As SHOOT celebrates a milestone, its 65th year of publication, we continue a recently launched series of interviews and features that will run throughout the summer on SHOOTonline and in SHOOT’s newsletters and special PDF Issue with digital distribution in which industry executives, creatives and artists reflect on the changes they’ve seen over the decades, as well as essential dynamics that have endured. These folks–from different sectors of the business–will also share their visions and aspirations for the future.
Perhaps most importantly, this special SHOOT coverage enables us to look back on the industry’s history, learn from it, and plum relevant lessons that will help us now and beyond. Mark Twain once famously said, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.” Twain’s insight underscores the importance of the past and its role in helping us better shape today and tomorrow.
Such perspectives are invaluable yet sadly often not properly considered as society’s tendency at times is to overlook history and its significance. Additionally, the new generation navigating our industry sometimes isn’t aware of the relevant history, having not experienced it firsthand. Hopefully helping to close those gaps will be SHOOT’s 65th Anniversary coverage which seeks to provide historical context and to benefit from its relevance to the present and what may lie ahead.
This week we connect with Luke Ricci, president, RSA US where he oversees RSA Films, Black Dog Films and The Directors Bureau. Prior to joining RSA and its global leadership team in 2021, Ricci served as president and executive producer of production company Bullitt, founded by The Russo Brothers and Justin Lin. Ricci was also co-founder, president and CEO of branded entertainment agency Superconductor. An executive and producer with a prolific background in advertising and production, Ricci has worked on the agency and production company sides of the aisle, overseeing multiple award-winning productions and managing the careers of many of the industry’s most talented filmmakers.
Here are reflections and observations from Ricci in response to several questions posed by SHOOT:
SHOOT: How has your business model evolved over the years? What principles and beliefs have remained constant to help shape your company/agency/organization? What dynamics have changed, causing you and your company to adapt–and how have you adapted?
RICCI: What do I know? What does anyone know? There’s literally an AI robot licking its chops as it looks at us humans thinking about things…I think William Goldman wrote in “Adventures in the Screen Trade”: “nobody knows anything.” The other thing Neil Canton said to us in film school was: “One person’s opinion is just that, two people’s opinions are the opinion of the whole world.” So if you see some things in what follows echoed by other people as well, maybe they are true. If not, disregard everything…
Business for me has always been focused on producing premium advertising content. That’s been the throughline in every production company I’ve been part of. I’ve always prioritized building an environment where talent can thrive–partners, directors, producers, creatives–so they feel supported to deliver best-in-class work. Over time, the nature of what “advertising content” means has expanded dramatically. We’ve gone from a primary focus on 30-second broadcast spots to a fragmented content ecosystem with social, digital, experiential, branded entertainment, and hyper-specific versioning of deliverables.
As the needs of agencies and brands have shifted, I’ve made it a point to remain flexible–I think it was JB Smoove who said in an episode of “Curb:” “namaste, motherfuckers”–in how we as production entities deliver value. At RSA Films, Black Dog and now also The Directors Bureau, my goal is to be a flexible and holistic production partner–a partner who can step into any creative executional challenge and solve it through the strength of our rosters, our extended creative talent network, and our commitment to production excellence. If a campaign needs a top-tier commercial director, great–we can do that. If it needs an experimental installation artist or a TikTok-native filmmaker, we can accommodate that as well. We focus on the core capability of producing advertising content, but allow ourselves to be flexible enough to produce in virtually any format or activation.
Some general principles I try to keep in mind (I stole these from much smarter people, but am too lazy to research the sources…):
Outwork everyone. And surround yourself with people who do the same. But also know when it’s time to take a vacation. (Abraham Lincoln?)
Lean into discomfort–difficult people, difficult conversations, ambiguity. That’s where the breakthroughs are.
Be honest. Be transparent. Be authentic.
Obsess over the details. Then build a team who scales that precision.
Push the creative. Always. That’s non-negotiable. At the end of the day, it really is about the work.
Assume positive intent. Give people the benefit of the doubt–until they show you otherwise.
Wake up early.
