The NMG Team

Jason Cutinella is Founder and CEO of Nella Media Group (now known as NMG Network). After launching his career at McCann Erickson Worldwide as a media buyer for the Sony Pictures account and then transitioning to working on the client side of Sony Music International in New York City, Jason relocated to Hawai‘i in 2004 to pursue a master’s degree in communications from Hawaii Pacific University.

With a vision to transform the way that content is created and distributed in Hawai‘i and beyond, Jason founded NMG in 2009 in order to connect travelers and sophisticated urbanites to authentic experiences. To expand from print into digital content and reach new markets, Jason spearheaded the acquisition of Visitor Video Inc., Hawai‘i’s leading visitor industry video distribution company, to create NMG Network and enrich the company’s diverse storytelling capabilities.

In addition to his role leading NMG, Jason has served as Fundraising Chair of the Executive Board of Directors for the American Advertising Federation (AAF Hawaii) and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Honolulu International Film Festival (HIFF), ‘Ohina Short Film Festival, and serves on the American Heart Association fundraising committee.

Following his passions for entrepreneurship and building transformative brands, Jason also co-founded consumer wellness startup O2TODAY, designer of the world’s first total protection air pollution and travel mask, with the goal of helping millions breathe better and live longer. In his spare time, Jason focuses on building his DJK wine business with his childhood friends.

When Jason is not driving his business pursuits, he can be found rooting for the US National team at World Cup outings with friends, searching to find the best park bench to relax, catching his thoughts and dreaming big! And exploring his newfound love for snowboarding!

Joe is the GM, Hawai’i of NMG Network. His primary responsibility is driving senior client relationships and growth strategies as well as managing all legal and contractual activity. He is also responsible for managing the company’s Honolulu headquarters. Joe works with the team on a daily basis in establishing, assessing, and maintaining key accounts that have helped NMG become one of today’s fastest growing travel media companies. Joe’s background is in executive management, marketing, sales, and legal counsel in the airline, travel and hospitality industries. He is a director of Hawai‘i Publishers Association, Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival, and Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation and received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and juris doctorate from University of Houston.

Merri Gruesser is the VP of Global Partnerships & Development for NMG Global. Her primary focus is delivering strategic client and business development advisory and partnership solutions. Merri is a former accountant from Deloitte & Touche who migrated to fashion where she spent the past decade in roles driving revenue and growth. She is the Co-Founder of Tulerie, a peer-to-peer clothing and accessory rental platform featured in Vogue, Business of Fashion, WWD, and the Today Show. Prior to her role as COO & Co-Founder of Tulerie, Merri worked for luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue for 7 years in corporate roles where she launched and lead the client experiences division partnering with the world’s most prestigious luxury fashion brands such as Chanel, Dior, Fendi, and Graff to create once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for Sak’s most valuable clients. It is Merri’s compassionate leadership style, strategic thinking and emotional intelligence which she credits for her success. Merri holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Central Florida.

Marc Graser helps brands become storytellers. After spending nearly two decades covering all aspects of the entertainment and marketing industries in senior editing and writing roles at leading industry publications Variety and Advertising Age.

Moving from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, Marc became the first Editorial Director for Marriott International, where he developed multi-channel content strategies for the company’s 30 hotel brands and Marriott Bonvoy loyalty and partnership teams. In the role, he launched Marriott Traveler, making it the hotel industry’s most popular online travel magazine, and a new revenue stream for the world’s largest hotel company.

More recently, he assembled and managed the creative team that produces the print and digital magazines, social and influencer strategy, as well as Aston Martin partnership content, for Hilton’s luxury hotel brands Waldorf Astoria and Conrad.

In addition to connecting brands with entertainment opportunities through his brand consultancy, Content Inspired, Marc launched Travel Inspired to curate great travel storytelling. The site became one of the fastest-growing new travel sites in 2019. His articles have also appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Toronto Sun, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, Albuquerque Journal and Fade In magazine.

