As budgets carry on shrinking, the industry continues to react - and now Mother New York is the latest agency to open up its own production division.

The last 18 months have seen countless creative/production hybrids spring up in adland. From prod cos taking over creative duties, to agencies moving into the director's chair, to newborn one-stop hotshops - the industry is getting to grips with how to adapt to the changing landscape. So Mother New York's launch of an in-house production division, Mother Productions, represents a significant step in the agency's future strategic approach.

"Over the past year, we've encountered a number of very cool assignments," explains producer Mike Aaron, "with what can best be described as 'micro budgets'. It's amazing to think that that we've now crossed a threshold where hearing a project has 'low budget' comparatively implies it's flush with cash. We simply can't expect that every underfunded project we bring, on bent-knee, to an outside production partner can be properly executed. At a certain point it becomes unfair to that company and to the project. So, as we began to look inward and self-produced a number of these projects over the past year, we found other efficiencies in the process aside from the obvious financial ones. It was only after critically evaluating the creative product from these internal ventures that we decided we were ready to launch Mother Productions."

The division will work side by side with the Mother NY creative department, in a move that the agency hopes will inject creative vision into the production process at an earlier stage than usual. Some Mother staff members have already dipped their toe in the directing world - such as creative Linus Karlsson's work for Coke Full Throttle and 10 Cane - but the agency is also recruiting from outside to form a team with the right expertise. "Over the past few months we've reached out to a wide range of talent across the country, in both the production and post communities," continues Aaron. "But we're very open and flexible. Depending on the project, it wouldn't be uncommon for the copywriter, art director and creative director to assume the directing responsibilities once in a while. As we move forward however, we do intend to have a roster of directing talent available to our clients. Some of these individuals will likely be Mother staff, while others will not."

Mother Production's first client is NBC Local, for whom they will be crafting a new brand strategy and visual identity, then creating and producing all content. The agency hopes that some of its other existing clients will be attracted, as well as new clients. And Aaron insists that moving some production in-house won't damage existing relationships with external production and post houses: "Our creative partners, outside Mother, play a huge role in our process. Assembling the right production/post team must always depend on the creative requirements of the work. If that isn't properly matched, then we haven't done our job."