Who We Are
Charm Factory was founded by Leslie Gilotti and Sarah Thompson in 2006, when they decided to merge Leslie’s thriving lineup of breakthrough independent artists with Sarah’s solid roster of high-profile artists and legends.
Leslie Gilotti (Owner/Director) has over 10 years experience in the music industry. Prior to setting up as a freelance digital marketing and PR consultant in 2005, she was co-founder and director of Ampunited, a division of PlayLouder, where she worked on campaigns for the White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Badly Drawn Boy and the Eden Sessions festival, to name a few. Prior to this she worked in marketing at Mute Records and served several years in TV production at MTV Europe. She DJs regularly, runs a monthly club night, and plays guitar in an all-girl rock band.
Sarah Thompson (Owner/Director) has worked as a freelancer in the music industry for over 15 years, in just about every role imaginable across publishing, management, promotion and record labels. She set up web design company DC Creative in 1994 and quickly amassed an impressive client base that included the major labels and several indie labels - all in a time when the industry had yet to realise the profound effect the Internet would have on the music business. After selling DC Creative in 1997, Sarah set up as a digital marketing and PR consultant specialising in music.
John Rogers (Senior Campaign Manager) has been involved in a diverse range of roles in the music industry for the past five years, including freelancing in online media, journalism, label work, music publicity, social networking, booking and promoting, and creative digital marketing. His past freelance work includes highly successful campaigns for Goldfrapp, Manchester International Festival, Radar Music Videos and Nick Drake, amongst many others. He also runs independent record label Brainlove Records, working closely with bands and artists in a holistic way to include development, promotion, booking and management.
Lorraine Long (Senior Campaign Manager) kick started her music career in 2005 with a short work experience stint at Protest Recordings. It was here that she met the man who would give her that all important first job in the music industry - Dan Walsh at Incubator. Starting off with merely a passion for music and sheer determination she spent two and a half years developing a broad range of PR skills and working on a very diverse campaigns; from working with mainstream releases like the Rolling Stones, Eddy Grant, Rod Stewart; major labels including Sony RCA and UMTV; to independent acts and niche labels such as Epitaph Records (Set Your Goals, Farewell, Sing It Loud) and Kartel (Fat Freddy's Drop). She's worked on everything from online specific campaigns to 360° campaigns that meant dealing with national, regional, student and online PR concurrently. Here experience has also covered music festivals, events, awards ceremonies and magazine PR including; O2 Wireless Festival, Wychwood Music Festival, Metal Hammer Golden Gods, Classic Rock Roll of Honour, Golden Joystick Awards Total Film Magazine and Total Film Red Carpet Preview Event. She adds several new strings to Charmfactory's bow.
Jade Gandey (Social Networking Specialist) has worked in brand marketing for the past 8 years and is Charm Factory’s resident MySpace, Facebook and Bebo guru. Under Jade’s expert direction, Charm Factory creates unique Social Networking profiles for artists and brands that entice new fans and promote sales. Jade describes herself as a champagne hippie who is is just as likely to be found barefoot hugging a tree in the middle of the countryside as she is sipping champagne at Michelin-starred restaurant. She has been married to a recording artist for 3 years, which means she understands the fine balance between social networking managed by the artist and managed by an outside influence. She believes that working alongside the artist, label or management, Charm Factory can create an active, user-friendly presence which maintains a personal touch, even when the artist has little time to be involved.
Daniel Thompson (Campaign Manager/Sales) grew up in the music industry and has always known that his passion lay in music, particularly dance music. Although he is young, he has asserted himself in Charm Factory, and has proved his savvy in many sides of the business. Daniel’s domain is the sales and dance departments. Outside of work he is a constant on the London DJ scene and the festival circuit. No doubt that it will not stop here – you’ll hear plenty more from Daniel soon.
Mike Kruger (Campaign Manager – Dance and Electronic Music Specialist) has spent his recent and most important years within the music industry, putting in three years as a member of the touring live band for a dance music DJ/production solo project. Mike is also the founding member of London-based culture and lifestyle youth portal londonkicks.com. Mike’s love is firmly rooted in all areas of dance and electronic music and he uses this passion to great effect for Charm Factory’s clients.
