TASTE Welcomes Margaret Elman
Elman launched her career as an agency creative before success beckoned as an off-Broadway playwright.
Culinary production house Taste has signed director Margaret Elman.
Elman's reel features images from upscale Michelin-starred gastronomic cuisine to natural, rustic dishes for clients including Haagen-Dazs, Chipotle, Nestle, Dole, McDonald’s, Kikkoman, Publix, Chobani, Panera, General Mills, Campbell’s, Applebee’s, Healthy Choice and Olive Garden.
Elman launched her career as an agency creative before success beckoned as an off-Broadway playwright. She left the stage to open Chair Couture, a renowned design company creating inspired furniture collections that were featured in design magazines worldwide. She then turned her attention to directing, and hasn’t looked back since.
Elman notes that ‘foodies’ today have high expectations when it comes to cuisine advertising – “which is a great thing. The bar is high and that’s just where we want it!”
Elman joins Taste co-founder Thomas Schauer on the company roster, a renowned culinary photographer whose beautiful images of global cuisine have appeared in over 20 cookbooks for celebrated chefs such as Dominique Ansel, Daniel Boulud, and David Bouley.
Elman also brings Becky Donahue into the fold as Exec Producer at Taste, working alongside EP/Head of Production Nina Sloan, a long-time NY tabletop producer/AD. “We couldn’t be happier to be a part of such a creative, hard working and engaged team,” Donahue adds. “Company co-founder Tim Case has deep connections to the advertising world and, as a result, Taste feels new but with deep roots in the production world.”
“Food has become so much more front and center in people’s lives,” Elman explains. “As a result, culinary photography has become far more engaging and interesting to it’s audience – a real boon to us, as well as the brands who recognize the need to showcase their food in new, sophisticated ways.”
Taste is currently in the midst of acquiring equipment as well as purchasing real estate in Brooklyn, N.Y., adding to offices in N.Y., Los Angeles and Vienna. The company is also partnered with ODD (Office of Development & Design), offering clients a design and animation option with creative specialists to assist in the post-production process.