Passionate about film, TV, travel, design, hotels, cars and airlines, Marc doesn’t have children but he probably should. He has visited all 12 Disney theme parks around the world. Twice. Marc’s also attended 10 WrestleManias, 17 Comic-Cons in San Diego, and piloted the Fujifilm blimp.

Marc is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He grew up in Germany as an Army Brat and now lives in D.C., with his husband, Dale, and dog, Whiskey.

With eighteen years of experience promoting and curating design, music, and art in Hawai‘i, Ara brings a deft style as the creative director of Nella Media Group. Between deadlines, she periodically serves as a design and typography lecturer at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and can often be found volunteering for local non-profit groups who support Hawai‘i’s arts and culture community.  

Dan Bradley has a background in building companies through content. As the Co-founder and Managing Director of Left Wrist Media, he grew a start-up production company into a branded content pioneer through partnerships with the likes of Tide, Under Armour and Nissan that reached massive digital audiences. Dan moved on from Left Wrist to VICE Media, where he most recently served as the Executive Producer for Branded Content. Over seven years in which he helped to grow the company into a global media powerhouse, Dan directed content across editorial platforms, launched verticals and oversaw global partnerships with brands such as The North Face, Nike and the International Olympic Committee. Along the way, he has won an Adweek award, 5 Webby awards, a Producer’s Guild Award and received an Emmy Nomination. With NMG, Dan will focus on bringing dynamic content and unique opportunities to third party platforms and brand partners.

He believes that brands can tell great human stories in a truly impactful way, while still achieving brand goals.

Mike brings to Nella Media Group approximately 20 years of sales management experience and a detailed understanding of how to drive incremental revenue through sales programs and customer support. Mike is responsible for developing company sales strategies and products while leading the sales team through the company’s continued growth.

Mike has been with Nella Media Group since 2014. Prior to that he served as director of major and national accounts for The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, where he was responsible for leading personal and team sales for online and print publications. He is a past president of the Honolulu Executive Association, and has served on many boards including: Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i, Sales and Marketing Executives – Honolulu, American Advertising Federation and Honolulu Executives Association.

Gerard is an Emmy® Award nominated writer, editor, producer, and director who has a range of experience varying from television production, film and TV commercials. As a commercial director, he has directed a number of award-winning spots for clients such as Wet N Wild, Hilton, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Central Pacific Bank, First Hawaiian Bank, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, Erik’s Deli, and Mr. Pickles. Winning multiple Regional ADDY Awards (“Peles”) and a national Gold ADDY award, music videos he directed have gained national attention and have aired on CMT, FUSE TV, and other outlets. As a producer, he helped coordinate popular Discovery channel specials for Shark Week. In addition, he directed a nationally distributed feature film titled ALL FOR MELISSA. His feature length comedy concert film, the Na Ali’i of Comedy starring Augie T, Andy Bumatai, Mel Cabang, Frank Delima, and Ed Kaahea was a success theatrically in Hawai`i and on pay-per-view.

In addition, Gerard is a lecturer at the Academy for Creative Media, Mānoa and West Oahu. He also serves as the Executive Director for the `Ohina Short Film Showcase, ohina.org, that is designed to help local filmmakers promote and screen their films in Hawai`i.

As a lifelong entrepreneur, Gary has experience in all aspects of building, developing, and managing corporations. His career began with running an IT department for an investment firm. Within three years, he was responsible for its nationwide print and television advertising campaigns. Gary’s first company was acquired by an international firm, which then provided capital funding in order to conduct technical and market-share acquisitions. As the vice president of business development, Gary was responsible for introducing new technologies to the corporation and customer base. 

Gary is passionate about creating opportunities for others. Seeing those he mentors succeed in the business world brings him great personal satisfaction.

Francine brings her unique skills back home to Hawai‘i with over 13 years of combined experience in developing new business and growth strategies for international corporations as well as start-ups in the entertainment, media, and technology industries. After earning a double major in marketing and international business at NYU Stern, she began her career at Sony Electronics and was involved in marketing the successful launch of seven luxury consumer electronics products under the exclusive Sony QUALIA line. During her time at Viacom’s MTV Networks, she was part of the team responsible for launching the first LGBT cable network, LOGO, growing viewership from zero to over 30M in the first year.

