Orlando Wood & Lee Pavey on New Producing Talent

Last year shots spoke to Biscuit Filmworks UK executive producer Orlando Wood and Electric Theatre Collective producer Lee Pavey about their annual Young Producer's Dinner - an event set up to honour and recognise the brilliant work being done by emerging talent at advertising agencies in London.

Now in its fifth year, the evening has become an integral date on both companies' calendars and in 2015 the latest crop of producers, hand-picked by their heads of TV, joined the party to celebrate and reflect on their work from the past year and toast to the future with like-minded peers.

Below, co-founders of the event, Wood and Pavey, offer their thoughts on the annual dinner, explaining why they feel it's important to recognise and nurture new talent, as well as touching on the changing role of the producer in today's rapidly evolving industry.

What are your thoughts on the past year in terms of young agency producing talent in London and the work being put out?

OW: You know, I’m constantly impressed at what these producers are pulling off with the constraints they’re faced with. But, it’s always been true that the young people who jump at the chance to do things others would groan at often pull off the miracles we’re most impressed by.

I was talking with a producer the other day about our first job; the client was Nike and the ads - Manboobs, Paula, Sofia and Andrew - were shot by Eran Creevy (who we now rep) for Nike+. We agreed that, if we were presented with it now, we wouldn’t take it.

In fact, we now know so much about what can go wrong, that we are far more risk averse. However, there’s something gorgeous about not having anything to lose. With the right support, at any level, we should all be taking those chances.

The director was Eran Creevy (who we now rep)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlsSH278T7c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6KJ5Gou84w

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x29xiw_pub-nike-plus-2007-sofia-boutella_music

LP: Every year I’m impressed by the amount of emerging talent coming through the industry. The young producers aren’t afraid to adapt to new technology or new ways of distributing content; they’re quick and keen to embrace change. Also with every year that passes we see that the focus is becoming less on the traditional 30-second commercial and more on new ways of engaging an audience from sharing and using social media to interactivity within film.

Does it feel like the Young Producer’s Dinner comes around quickly and what was the feedback like from those invited last year?

OW: I’m constantly impressed by how the groups we honour each year go on to become some of the best producers in the game. The most rewarding feedback we got from last year’s crew was that most of them had stayed in touch. I think that some agencies don’t foster a culture of valuable ignorance and sometimes that can be stifling for young people.

I started my career at Wieden+Kennedy and its motto of “walk in stupid every day” was unbelievably helpful. A producer’s greatest skill shouldn’t be to know everything, it should be to be honest about what we don’t know and dogged in our pursuit of the answer. I’m always careful of people who profess to know too much… because when the world moves under their feet, they’re least prepared for it.

LP: The event just gets better and better every year. Also I’ve really enjoyed meeting them for the first time at the dinner and getting to know them better the more I work with them on projects - seeing them progress as they come in and out of ETC, now running big projects of their own.

Also the feedback I’ve got is that the dinners have helped the producers build great relationships with their fellow young producers as well as realise how important they are to their heads of TV.

Does the talent go on to produce and be involved with more great work that you’ve seen or heard about?

OW: Absolutely. In fact, we very proudly worked with Chris Watling on Axe Soulmates last year.

And with non-traditional channels becoming more important, does the event recognise a mix of talent rather than just achievement in advertising for TV?

OW: Absolutely, I’m particularly keen to ensure that we understand the evolving challenges that each of these producers is faced with. As producers are increasingly relied on to deliver to ideas that cross channels and media they are becoming more adept at protecting core ideas and stories as they are released, unconventionally to consumers.

A particularly interesting one is the Ryman Eco project produced by Fritha Dickie at Grey. This is a fantastic project to create a new font that uses less ink than traditional ones and the poster project is a unique marketing component of that idea. I think what’s wonderful is that the producer is enrolled to touch all aspects of the project and its execution and that’s going to become a much sought-after skill in the years to come.

LP: The night is about rewarding young talent producing content; it does not matter if it’s a TV commercial, an online film or a piece of interactive content. I’m sure with time we will see more people there who are creating experiences through VR, content sponsorship or online channels.

How important do you think it is to nurture and champion young talented producers in today’s landscape with events like the Young Producer's Dinner?

OW: It couldn’t be more important. Entertainment is a producer’s medium. Producers are the people who make things possible and they need to be encouraged to creatively redefine what the role of producer means in a modern, advertising and marketing environment. The best producers, and these are the people and qualities we’re seeing at our dinners, are creatively interesting and interested people who also happen to be good at organisation and personable enough to sell new ideas to new partners.

LP: Young talent is the future of our industry. The more rewarded and excited we feel about their work, the better the industry.

Below is a list of the attendees and their agencies in 2015:

Caspar Redgrave - St Lukes

Fritha Dickie - Grey

Georgie Hammond-Chambers - Saatchi & Saatchi

Chloe Roseman - Wieden+Kennedy

Chantelle Bloom - WCRS

Francesca roberts - CHI

James Robley - AMV

Helen Choonpicharn - Leo Burnett

Charlotte Stirrup - mcgarrybowen

Jenny Fan - Mother