Young Agency Producers Talk Shop
Biscuit Filmworks & ETC held their 2017 Young Producers Dinner last night. We spoke to some of the attendees.
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Last night [February 2] was the fifth annual Young Producers Dinner at which some of London's most talented young agency producers gathered to celebrate their successes and meet with industry peers.
The event is organised by London production company Biscuit Filmworks and VFX house Electric Theatre Collective. Attendees are nominated by the heads of their agency department for their hard work over the previous 12 months and then invited to a meal at Shoreditch House to network with young producers and build ongoing business relationships.
"We select the agencies we think have done interesting work on different platforms over the year, but the choice [of who attends] is down to the heads of TV," explains Biscuit's executive producer, Hanna Bayatti [right]. "It's the heads of TV who are working with the young producers all year round and this is a way for them to reward their outstanding young talent. The dinner has been used as a way to inspire young talent and sometimes it can be the catalyst for them moving on to the next stage of their career."
"[The event] is important," adds ETC's co-founder and producer, Lee Pavey [below], "because it puts people in touch with others who do the same job, at the same level who otherwise don’t necessarily get the chance to meet. And a dinner is fun. Young producers don’t get many chances to do fun dinners. This is a nice way to get 
together, meet people, make friends - and it’s a huge networking opportunity for them. People can feel awkward asking their peers for help but we’ve noticed that, over the years, people who met at the dinner have become friends are helping one another, which is brilliant."
The full list of attendees can be found at the foot of this article, and, below, we talk to a selection of the young producers to ask them about their role, why they navigated towards it and what future challenges they believe they might face.
What was it that attracted you to the industry, and the role, in the first place?
Zoe Cunningham [right]: When I was working as a runner after graduating from Leeds University, I was helping at a casting and the directors suddenly asked me to put on a monkey suit and “wreak havoc” in the corner of the room, to get the 
performance they wanted from the auditioning actors.
There were about eight people in the room including AMV producer Yvonne Clayton. I think she liked my enthusiasm that day and subsequently offered me a job as her production assistant. Any industry where you can get a job by dressing up as a monkey is alright by me!
Sion Prys: What attracted me to production specifically was the fact that I wouldn’t get locked down to one particular client either. I love the fact you can be working on numerous and very diverse projects within a year, across a broad range of clients. Production requires you to think creatively whilst developing and maintaining close relationships with others in the agency and outside too – such as production, music and post-prod companies, which also appeals to me.
Emily Hendrey: I studied broadcast operations and then TV production at university, I was inspired by Attenborough to have a job that put me filming at the tops of trees in the Amazon.
While studying, I did lots of work experience and one particular time I got to shadow director Declan Lowney on a job with HSI. I loved the scale and quick turnaround on shoot day, it seemed like a slicker and more creative operation from other TV production work I had experienced at that point. Also, they seemed to have a lot of fun!
Toni Barker [right]: I wanted a career that I would enjoy, in an industry that unleashes change and created work that I believed in and was excited about. The main attraction was the people. Working with fun, creative and like-minded people makes it feel less like serious work and more like a creative outlet. 
Sarah Cooper: There were a few to be honest. My family always joked that I loved the ads more than the TV programmes when I was growing up. Every time a new Levi's ad came out was always a big moment. I even had the Originals Cassette, every track on those ads became a hit. A brilliant example of how to make a brand famous with a beautifully executed film and track became part of popular culture.
AMV's ad for The National Lottery, Bag of Smiles, is still one of my favourite pieces of work. The animation is beautiful and it really makes me feel something which is what good advertising should do.
Kate Banks: It was really because I love making stuff. I started in account management, and when I was on my first shoot I remember looking at my producer thinking ‘Shit, this is what I want to be doing!’ I loved how integral she was in the creative process, being exposed to all kinds of different talent from DP’s to the art department and getting to have a point of view.
Was there a particular piece of advertising work that inspired you?
Sam Topley:To be honest I was a bit of a philistine before I got into the industry. I loved (and still do) long feature films and considered myself a bit of a buff but I’d never even thought that anything 60” long (or shorter) could be considered ‘work’ or ‘creative’. How wrong I was. I was introduced to the iconic great works for Holstein Pils, Levi’s and Guinness that so many young people in the advertising biz take their inspiration from.
Sahar Bluck: Honda Impossible Dream.
Emily Hendrey: The experience with Declan Lowney was for BT The Wedding; I wouldn’t say this piece of advertising inspired me the most creatively – but the experience of it inspired me to work in production in advertising. Most Honda ads inspire me! Cog seems to be engrained in my brain.
Sion Prys: There’s one TV ad that stands out for me growing up and that’s the innovative Peugeot 206 car ad, The Sculptor [below]. It combined a good storyline, with humour, clever editing, great casting and a very catchy track. It really drilled home to me how powerful music can be in advertising. The approach also felt fresh for a car brand at the time in my opinion.
What’s currently the most difficult part of your job?
Sahar Bluck: I would say it's more of a challenge but working to progressively tighter deadlines and budgets.