Charm Factory was founded by Leslie Gilotti and Sarah Thompson in 2006, when they decided to merge Leslie’s thriving lineup of breakthrough independent artists with Sarah’s solid roster of high-profile artists and legends.
Leslie Gilotti (Owner/Director) has over 10 years experience in the music industry. Prior to setting up as a freelance digital marketing and PR consultant in 2005, she was co-founder and director of Ampunited, a division of PlayLouder, where she worked on campaigns for the White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Badly Drawn Boy and the Eden Sessions festival, to name a few. Prior to this she worked in marketing at Mute Records and served several years in TV production at MTV Europe. She DJs regularly, runs a monthly club night, and plays guitar in an all-girl rock band.
Sarah Thompson (Owner/Director) has worked as a freelancer in the music industry for over 15 years, in just about every role imaginable across publishing, management, promotion and record labels. She set up web design company DC Creative in 1994 and quickly amassed an impressive client base that included the major labels and several indie labels - all in a time when the industry had yet to realise the profound effect the Internet would have on the music business. After selling DC Creative in 1997, Sarah set up as a digital marketing and PR consultant specialising in music.
John Rogers (Senior Campaign Manager) has been involved in a diverse range of roles in the music industry for the past five years, including freelancing in online media, journalism, label work, music publicity, social networking, booking and promoting, and creative digital marketing. His past freelance work includes highly successful campaigns for Goldfrapp, Manchester International Festival, Radar Music Videos and Nick Drake, amongst many others. He also runs independent record label Brainlove Records, working closely with bands and artists in a holistic way to include development, promotion, booking and management.
Lorraine Long (Senior Campaign Manager) kick started her music career in 2005 with a short work experience stint at Protest Recordings. It was here that she met the man who would give her that all important first job in the music industry - Dan Walsh at Incubator. Starting off with merely a passion for music and sheer determination she spent two and a half years developing a broad range of PR skills and working on a very diverse campaigns; from working with mainstream releases like the Rolling Stones, Eddy Grant, Rod Stewart; major labels including Sony RCA and UMTV; to independent acts and niche labels such as Epitaph Records (Set Your Goals, Farewell, Sing It Loud) and Kartel (Fat Freddy's Drop). She's worked on everything from online specific campaigns to 360° campaigns that meant dealing with national, regional, student and online PR concurrently. Here experience has also covered music festivals, events, awards ceremonies and magazine PR including; O2 Wireless Festival, Wychwood Music Festival, Metal Hammer Golden Gods, Classic Rock Roll of Honour, Golden Joystick Awards Total Film Magazine and Total Film Red Carpet Preview Event. She adds several new strings to Charmfactory's bow.
Jade Gandey (Social Networking Specialist) has worked in brand marketing for the past 8 years and is Charm Factory’s resident MySpace, Facebook and Bebo guru. Under Jade’s expert direction, Charm Factory creates unique Social Networking profiles for artists and brands that entice new fans and promote sales. Jade describes herself as a champagne hippie who is is just as likely to be found barefoot hugging a tree in the middle of the countryside as she is sipping champagne at Michelin-starred restaurant. She has been married to a recording artist for 3 years, which means she understands the fine balance between social networking managed by the artist and managed by an outside influence. She believes that working alongside the artist, label or management, Charm Factory can create an active, user-friendly presence which maintains a personal touch, even when the artist has little time to be involved.
Daniel Thompson (Campaign Manager/Sales) grew up in the music industry and has always known that his passion lay in music, particularly dance music. Although he is young, he has asserted himself in Charm Factory, and has proved his savvy in many sides of the business. Daniel’s domain is the sales and dance departments. Outside of work he is a constant on the London DJ scene and the festival circuit. No doubt that it will not stop here – you’ll hear plenty more from Daniel soon.
Mike Kruger (Campaign Manager – Dance and Electronic Music Specialist) has spent his recent and most important years within the music industry, putting in three years as a member of the touring live band for a dance music DJ/production solo project. Mike is also the founding member of London-based culture and lifestyle youth portal londonkicks.com. Mike’s love is firmly rooted in all areas of dance and electronic music and he uses this passion to great effect for Charm Factory’s clients.