About Us
Two people. Thirty years. Zero account managers.
We built the agency we always wanted to work at.
We spent decades inside LA's biggest agencies. We launched Honda on the web in '95 and on social in '06. We built campaigns for Discovery Channel, VH-1, ampm. We won Cannes Lions, Clios, One Show pencils, and Webbys along the way.
But we watched the model break. Clients paying for layers of people who never touch the work. Junior teams running senior accounts. Decks that take longer to build than the campaigns themselves.
So in 2019, we started Cast Iron LA. Two senior creatives working directly with clients, backed by AI-powered workflows and an on-demand bench of specialists. Big-agency quality without the big-agency tax.
The Founders
An art director and a copywriter. That's the whole agency.
J. Barbush
Co-Founder / Copywriter
Award-winning copywriter with senior creative roles at RPA, Dailey, and David&Goliath. His work for Honda, USAA, and Jack in the Box has earned recognition at Cannes, the One Show, and the Clios. He's taught advertising at Art Center and written for industry publications.
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Luis Ramirez
Co-Founder / Art Director
Senior art director who's led visual campaigns at RPA, Dailey, and David&Goliath for brands like Honda, Discovery Channel, and VH-1. Now building AI-powered creative workflows that let a two-person agency outproduce teams ten times its size.
Read more →How We Work
The model is simple. The work is anything but.
01
Direct to Creative
You talk to the people making your campaign. Not a project manager. Not an account exec. The actual creatives doing the work.
02
AI-Powered Workflows
We use AI to handle research, production, and iteration at a speed that used to require a full department. The creative thinking stays human.
03
On-Demand Specialists
When a project needs specific expertise, we bring in senior freelancers from our vetted network. You get exactly the talent the job requires, nothing more.