On finding a footing

Founded
and
directed
by
Saul
Appelbaum
Saul Appelbaum is an artist, curator, media director, producer, and digital marketing strategist in the arts and culture sector. His practice combines storytelling, design, architectonic thought, and media to amplify cultural narratives and experiment with new infrastructures for collaboration. He is committed to the ability of participatory media and art to reshape how audiences experience culture across disciplines, fostering engagement that is both intellectual and emotional.

Appelbaum is the Founding Director of The Pioneers, a media production company and “co-op of gifted and generous minds” that champions Agile Cinema®, an agile, hybrid mode of media creation spanning fiction, non-fiction, scripted, and unscripted formats. Through The Pioneers he has overseen projects such as Narrative Fieldwork on the Curator platform for The Broad Museum, Serpentine Galleries, Marian Goodman Gallery, and Petzel Gallery—works reflecting his commitment to experimentation and multichannel cultural storytelling.

In addition, Appelbaum serves as Director at Dreaming in Public, Director at Rusha & Co., Digital Director at Curator, and Digital Marketing Director at ENSO Law. These roles demonstrate his capacity to move fluidly between curatorial, editorial, and strategic practices, building platforms that connect artists, businesses, and institutions to global audiences.

His collaborations include Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, InStyle, L’Officiel, Grazia, Numéro, Critical Inquiry, Hirmer Verlag, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of the African Diaspora, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Kunstmuseum Bern, The Columbus Museum of Art, The Singapore Art Museum, Atlanta Art Fair, TRANSFER Gallery, The Jewish Federation, Perry Ellis, ASICS, Kids of Immigrants, The Visionaries Agency, TCAmgmt, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, FGP Atelier, Rocco Castoro’s SCNR, and Nato Thompson’s The Alternative Art School. He has also worked with artists and cultural figures including Tony Cragg, Ann Hamilton, Pope.L, Mick Jenkins, Snoop Dogg, Adam McKay’s Yellow Dot Studios, Heidi Klum, Diego Boneta, Natalia Reyes, and Zión Moreno.

Appelbaum holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Master of Architecture from Cornell University, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Chicago. He is based in Los Angeles and travels globally for work.
(Capabilities)

Experience

(01)

Strategy

Research and development of multimedia, multivoice, and multichannel strategies and tactics for marketing and communications

(02)

Brand Direction

Lead teams of writers, video directors, photographers, designers, and artists to make poignant, powerful, and sometimes provocative digital media assets for branding, campaigns, and everyday content marketing

(03)

Management

Web, email, and social media management and ongoing creative and intellectual labor for partners with strong aesthetic and cultural overlaps with The Pioneers

(04)

Consulting

Guidance for crafting a vibrant, cohesive, and relevant digital presence coupled with business operations and a cross-platform distribution plan

(05)

Publishing

Regular contributions to well established serial publications, and self-publish our E-Zine sent to 70k+ people in art, fashion, beauty, film, entertainment, music, architecture, literature, design, and advertising

(06)

Hyperlink Film

An ongoing series of micro-films, unfolding in the Theater of the Absurd—a string of moments bound by the futile, tender urge to make sense of life as it’s being lived.