Management Portfolio

We have drawn together experienced and influential people in their chosen fields at every level within Crystal CG International. Here are brief profiles of key people within our London-based senior leadership team.

Michael Payne

Non-Executive Chairman

Nominated by Advertising Age as one of the world’s most influential marketers, Michael has been at the forefront of sports marketing for almost 30 years. He led global marketing for the Olympic Movement from 1983 to 2004 and was the IOC’s first Marketing and Broadcast Rights Director. He now advises a broad cross section of sporting properties, broadcasters, corporations and governments, including the successful London 2012 and 2016 Rio Olympic Campaigns, F1, and Ryder Cup Golf. As non-executive Chairman of Crystal CG International, Michael oversees the broader international development of the group.

Gilles Albaredes

Managing Director

Gilles joined Crystal CG International as Managing Director having previously held senior managerial positions in leading software firms. Most recently Chief Marketing Officer at Lectra, Gilles undertook various general management positions from 1997-2007 within both SAS and Autodesk, where he was Vice President of the EMEA sales division. A graduate in Geography at the University of Alberta, Canada, in the late 1980’s Gilles was an early innovator in the then-emerging field of GIS software, co-founding the French subsidiary of ESRI, the world-leader in the fields.

Emma Harvey

Operations Director

Emma is our Operations Director with a background in general management in the entertainment, music, hospitality and distribution industries. Originally trained in Human Resources, Emma is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD).

Ximo Peris

Creative Director, Architecture

Ximo trained as an architect before moving into architectural visualisation in 1997. He worked in the Netherlands and taught at Delft University of Technology. On moving to London, he worked with Hayes Davidson and Smoothe on many large-scale animation projects, including the London 2012 Olympic bid. Ximo still lectures on the language and techniques of visualisation in the construction industry.

Will Case

Creative Director, Experiential

Will is a creative with over 15 years experience in delivering large scale integrated projects for global brand campaigns, creating content for many different media channels from digital, film, Interactive to collaborative user experiences. He has always been fascinated by rich narrative content and the space where brands meet their consumers face to face. Prior to joining Crystal he was Head of Integrated Film at Imagination the Global Brand communications agency. He worked on their Automotive accounts for Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover and Mazda helping deliver their digital communications content across the global auto show program, dealer events and brand communications. Previously he has worked at many agencies working for some of the most iconic brands in the world, Orange, British Airways, Yamaha, T-Mobile, BBC, Channel 4, British Gas, Michelin and Budweiser.

Darren Groucutt

Creative Director, Film & Animation

Darren has over a decade's experience in direction, motion graphics, design and online marketing. During his career he has been involved in the Art Direction and Design for a number of high profile brands, including the iconic retail emporium Liberty of London. From 2000-2006 Darren, worked for Bermuda Shorts as their Design Director, were he was actively involved in the design direction and animation of multiple titles sequences, idents and commercials for various leading brands and TV Channels including; Channel 4, MTV, SmartCar and Wrigley’s. In 2006, Darren joined the award winning integrated agency JPMH as their Associate Creative Director. Responsible for overseeing all the digital creative output, Darren led the in-house motion graphics team on all content and online projects for clients including; BlackBerry, Dolby, Nestle Purina and Kodak.

Ed Cookson

Senior Producer

Ed has over 13 years of experience managing large and small scale projects in digital, interactive, broadcast and videogames. After graduating from Oxford University, Ed joined the world-class videogames developer Rebellion, honing his production and management skills making award-winning games. Ed left Rebellion to create and produce his BBC-commissioned children’s animation, Summerton Mill. He has since developed his own innovative project The Sancho Plan, a talented collective who specialise in Interactive Animated Entertainment Experiences. Before joining Crystal, Ed was working as Head of Production at Do Tank Studios, a London-based Creative Agency.