Last fall, Mary Cheney, head of production at Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), New York, was in pre-production on Levi’s Type1 Jean’s "Stampede," which aired during last month’s Super Bowl telecast. A few days before the production was set to shoot in Los Angeles, director Frederic Planchon of Academy, London, fell ill and regretfully informed BBH that he would be unable to complete the job as planned.
It’s one of those classic nightmare producer stories, but to hear it from Cheney is to hear it from someone who always has things entirely under control. "We sat down with [Academy] executive producer Nick [Morris] and asked, ‘What can we do?’ " recalls Cheney. "Nick suggested Jorn Haagen to take over the shoot so we took him on, and he did a fantastic job."
The :60, "Stampede," aired as planned just after the second quarter of the Big Game, and no one was the wiser. In the ad, an attractive young couple walks through the abandoned streets of a metropolis wearing their Type1 jeans—a new style from Levi’s featuring accentuated stitching and oversized rivets and buttons. Suddenly, they hear a rumbling noise—it’s the stomping of hundreds of bison barreling towards them. Instead of running, the couple faces the stampede head on, and the animals miraculously run around them. A super follows, which says: "Levi’s Type1. Bold Since 1853." To illustrate Levi’s 150-year anniversary, the numbers in "1853" roll forward, stopping at "2003."
From Cheney’s perspective, the last-minute snafu with Planchon is just part of being a producer, and that’s why BBH executive creative director Kevin McKeon values her. "She instills confidence in everybody working on the shoot, so you just feel like it’s going to get done," says McKeon. "[It’s] probably the most important quality you can have as a producer."
Launching pad
No matter how big or small a job, Cheney treats them all with equal weight. Last year, she oversaw the shop’s first broadcast work for Levi’s, as well the launch of Axe, the men’s deodorant spray, while continuing to manage her department’s ongoing accounts. "We feel that pressure on every ad that we make," says Cheney. "It’s pressure that we put on ourselves because we want everything that goes out the door to be the best it can possibly be."
For Levi’s, she produced "French Dictionary" and "Bakery," both directed by Ivan Zacharias of bicoastal Smuggler and Stink, London. The Axe deodorant launch included several spots directed by LeMoine. Miller—Rick and Steve, respectively—of bicoastal/international @radical.media. The agency is also about to break two new spots for online bank ING Direct.
Cheney’s approach to producing is a natural outgrowth of the BBH philosophy, which includes "the importance of effectiveness and accountability" and "the power of creativity" among other mission statements etched in glass in the agency’s lobby.
She runs her production department accordingly—one telling aspect of Cheney’s work ethic is what she looks for in her employees. At press time, BBH was in the process of hiring a new production assistant, so SHOOT asked Cheney what she was after. "We’re looking for personality, sharpness and a willingness to do anything," says Cheney. The latter requirement exists not because she wants the production assistant to pay his or her proverbial dues, but because her department is so small. "We don’t have business managers or account payment departments, so it is a place where you have to learn to do all of that," she explains.
In general, Cheney says she hires people who can exceed expectations. "If you look for the potential in someone to be a better producer than you are," she notes, "I think you’ll always have a strong department."
Currently, Cheney has one senior producer, two assistant producers and a production assistant under her charge. She says she often calls on freelance producers, but the idea is to keep the staff lean. This means expectations are high for the employees that are on staff. On choosing a director, Cheney says, "We don’t want someone who’s just going to crunch numbers. We need our producers to be creative, have an opinion and be willing to take risks. It’s not that we’re always going to push a new director, but we do like to open doors and give our creatives options."
Indeed, McKeon’s creative teams bring the production department in on a job as soon as an assignment is received. "We work very cooperatively here in general, so we listen to our producers for their input and ideas about how to make [a job] better," he relates.
McKeon and Cheney met three years ago, when McKeon was appointed executive creative director at BBH, and Cheney was freelance producing for the shop. Cheney had worked with BBH since the shop opened in ’98, and was offered the head of production position shortly after McKeon was hired.
Prior to that, Cheney had worked as a producer at Grey, New York, from ’87 to ’90. From there, she moved to Kirshenbaum, Bond & Partners, New York, which she left in ’94 to pursue a master’s degree in motion picture producing at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. After graduating, Cheney worked as a producer in Los Angeles on the Lifetime breast cancer documentary Two Chicks, Two Bikes, One Car, among other projects. In ’98, she moved back to New York to freelance produce for such New York agencies as Merkley Newman Harty|Partners; Bozell; Cliff Freeman and Partners; and BBH.
This kind of experience has garnered her the instinct to mentor younger producers, which is a big part of her job. While much of her time now is spent overseeing the department, Cheney herself continues to produce at least one job at a time. At press time, she had just returned from a shoot for Mentos Mints for the U.S. market, and Power Gum for Europe, both directed by LeMoine.Miller.
