We represent artists from around the world and connect them with world-class clients to do what they do best—create unforgettable visual experiences through illustration, animation, and design.

Our Clients

Agencies

McCann
Saatchi&Saatchi
BBDO
Ogilvy
Leo Burnett
72andSunny
Giant Spoon
Gorilla
Edelman
Sterling Brands
Fake Love
T Brand Studio
Mekanism
AKQA
Boncom
Campbell Ewald
Brown-Foreman

Companies

Nike
Adobe
ESPN
Target
VH1
Harrods
Toyota
Live Nation
Amway
Hallmark
Pepsi
Disney
Facebook
Dropbox
Spotify
Welly

Publishers

Penguin Random House
Variety Magazine
AARP Magazine
Condé Nast
GQ Magazine
Lagom Magazine
The Hollywood Reporter
WW Norton
Washington Post
Women’s Health
Seventeen
Refinery29
The New York Times
The New Yorker
Hearst
Reddit

Meet the Fine Folks at Closer&Closer

Drew Melton

Drew Melton

Founder, Agent + Producer

As Founder and Managing Director, Drew Melton is responsible for overseeing the vision, strategy, and culture behind Closer&Closer. He began his career as a freelance illustrator and hand-letterer working with clients of every kind from all over the world. Unrepresented and overworked, he eventually burned out. In the ashes of that dream kindled a new fire, one which burned even brighter. Drew realized his true passion lay in building relationships, in helping others achieve their goals. They say, ‘start where you are’, so Drew started with what he knew- he knew how to communicate and build trust with clients, and he knew how to see potential and draw out the best in people. In 2017 Closer&Closer was born, an artists representation agency, offering support, coaching and care to illustrators and animators across the globe. Drew says his real life super power is, “making the invisible visible,” and Closer&Closer is the manifestation of that truth.

Marcos Payan

Marcos Payan

Agent + Producer

Marcos knows a thing or two about the pain points of freelancers. His previous experience as a freelance creative means he knows how to support an artist best, whether he's negotiating inquiries, nurturing client relationships, helping manage our artists' careers, or supporting sales efforts. He's an expert at keeping a project moving as he is on all things nerd culture, and he'll make sure the end result is something both the artist and the client can be proud of.

Theresa Zicolello

Theresa Zicolello

Agent + Producer

Theresa comes to us from a long history of working with artists, which is what makes her so great at supporting our roster. She negotiates inquiries, nurtures client relationships, keeps projects moving, and contributes to sales efforts, all with an infectious smile that can turn anyone's day around in an instant. Theresa works to "take the stress out of the deal so the artist can focus on their art, inspiration, and have the time and space to create." Doesn't that sound like the dream?!?

Camille Valbusa

Camille Valbusa

Senior Project Manager

Camille is the project manager of everyone's dreams. Her secret to keeping projects running on time and within budget? She "makes sure everyone feels listened to and validated when working together, so everyone has all their needs met." She's detail oriented, relational, organized, communicative, the list goes on!

When she's not managing projects to absolute perfection, she's busy photographing self portraits and adding more languages to her repertoire (she's at 5 currently!).

Cassie Bauer

Marketing Manager

Cassie is tasked with the responsibility of helping turn our artists' dreams and goals into reality through marketing. Not only does she help spread the word of C&C, but she does so while building a "strong sense of trust and faith [with our artists] in our ability to showcase their art in a meaningful way." You can find Cassie creating content for C&C, executing marketing efforts on behalf of our artists, and coaching our artists on their marketing efforts. When she's not coming up with creative ways to market our artists, or being an all-around marketing savant, you can find Cassie playing video games, playing with her pet bunny Appa, or attending local concerts.

Andrew Escobar

Andrew Escobar

Operations Administrator

Andrew Escobar brings top notch organization, detail orientedness, and problem solving skills to the role of Operations Administrator. In this role, Andrew ensures the day-to-day operations of Closer&Closer are running smoothly and efficiently. On the daily, you can find him managing internal projects, creating and managing company documents, and enjoying the city by the lake lifestyle Chicago affords him. If you're ever in the area, hit him up for the best slices in the city.

Roger Bruhn

COO

Roger Bruhn is our Chief Operating Officer. With Closer&Closer, he continues his decades-long streak of leading great companies. He gets the job done by managing day-to-day operations and ensuring that each function of the company is supported by the people, processes, and resources it needs to grow. Roger excels at turning complex problems into simple, actionable, solutions, and does it all with the goal of improving the lives of the artists on our roster. In addition to all the heavy lifting he does in his role as COO, he's also raised 5 adult kids, raises 20-somethings through life and career coaching as a volunteer for national leadership forums, AND raises real-life weights as a competitive power-lifter!

Explore Our Roster

Explore Our Roster ⟳

Section Styles scrolling

View Projects

View Projects ⟲

Artist Application

Artist Application ⟳

Talk with an Agent

Talk with an Agent ⟲