Editing Company Friendshop! Launches in New York

Editors Tim Wilson and Ben Suenaga have left Go Robot!, New York, and opened a new editing company with partner and managing director/executive producer Melissa Mapes. Dubbed Friendshop!, the new venture will temporarily operate as “artists in residence” at Outpost Digital, New York, while permanent offices are undergoing construction.

Wilson and Suenaga had each been on staff at Go Robot! for more than a decade. Wilson’s credits include ad campaigns for HP, Exxon, UPS and Ikea. Suenaga’s many credits include spots for IBM, Starbucks, AT&T and PowerAde. Mapes previously served as executive producer and senior partner at Ogilvy, New York, where she led American Express, UPS, Ikea and Stoli among others. Mapes said that her 15 years at Ogilvy “prepared me in a great way to handle the wily ways of the creative and demanding world of advertising.”

“We were always crazy about the idea of building our own culture, one where collaboration and a sense of community are key,” said Wilson.

Suenaga added, “Friendshop! began long ago as a typo. Then it turned into an inside joke, then a tumblr and now—finally—it’s a real company.”