the studio — an unbuilt canvas with a strong creative foundation. You'll be joining at the moment when the work is exceptional, the reputation is growing, and the infrastructure is ready to scale.

“We’re not bolting AI onto old production models — we’ve built an entirely new one.”

— Rupert Cresswell, Co-Founder / CCO


Benefits

We offer a competitive salary, health insurance, 401k, generous vacation, and great opportunities for growth within the company.

--
Saylor is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members.​​ Qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

U.S. Standard Demographic Questions

We invite applicants to share their demographic background. If you choose to complete this survey, your responses may be used to identify areas of improvement in our hiring process.
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Elevado’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.