Currently the network strategy director of Nella Media Group, Francine is passionate about new technologies, out-of-the-box thinking, and creating new channels to enhance the way entertainment is consumed. Prior to joining NMG, she led digital campaign and corporate strategies with KHON2, Hawai‘i’s FOX and CW Networks. Francine is a member of the Honolulu Pride planning committee, and previously an e-council member of the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship to Kids (NFTE) in Los Angeles, and served on the board of the International Inspirational Women Awards.

Bio Coming Soon

Originally from New York, Kaitlyn acquired a degree in visual presentation and exhibition design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. During her years of study, she took her first trip to explore Hawaii, fell in love and immediately knew it was the place she wanted to call home. Prior to making the move to the Islands, she spent 10 years in design and production while working for a range of industries in New York, most recently as creative services manager for Diesel North America. Since Kaitlyn moved to Honolulu, she has worked with local clients including Honolulu Biennial Foundation, Hawaii Theatre, Na Mea Hawaii, WATG and many more.

As brand production manager at NMG, Kaitlyn establishes and maintaining the production schedules, while working closely with the entire creative team to design and shepherd publications to production while assuring the quality of all art and graphics.

Kaitlyn has a passion for design and travel, and during her free time you can find her enjoying nature by taking a hike, chilling on the beach, or doing yoga.

After graduating from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a degree in marketing, Courtney started her media career in radio as an Account Executive at some of Honolulu’s top radio stations – Ohana Broadcast Company.

As a Marketing and Advertising Executive at NMG Network, Courtney brings with her over five years of media sales experience, where she enjoys the challenge of creatively connecting companies, brands and products to the right audience. She is committed to building meaningful relationships with clients, helping them to meet their specific goals.

In addition to her role at NMG Network, Courtney has a love for concerts, happy hours, cooking, reading, yoga, being at the beach & weekend adventuring as a dog-mom to her pup, Teddy.

Always hungry for a good story, Lauren left her hometown of Honolulu to study art, film, and creative writing, making her way through California, Europe, and New York City before returning to the islands to write for Element Media, where she served as managing editor prior to joining NMG. While there, she covered business, startups, travel, and the environment, kindling a fire for sustainability and landing her on the board of the nonprofit Society for Conservation Biology Hawai‘i Chapter. Much of her free time is spent devouring podcasts and waxing philosophical into the wee hours about culture, society, and consciousness.

Brigid Pittman is the Digital Content and Social Media Manager at NMG Network. Having grown up as a pre-professional dancer, she brings her natural storytelling capabilities and artistic background to NMG’s social platforms. Brigid’s experience working at Nike Air Manufacturing Innovation through the pandemic, coupled with her work in social media management and content creation for ecommerce businesses (Thrilling, My Apricot, and Tulerie) lends itself to thinking creatively and critically about communicating visuals and data effectively. Brigid is responsible for strategically planning all social media content to further boost engagement and exploring new ways to expand NMG’s digital content.

Brigid graduated from Middlebury College in 2020 with a bachelor of arts in French and Francophone Studies. As a student, she studied abroad in Paris, France, for a full year gaining fluency in the language, while interning for a French start-up, La Fabrique de la Danse. In Paris, her work translating media content contributed to her passion for depicting arts, culture, and food, as authentically as possible. When not planning the next batch of content, Brigid loves baking pastries and sweets for friends and reminiscing about her time abroad.

Having always been drawn to the glossy pages of magazines, Eunica knew from an early age that she wanted to be a magazine journalist. A natural curiosity for the intersection of art and culture imbues everything she writes. Her passion for the written word has driven her to pursue journalism at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. 

Fresh to the media industry, she first joined NMG as an editorial intern in 2017. After transitioning to an editorial assistant she covers an expanse of local artists and culture for the company’s various publications. In between deadlines and projects, she is also working on a bachelor’s of arts degree in Filipino language and literature.