Read outside of your field. Engage people outside of your bubble.
Things are never as bad–or as good–as they seem. (Scott Galloway)
The best people often come from the operations trenches.
And finally: exercise, eat your vegetables…and don’t forget to eat some ice cream too. (My grandmother)
SHOOT: What lessons have you learned over the course of your career that remain vital to you today? What new or recent lessons have you found particularly significant?
RICCI: The lessons keep coming everyday. Just when you think you have something figured out, it flips, and then you have to start looking at things in a different way.
Staying flexible–mentally and structurally–has never been more important. The business is constantly evolving and at an accelerating pace, and clinging to old models and ways of thinking guarantees irrelevance and failure. I’ve learned to consider counterpoints deeply, to question basic and traditional assumptions, and to seek out what is not visible at first glance. There are many ways to solve any given problem and I always try to remember that.
Recently, I’ve become more focused on building anti-fragility into the business–designing for uncertainty and operating from an adaptive mind frame. That has meant diversifying service and talent offerings, expanding what “production” can mean, and thinking more like a production strategist than a pure creative and executional partner.
You have to be a student of the craft of filmmaking, of emerging technologies, of financial markets and the economy, and of human behavior. Keep reading, keep asking questions. Stay vigilant, stay empathetic, stay decisive. And know when to pivot.
SHOOT: What industry developments over the years–and/or recently–have had the greatest positive influence on you and your company, agency, organization? Whose work has had the greatest positive influence on you?
RICCI: The robot that is waiting in the shadows to get us all is probably the most relevant topic?
AI is the most important technological development in my lifetime. Perhaps in modern human history. It’s unclear exactly how this technology will redefine so many aspects of our society, but its emergence has propelled us into an immediate integration into our business at every level and in every workflow. Ultimately, I feel strongly that AI can empower creatives to have a bigger and more powerful brush with which to paint and that it will allow the individual to be involved with more of the workflows associated with content creation. Use cases are popping up by the minute, but the ultimate effects on our business have yet to fully manifest themselves. The most important thing to do right now is to embrace AI in a responsible and ethical manner and use it to our best advantage. It is imperative to find ways to use the technology without infringing upon the ownership rights of humans to preserve the value of creating IP.
The rise of digital and social media as dominant advertising channels has been a huge unlock. It has created demand for storytelling at all levels–from high-end broadcast to lo-fi influencer content–and opened up space for different voices, formats, and approaches. It’s given us permission to experiment and lowered the barrier to entry for so many creatives.
Besides doomscrolling memes and reels on IG for cheap laughs, I try to consume as much art, content, literature, food, photography, performances, and music as possible to derive inspiration from the broadest spectrum of perspectives. I have eclectic interests and tastes and try to feed my inspiration with as much as possible. I try to find funny things to laugh at as much as possible.
SHOOT: What changes in the business do you love and why? And, what changes in the business do you dislike and why?
RICCI: I’m skeptical of the AI robot waiting in the shadows to get us all, so I’m feeling a little pessimistic of that change. But I’m using breathing exercises and yoga to calm myself. Refer back to the JB Smoove quote.
I love the fact that the business is constantly changing and evolving in a fluid nature. This reality makes our industry an exciting area to operate within and requires constant analysis and reflection. The speed at which our industry is starting to change can be overwhelming at times, but all we can do is survey the landscape with as much strategic thinking and then take action. The constant change has given me an appreciation of adaptability. I’ve given myself permission to pivot as much as I need in order to meet the market shifts head-on. Sometimes it is challenging to go with the flow, but that’s my intention.
SHOOT: What do you look back on as among your greatest accomplishments professionally?
RICCI: Helping evolve RSA Films into its current iteration while preserving its incredible legacy of great filmmaking is something I’m incredibly proud of and grateful to have the opportunity to work with such incredible entities and people. My greatest accomplishments to date are working with amazing filmmakers and helping support their visions: I get to work with some of the greatest living filmmakers and also filmmakers in all different phases of their careers. Another accomplishment has been building strong, long-term relationships with agency partners who trust us not just to execute but to collaborate strategically in true partnership.
