At the heart of direct response marketing are two things, the product and the production shoot. Content really is king; no matter how good or revolutionary a product may be, the creative, putting together the content, shooting the TV spot and stills (more on this in the future) is what gives it life. Brandon Anthony, one of our senior producers and directors sat down to give a behind the scenes look at what production is really like.
How many projects/clients are you typically working on at one time?
That varies. The production team as a whole has anywhere up to 30 separate projects. Each producer may have 5-10 separate projects on their plate at once.
How long have you been at Bluewater?
January will mark 10 years.
How did you get into production?
It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! Magazine. Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine.
Hangin’ pictures on my wall. Way back, when I had the red and black lumberjack with the hat to match. I’m blowin’ up like you thought I would.
Call the crib, same number, same hood. It’s all good and if you don’t know, now you know.
What’s the most important part of a shoot?
As I have always said. The most important part of production/shoot is the team. If you have a good team you can make the impossible, possible.
What goes into a shoot? Rundown of all the intricacies?
Each shoot is different even though every project is important. Some shoots have more details than others and some of our higher budget long-form creative, even though done months in advance, still take us all the way up to the project is being filmed to execute the vision.
How do you deal with unexpected situations and sudden change?
You just have to adapt and find a solution. The client doesn’t care if its raining, still need to hit the deadline.
What advice would you give to a young producer, PA, or someone looking to get into the business?
Make sure production is something you really want to do. A lot of times it’s not as glamorous as it looks. You can’t be afraid of long hours and hard work.
What is your proudest production moment?
We were in New Orleans a year ago with the team filming KitchenAid. We were scheduled to shoot a daytime scene the next day when a tropical storm was scheduled to hit the area. We turned it into an evening scene and filmed the wide shots on location outside and filmed the medium and closeup shots in a warehouse with a tropical storm overhead. The scene turned out amazing and I dare anyone to point out the difference between what was shot inside and what was shot outside.
These guys are the unsung heroes of the advertising and marketing worlds. Consumers see the finished products on TV or on the internet, they see the charismatic spokesperson, but they don’t necessarily know the grind that goes into the production that makes it all possible. As Brandon said, “if you have a good team you can make the impossible, possible”. Content is king and the producers, directors and shooters are an integral part to a smooth running direct response machine.