Matthew is the editor-at-large at Nella Media Group, working with writers and photographers on local, national, and international stories for print and digital. Born and raised on Oʻahu, he graduated from Chapman University in Orange County, California where he later worked in both the editorial and creative departments for entertainment news and trade sites in Los Angeles. He’s served as the deputy editor for Hawaii Magazine, the associate editor for the Honolulu Weekly, and has been a regular contributor to FLUX Hawaii covering arts, design, and culture. He lives in Honolulu.

Having grown up in a local military family and living in Hawaiʻi, Colorado, Germany, North Carolina, and Tahiti, Rae developed a passion for telling the stories of people and their unique cultures. After graduating from Wellesley College with a degree in Psychology, Rae returned home to where stints in grant writing and marketing allowed her to employ her perennial love: the written word. Her passion for writing led her to Nella Media Group in 2016, where today she serves as senior editor.

Combining the spirit of Aloha, a unique artistic eye, and the joy of play, John is a fun-tographer from Oahu, Hawai‘i. As the senior photographer at NMG, John creates some of the most beautiful content Nella Media Group produces, whether it is stunning fashion shoots or breathtaking Hawai‘i scenery.

When John isn’t capturing the spectacular views across the islands, he takes special delight in wedding photography. He strives to capture those in-between moments that shouldn’t be missed. And the free wedding cake doesn’t hurt either. 

Working behind the scenes as a photo editor / retoucher, Hook specializes in putting the final touches on images while paying close attention to quality and detail. Works range from weddings and commercial to print.  Being born and raised on Oahu, she finds inspiration easily here at home in Hawai‘i, but is equally inspired by film photography and travel. When she’s not at work, you can find her in or near the ocean. 

Bio Coming Soon

Graduating with a degree in advertising from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2005, this Hawaii native has 15 plus years of national and international experience assisting companies to achieve their marketing and sales objectives. Working with global enterprise brands, start-ups, and everything in-between, Nick specializes in providing scaled solutions to attain quantifiable results.

Spearheading the Volta EV station advertising program in Hawaii, Nick’s goal is to provide strategic support that generates impactful engagements.  On the edge of advertising technology, he is keen on developing and providing new ways to reach audiences that deepen the connection between brand and consumer.

When he’s not immersed in consumer trend data and mobile conversion analytics, Nick can be found rummaging thru vintage stores looking for old Hawaiian records, surfing the South shore of Oahu, or Ubering to the nearest foodie hot spot.

Born in New York, Romeo was raised on the west side of Oahu. Romeo got the itch for filmmaking in high school and went on to get his BA in Creative Media at UH Manoa. With a breadth of experience working in the local commercial film industry, Romeo joins the NMG team to continue growing creatively. In his free time, Romeo is on the jiu jitsu or judo mats either training or coaching.

Blake Abes is a filmmaker and photographer with experience in a wide range of content including short films, documentaries, commercials, and music videos. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he earned a BA in Creative Media while serving as the general manager of UH Productions. He recently returned home to Hawaii after spending two years working in New York City.

In his free time he enjoys playing soccer, hiking, and engaging in his never ending pursuit to find the best bowl of ramen in Hawaii.

Emma is the Executive Assistant to the CEO at NMG Network. She joined the Global Team in New York to help coordinate schedules and meetings and create a transparent and solid internal communication process. Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Emma graduated from Elon University where she studied Media Analytics and followed her passion for communications. Her previous work includes working for a tech start-up as a Manager of Client Services, where she grew her passion for data-driven decision making and a love for detail. Emma credits her success to her relationship building skills, positive energy, curiosity and self-motivated spirit. She has a passion for travel, fast-paced environments, and considers herself a life-long learner.

Born in the Philippines and raised on Oahu, Nico is a graduate of Hawai’i Pacific University, having studied Intermedia. An artist driven by local, queer culture and aesthetic justice, they join NMG as a designer with the goal of cultivating home worldwide. In their free time they can be found eating mangos, raising chickens, and sculpting through the internet.