BBH Discusses Launching Black Sheep Studios

BBH London has launched a production unit offering clients an alternative solution to producing low-cost, fast turnaround video content for a digital world. Called Black Sheep Studios (BSS), it will sit within BBH responding directly to client briefs, both writing and producing on-line video output. 

BSS will be led by Anthony Austin, [above left] who joins from Mother London where he was the head of video production and founder of the agency's award winning video production company BOSH. Austin will report into BBH London CEO, Ben Fennell, and Davud Karbassioun [above right], BBH’s head of production.

shots speaks to both Austin and Karbassioun about BSS, how it aims to work and what impact, if any, it would have on its traditional production parnerships.

"It's something we've been talking about for a long time," explains Karbassioun, "about how we needed to start thinking differently about the business and about video production. When we spoke to our key clients - British Airways, Audi and Barclay's - it was clear that there was a growing need for additional video content for all of them, and a need to offer an alternative process."

"We are trying to establish a new way," continues Austin. "There'll be experimentation to meet the demand for low-cost, quality video content [and] we want to try to involve clients more in the role of production."

BSS is not the first in-house agency production entity and is unlikely to be the last but both Karbassioun and Austin are at pains to point out that the formation of BSS is meant to compliment the ageny's partnerships with traditional production partners, not replace it. "We gave a lot of time and thought to building this," says Karbassioun, "and we didn't do it lightly. I wouldn't have a job if I didn't have a list of production company numbers in my pocket to help us create that magic, and long may that continue.

"We spoke to some of our production company friends before doing this and BSS is going to have to prove itself as it goes along. We felt we had to challenge the model but we can't work without our production partners [but] BSS is there to connect and compliment what we're already doing. It's definitely a case of and not or."

"As Dav says," adds Austin, "BBH has built its name on production and its production partnerships but BSS is responding to a client need [and] what attracted me to this role is belief and enthusiasm for BSS from the senior levels of BBH. They believe this is the right approach."

Austin and Karbassioun liken BSS to a collective as much as a produciton company and cite Channel 4's in-house creative entity, 4Creative, as a model for what they aim to achieve. Austin, with a contact book full of people from the worlds of documentary filmmaking, coding, deisign, journalism and beyond, sees BSS as tapping into the relevant skills as and when the need is there as well as utilising the skills and ambitions of BBH staff.

"Above all," concludes Karbassioun, "this is about the huge and increasing demand for video content; wider, more engaging and connective content. In 2013 BBH created something like 120 original pieces of film and last year that number went up by between 30 and 40 per cent. Most of that was smaller, cheaper work. Some of it exciting, some if it less so but all of it with a purpose, and that's the role of BSS, to create fast-response content for our clients with a leaner approach and process."