Who We Are
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J.J. Balaban has been an ad maker and strategist for 24 years, writing and creating television ads for Democratic campaigns in 36 states, 84 Congressional districts, and 121 media markets. A graduate of Princeton University, J.J. served as a Congressional press secretary and worked on various political campaigns prior to starting his career as an ad maker.
J.J. is the only ad maker in the nation to have made the hard-side ads that helped defeat incumbent Republican Members of Congress in both 2022 and 2024. His candidate and independent expenditure ads have helped elect Governors, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, Attorneys-General, and Mayors. He has created independent expenditure ads for various organizations, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Giffords, NRDC Action Votes, and 314 PAC.
J.J.’s work has helped make American politics more inclusive. He made the ads that helped elect the nation’s first openly gay Governor (Jared Polis of Colorado), the first openly gay Attorney-General (Maura Healey of Massachusetts), the first Black openly gay U.S. Representative (Mondaire Jones of New York), and the first U.S. Representative who is trans (Sarah McBride of Delaware). J.J.’s work was hailed by the Washington Post and MSNBC’s Hardball as the best ad of the cycle, and by Time Magazine as the second best ad of the cycle.
J.J. lives in Philadelphia with his wife—a pediatric neurologist—and their 10-year-old daughter.
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Jared Kamrass is a Partner with Technicolor Campaigns. Before joining Technicolor, Jared Kamrass was the founder and Principal of Cincinnati-based Rivertown Strategies and a Senior Advisor to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, where he advised candidates and staff in some of the nation’s most competitive districts.
Following his time at the DCCC, Jared began his career in media consulting, working as an ad maker for a range of clients, including national committees, candidates for Governor, Congress, and other statewide and local offices. He has been a part of the only media consulting team to unseat Republican members of Congress in the last two cycles, and he is also a 2026 recipient of the AAPC's "40 Under 40" award.
Jared's path to politics was unusual. He attended Ohio State as the Great Recession was unfolding in real time. Though he had always harbored a love for politics, his initial plan was to pursue a career in broadcast journalism.
But his trajectory changed when he was told he had cancer the morning after Thanksgiving in 2010. Prior to that day, he’d been a normal 19-year-old college sophomore whose career aspirations included becoming a sports broadcaster. To that point, his political campaign experience was limited to knocking doors for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and helping manage his brother's campaign for OSU student body president.
He began treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and experienced the side effects that accompanied the chemotherapy and radiation amidst the backdrop of the national debate surrounding Obamacare. Jared became friendly with a peer undergoing Leukemia treatment and being raised by a single mom without health insurance. Their time together and the differences in their experiences, stemming from access to health insurance, motivated Jared to get in the game.
Jared and his wife, Emma, live in Cincinnati with their son and dog. In the Kamrass house, most things take a backseat to Ohio State football, but on any given day, you’ll be likely to find Reds, Bengals, FC Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati, and Washington Wizards games on in their house.
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Michaela Kurinsky-Malos is a Principal at Technicolor Campaigns, bringing a decade of experience leading statewide and red-to-blue congressional campaigns. She managed Sarah McBride’s historic 2024 congressional campaign and later served as her Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director, helping navigate a complex and closely watched first year in Congress.
Michaela lives in Washington, DC, with her fiancé and their two dogs, though she will always consider Oregon home.
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Annie Austin is the Client Services Director at Technicolor Campaigns. She has planned and executed paid media campaigns for candidates across the country. In 2024, Annie worked as a Digital Media Planner at GMMB, where she managed eight figures of ad spending and oversaw campaign performance across 40 platforms and 12 battleground states. In 2022, she was a part of the political team at the DCCC Independent Expenditure, managing day-to-day operations for ad production across 21 battleground districts.
Annie resides in Chicago, where she got her start in politics, fundraising for congressional campaigns.