Brandon Shaw & Casey Hernandez To Open Seven Letter PR Los Angeles Office

Washington, D.C.-based Seven Letter Communications is opening a Los Angeles office and former Disney/Hulu exec Brandon Shaw and Herbalife vet Casey Hernandez will lead it as the firm branches out into entertainment, corporate and the public affairs sphere on the West Coast.

Shaw will be named partner and lead the firm’s newly launched entertainment and media practice.

Seven Letter partner Hernandez, a former press secretary to Los Angeles Mayer Antonio Villaraigosa, will join Shaw in the LA office, overseeing corporate and executive comms.

Part of Shaw’s addition at Seven Letter entails the firm’s absorption of his B. Shaw Communications which counts clients across entertainment, media, tech and politics. Prior to launching his own strategic comms firm, Shaw was the VP of Communications for Disney Entertainment Television at The Walt Disney Company, where he led corporate comm for Hulu Originals, and served as the principal communications advisor to Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich. Among the key projects he oversaw at Disney/Hulu was the documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.” Shaw also worked in executive comms at WME and ICM and cut his teeth on President Obama’s advance team, and in the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence.

Hernandez, a California native, counts two decades of corporate and political communications experience. She has advised cabinet members, CEOs, and elected officials, including as press secretary to the Mayor of Los Angeles and as a senior communications lead during the Obama administration. Prior to Seven Letter, she served as SVP for Global Corporate Communications at Herbalife based in Los Angeles.

Said Erik Smith, Seven Letter’s Founder and CEO, “The business Brandon has built fits in perfectly with Seven Letter’s approach and sensibility. Brandon’s model is grounded in creating impactful, narrative-building corporate communications campaigns, guiding C-suite executives through periods of immense transformation, and crafting winning messages – all rooted in his expertise. That’s the work we do across multiple industries and the work we look forward to growing in Los Angeles with Brandon and Casey.” 

“I have long admired Erik and the Seven Letter team’s approach to providing expert-led, strategic counsel and am looking forward to bolstering the team in both the Los Angeles market and the entertainment industry,” Shaw said in a statement. “The Seven Letter team is a rare combination of people who, like me, genuinely enjoy their craft and do it all with a focus on impeccable culture. To use my preferred endurance metaphor, Seven Letter is in it for the full 26.2 on behalf of clients, and I’m excited to add their vision and broad suite of services to our existing offering.” 

In addition to the new Los Angeles office, Seven Letter also announced today the establishment of new offices in New York City, and Huntsville, Alabama. Marley Hambourger has been tapped as paid media strategist and director at Seven Letter in NYC. Holly Jackson is rejoining Seven Letter to lead the Huntsville branch. In the firm’s Boston office, Camille Cherney has been hired to support the growth of that city’s team which has ties to higher education, financial services, technology and biotechnology.