Emily Hendrey [right]: Scheduling! Even in my personal life people are so busy these days.
Sam Topley: I think the hardest part of producing agency side is helping educate clients and other departments about the filmmaking process. The understanding of why things cost what they do and why it’s important to have enough time in pre-production etc… That’s a bit of a boring answer but if everyone knew that we wouldn’t have a job I suppose.
Sarah Cooper: I find the most difficult part is having a fantastic script and still trying to make it work for the budgets we're given.
And the most rewarding?
Zoe Cunningham: The main thing I love about my job is the like-minded, creative and supportive people I get to work with on a daily basis. It’s the ideal environment to learn in and grow as a producer. I like that each day is different and there are always new challenges.
Sam Topley [right]: That moment when you step back with your team after a final cut or online and just nod at each other - victorious.
Emily Hendrey: Getting to work with, and be inspired by, talented people.
Sarah Cooper: The most rewarding is when you are able to make something with a really talented team and director and collectively feel that you've created something special.
What do you think the main challenges will be in your role – or for the industry in general - over the next few years?
Zoe Cunningham: We are seeing more and more content-led briefs coming in and our campaigns are expected to stand-up on an ever-expanding number of platforms while remaining clear, cohesive and captivating as a whole.
Our clients are looking for us to generate increasingly innovative ideas on shrinking budgets. I think our main challenge will be to ensure that traditional TV advertising can keep up with that pace and continue to add weight to a multifaceted campaign. As a producer, it will be my role to keep up-to-date with the latest technologies and emerging new talent and then working with the creative team to support them in reflecting these innovations in their work.
Sion Prys [right]: We are in an industry that is forever changing and that is something that appeals to me. We have to keep up with advances in technology, to be ahead of game, and use them in the most imaginative and effective ways. With the ever-increasing client- and consumer-led content demanded these days we must ensure that the highest standards are always maintained.
Emily Hendrey: For me, it feels like the ongoing challenge of tapping into emerging technology and how you transition creative ideas/scripts and production into different and less traditional advertising spaces - AR, VR, social etc.Beyond a TV ad - and showing that same advert online - its understanding how a script in creative development/scoping stage can be tailored as video content into different spaces for less direct selling on Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat etc, having a true understanding of how people engage in that content and how adverts need to be adapted for that.
Kate Banks: At the moment, whilst it might sound cliched, I feel like we are constantly working with less and less time. I think this is really tough as whilst budgets can get compressed, you can often find a way round this; but time is something we often really need. Constantly having to rush to deliver things quickly means there is less time to properly craft the work which can be frustrating.
Toni Barker: The Advertising industry, like many other industries, faces change over the next few years. People don't want to feel as though they are being targeted by adverts, yet some are so loved that people, of all ages, wait for their favourite brands to release their ads & then want more content online. For the content we are creating to work we need to keep in touch with what our audiences are longing for.
Sarah Cooper: Budgets are decreasing and clients' expectations haven't really changed, particularly in social. We are, more and more, having to think very cleverly about what we can create for the budget and still produce at piece of creative work that we're proud of. It's a challenge, and relies on us to really use all our resources to make it happen without it compromising the creative.
Sam Topley: I imagine that the biggest challenge will lie in what moving image production is for in the future. The boundaries between TV, online and interactive have become so blurred already over the past few years that it’s sometimes difficult to know what being a ‘TV Producer’ is and where we sit in the agency as a whole. I think the next five years will see a lot of change in filmmaking and our roles may change but how we can keep the fundamentals of bringing creativity to life will be very exciting.
How important is it to network with your peers from other agencies?
Sahar Bluck [below]: I think it's good to network and have friends at other agencies that you can share your experiences with and learn from each other.
Emily Hendrey:It’s really important to me for context on working life and contacts to call upon when you encounter work situations you haven’t come across yet or if you just want general advice.
Sion Prys: I always get a buzz from meeting people from other agencies as well as colleagues from production houses, sound studios and so on. To me it’s important to know people socially as well as professionally, in a creative environment. It’s always good to hear how other teams work too.
The full list of producers nominated by their department heads is;
Kate Banks @ mcgarrybowen
Toni Barker @ Joint
Lara Baxter @ Saatchi & Saatchi
Sahar Bluck @ Wieden + Kennedy
Charlie Coombes @ FCB Inferno
Sarah Cooper @ BBH
Zoe Cunningham @ AMV BBDO
Emily Hendrey @ CHI
Yaffa Jacobs @ Publicis
Abby Moore @ Lucky Generals
Marcy Patterson @ Mother
Sion Prys @adam&eveDDB
Adam Reid @ R/GA
Rose Reynolds @ MullenLowe
James Royce @ Ogilvy
Talia Shear @ Grey
Sam Topley @ Karmarama
Doris Tydeman @ McCann
Connections
powered by
- Post Production Electric Theatre Collective
- Production Biscuit Filmworks UK
- Executive Producer Hanna Bayatti
- Founder Lee Pavey
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