1) It’s been a trend for years, but the lines are blurring between conventional TV commercials and social content. Every TVC shoot has a social content component, often as extensive as the commercial creative, and some of the social content can be quite entertaining. Although there is not always parity in relation to the job specs with schedule and budget around the broadcast and social productions, I think a positive trend is that advertisers more and more are realizing that creating quality, entertaining content takes real thought and execution and is not always something that can be shot with an iPhone during lunch.
2) The Game of Thrones x Bud Light “Joust” spot we produced for W+K/Droga5 for the Super Bowl seemed to be the right balance of branded marketing and entertainment. It won the Super CLIO this year. But my favorite work this year was Droga5’s fantastic campaign for The New York Times. It was pretty much perfect.
3) Work that normally doesn’t make a spark on paper when originally received can take a life of its own and really catch fire in a whole other way when smart clients, creatives and directors spend time talking and pushing to make something special. I don’t think any of us knew how much Burger King “Whopper Detour” (O Pos produced the stunt film) would resonate!
4) I wish I had a crystal ball. It would save me money on expensive phone calls to 1-880-Psychics. I think this industry is in a strange reshaping and renovating mode. The marketers are hosting agencies internally, the holding companies and the agencies are producing work internally and then there is ‘us.’ ‘Us” being production, editorial and animation companies which have to remain strong and continue to produce the best work we can to stay in demand for the all the reasons we launched our companies to begin with. We all aim to produce branded content that blurs the lines between advertising and entertainment and pushes boundaries in craft.
5) Recent award show trends and wins seem to champion campaigns that hit multiple platforms and are interactive, really speaking to consumer needs. For instance, we produced the centerpiece stunt film for Burger King “Whopper Detour,” which was a sensation at Cannes, winning Titanium, Mobile and Direct.
6) Like all production companies, we need to do a better job of searching out more female directors and more minority directors. Comedy is our niche, for the most part, and it can be a daunting task to find people whose work we think is at a certain level. That said, we know there is talent out there that hasn’t yet gotten a fair shot.
