Tommy Wilson
Executive Producer/Head of Production
Humanaut

 

 

 

What’s the most relevant business and/or creative lesson you learned in 2023 and how will you apply it to 2024? 

In 2023 we realized that we can apply our unique Humanaut production ethos and process to projects outside of our own creative agency sphere, generating revenue by partnering directly with outside brands and other entities as a production company and post house. We’ve spent nearly eight years growing what was a small in-house production team into a full-scale, full-service production department complete with back office staff, a 6,000 square foot stage and full post-production team. Growing in parallel with the creative agency, we’ve developed a collaborative process that keeps the creative idea at the forefront of every project and emphasizes putting as much money in front of the camera as possible. Our in-house creative/production relationship helps shape the creative from its earliest phases by putting contours around what’s possible with the time and money allotted for production early on, fostering an empathetic relationship between high-level ideas and how to actually bring them to life. We’ve developed a sort of ‘Creative Empathy’ that serves the project first and removes a lot of the tension and ego found in many traditional agency/production company relationships. In 2024 we look forward to opening up our ethos and this offering to the rest of the advertising world, partnering directly with brands as well as select creative agencies that share our unique perspective to produce high-level campaigns from start to finish. We love the potential for collaboration!

While gazing into the crystal ball is a tricky proposition, we nonetheless ask you for any forecast you have relative to content creation and/or the creative and/or business climate for 2024?

It could be a big year for brands’ in-house marketing teams. Content creation is as hot as ever with all of the AI tools that became available in 2023 and it takes less experience than ever to make a lot of assets quickly. An election year coupled with an uncertain economic outlook also make it more likely for these brands to withhold spending marketing dollars on traditional agency creative. Instead, we’ll likely see more re-purposed existing content, cheaply made assets in-house and priority on media spending. I predict more direct relationships with brands and production companies as creative development moves more in-house. At the end of the day, though, good creative is still good creative. Cutting through the noise with meaningful content will continue to matter most – it might just take a minute for the marketing powers that be to ebb and flow back to that inevitable realization. It could also be an impactful year for challenger brands collaborating with seasoned creative agencies and production companies looking to cut a deal.

Does your company have plans for any major diversification and/or expansion/investment in technology and talent in 2024 and if so, what? How will this investment or diversification add value to what you can offer to clients? If instead you have already realized any actual expansion, made such an investment and/or diversified significantly recently and brought on new talent and expertise, share those developments with us along with what they mean to your staff and clients.

Developing a strong diversity pipeline takes intention, especially in smaller markets like ours. Humanaut knows that successfully growing our business relies on incorporating this diverse pool of voices and experiences into the fabric of what we create and how we create it. We make every effort to develop a diverse talent pool rather than strictly waiting for the perfect candidate to submit an application. We invest in artists and working professionals from outside of the industry and give people who express interest in making things with us a chance to spark a career making things for themselves and others. We work hard to lift our community and in turn the unique individuals who make up that community lift us in unison. We’re proud of a very diverse in-house production team and strong female leadership throughout the organization. In addition to strong non-white and female leadership on staff, in 2023 alone 42% of our projects were shot by a non-white and/or female director of photography, 58% of our projects were directed by a non-white and/or female director, and 92% of our projects were produced by a non-white and/or female producer. We’re proud of the representation we could bring on this year and look to increase those percentages, namely in leadership roles, in 2024.

Are you involved in virtual production or experimenting with AI, AR or other emerging disciplines or new technologies? Have you engaged in any real-world projects on these fronts? If so, relative to experimental and/or actual projects, briefly tell us about the work and what you’ve taken away from the experience. If the work is complete and you’d like to share a link to it, please include.

Our team has leaned in heavily on exploring AI as it’s evolved in 2023. Our Post-Production Supervisor even led a presentation on emerging new technologies for the community centered around ‘Embracing AI’ this past summer. Rather than run from these new technologies, we’re collaborating heavily with the Humanaut creative team to incorporate these tools to aid in pitch decks where some elements even trickle into final creative concepts. Humanaut always wants to position brands at the forefront of culture and what’s relevant to the humans on the other end of the ad, and AI is super relevant right now. This also means taking into account some clients being reticent in participating in the AI conversation due to fears around bad press and job losses. We’ll continue to explore time and money-saving capabilities that could bail us out where footage might need to be re-shot, traditionally. Lip sync technology has been an interesting new development, for example, giving us the opportunity to ADR dialogue that potentially wasn’t even captured on set but appears to sync with talents’ lips. This has also sparked healthy conversations with talent agents around how to treat footage and compensate talent fairly as the landscape evolves. Humanaut is excited about the whole movement and we hope to be at the forefront of adopters rather than late to the game.

Gender pay disparity, sexual misconduct and the need for diversity & inclusion are issues that have started to be dealt with meaningfully. While the industry has made strides to address these issues, there’s still a long way to go. What policies do you have in place or plan to implement or step up in order to make progress on any or all of these fronts? 

Developing a strong diversity pipeline takes intention, especially in smaller markets like ours. Humanaut knows that successfully growing our business relies on incorporating this diverse pool of voices and experiences into the fabric of what we create and how we create it. We make every effort to develop a diverse talent pool rather than strictly waiting for the perfect candidate to submit an application. We invest in artists and working professionals from outside of the industry and give people who express interest in making things with us a chance to spark a career making things for themselves and others. We work hard to lift our community and in turn the unique individuals who make up that community lift us in unison. We’re proud of a very diverse in-house production team and strong female leadership throughout the organization. In addition to strong non-white and female leadership on staff, in 2023 alone 42% of our projects were shot by a non-white and/or female director of photography, 58% of our projects were directed by a non-white and/or female director, and 92% of our projects were produced by a non-white and/or female producer. We’re proud of the representation we could bring on this year and look to increase those percentages, namely in leadership roles, in 2024. 

What was the biggest challenge posed to you by a recent project? Or share insights to a recent project you deem notable. Briefly describe the project, why it was particularly noteworthy or what valuable lesson(s) you learned from it. If the work is complete and you’d like to share a link to it, please include.

2023 was full of fun challenges. Every production is always different, difficult and fun in unique ways – especially for the type of work and the types of brands Humanaut lends itself to. One of the biggest hurdles on the production side was more operational this year, though. Figuring out how to work with other creative entities than our own as a production company comes with a learning curve. When we shoot our own creative, all teams are very integrated from months of working together in the creative phase. There’s a forged connection to the work long before production begins. The non-Humanaut creative teams we worked with directly on production this year came with their creative mostly baked and not a lot of room for the alts and ‘fun to have’ sort of takes we’re used to creating collaboratively and on the fly. We learned a lot about ourselves and the exposure we’re used to with the Humanaut creative team. Inevitably we brought new ideas and ways of thinking to our partners and they did the same for us. We’ll continue to hone these new processes around our production-only offerings but I think we’ve solved a lot to date.

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