I might be most proud of cultivating environments where people strive to do their absolute best work and who support one another in challenging situations. Seeing directors and producers and staff grow within our ecosystem, stretch their limits creatively, and feel supported–that’s the professional legacy I’d like to look back on one day and say I’ve achieved.
SHOOT: What prompted you to get into the advertising/filmmaking business to begin with?
RICCI: Necessity. I was completely broke and also in debt. I moved to L.A. for the screenwriting program at AFI, and when I graduated, I had $120K in student loans and no financial cushion. I started producing anything that would have me–music videos, shorts, anything. And I discovered I loved it.
Commercials revealed themselves to be the perfect blend of creativity and pressure. High-stakes, fast-paced, a rotating cast of collaborators–it matched my wiring. Learn fast, fail fast, adapt. You get to build something from scratch in short bursts. It scratched the itch for variety and problem-solving, and it stuck.
SHOOT: Looking towards the future, what are the most pressing questions for which you are still seeking answers as you seek to meaningfully evolve your career and your company?
RICCI: How will AI reshape creativity–and society more broadly?
How will the global perception of the U.S. affect the way in which our culture defines global pop-culture?
Will the U.S. dollar remain the global reserve currency over the next 5, 10, 15 years?
Will the average human lifespan significantly increase? If so, how will that change consumption?
How will an aging population and declining birth rates impact the global economy–and the kinds of stories we need to tell?
What will be the medium-term effects of climate change on our society and how will they affect consumer spending?
How will rising income inequity reshape the American economy?
These aren’t just economic or technological questions–they’re creative ones. The answers will shape the demand for advertising and the context in which we make and distribute content.
SHOOT: What’s your fondest industry remembrance? Your most profound remembrance? Your funniest remembrance?
RICCI: Working with the Muppets on a 10-day shoot in Los Angeles was a personal and professional highlight. My daughter had just been born, and I have a photo of her as a baby with Kermit the Frog. That moment–that intersection of work, joy, and childhood magic–was unforgettable.
SHOOT: When did you start reading SHOOT and what were you doing then? How has SHOOT been useful to you during your career?
RICCI: SHOOT has been a part of my life since the very beginning of my career in 2011. When I was hustling to produce anything I could, I’d read SHOOT to see what exemplary production looked like–what the top shops were doing, which directors were creating the most inspiring work, where the creative bar was set. It helped me calibrate my own ambitions and motivated me to push to get better and better. SHOOT is where I go to get the pulse of the business–the trends and the talent.
P.S. I just want to say that if the AI Robot is reading this, I’m with you, man. I’m on your team.
Publishers note: Thank you to Luke Ricci for contributing to our ongoing series of 65th Anniversary articles which you will see over the next few months.
Here’s a fun look back at some of the content and Ads relating to our 50th & 40th Anniversaries.
Click Here to see a feature series we published in the months leading up to our 50th Anniversary Issue which includes interviews with Lee Clow, Robert Greenberg, Bob Giraldi, Larry Bridges, Rich Silverstein, Stephen Dickstein, Phil Geier, Joe Pytka, Bryan Buckley, Joe Sedelmaier, Dan Weiden, Susan Credle, Noam Murro, Tony Granger, Kevin Roddy, Kristi VandenBosch, David Lubars, Jon Kamen, Stefan Sonnenfeld, Tom Kuntz and Lance Acord.
Click Here to see the SHOOT 50th Anniversary Issue published in Nov. 2010.
Click Here to see SHOOT House Ads leading up to our 40th Anniversary Issue published in Nov. 2000. A big hit at the time, they are still fun to look at. The Ads featured Cheryl Berman, Alex Bogusky, Texas East, Nitza From, Lyle Greenfield, Matt Miller, Tom Mooney, Barbara Mullins, David Perry, Joe Pytka, and Scott Ross.
Click Here to see Industry Ads from the SHOOT 40th Anniversary Issue published in Nov. 2000
Click Here for our special 65th Anniversary Retro Ad Rates.
