It’s that time of year--for a new beginning, for New Year’s resolutions, which often aren’t kept, and predictions, which often aren’t accurate. Nonetheless SHOOT called upon a brave cross-section of advertising agency executives, chief creative officers, creative directors, heads of production, executive producers, an executive creative director and even a sr. VP of content production across North America to offer their hopes, goals, projections and plans for 2024.

We also asked respondents to reflect on lessons learned from 2023 and how they might be applied to this year.

AI was among the topics discussed by several agency folks. Richard Adkins, joint head of production, Wieden+Kennedy London, observed, “AI can be a rather daunting premise for creative agencies. The more the technology advances and the smarter AI becomes, the more we question the future of our industry. Will clients continue to invest in productions that soon they’ll be able to produce without having to hire directors, actors, or perhaps even creatives? The change is coming whether we like it or not, so the key is how to embrace it and evolve our offerings in line with the technology - rather than simply run away from it. For example, we’re beginning to experiment with how AI can help us achieve a high volume of deliverables based on one original piece of creative. Or how AI can help us localize global campaigns.

Chris Crawford, chief creative officer of Elite Media, related, “There is a lot of buzz and excitement about the power of AI and how we can push the bounds of creativity and use it for good. Technologies are advancing at a fast rate, and regulators are trying to get a handle on how to implement safeguards. We’re in constant conversation about what that will mean for multicultural audiences and how to use these tools responsibly. Content creators should continue to seek to understand how bias shows up, how it impacts representation and the way that people see themselves, and how to keep human connection at the center of our creative products. We’re looking for natural openings and opportunities to use new technologies in ways that make sense for our clients and audiences instead of trying to force them. This is an exciting time to lean into new opportunities and innovate while also not losing sight of our audiences and the connection they seek to make with brands.”

Angela Barber, SVP, content production North America for Wunderman Thompson/VML, noted, “I’ve used AI for a few voice cloning projects. AI for sure saves us time and money. But, I respect the community at large who doesn’t want their name, likeness, or voices to be taken for granted. I don’t think AI should be used without the proper permissions and usage plans for talent payments in place when necessary.”

Cedric Devitt, chief creative officer at Big Spaceship, shared, “Currently, over 80% of Big Spaceship AI use is in our workflow and efficiency, with the remaining 20% focused on AI-enhanced creative. However, no purely AI-produced copy, visuals, or creative of any kind has been leveraged in consumer-facing work unless a concept specifically and transparently has required it. While AI is a valuable tool employed by our teams, it remains critical that human expertise guides how we prompt these tools and thoughtfully refines the output that they can give us.”

Creative director Jeff O’Keefe of TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, noted, “We’ve been building a lot of internal capabilities to work with AI, AR and other technologies. More and more, we’ve been building prototypes early on for our clients so that they can actually interact with the technology themselves, just as a consumer would. This helps us get out of decks and show the power of our ideas in real life. We’re currently prototyping in multiple ways for our clients, from designing AR filters to creating worlds in Unreal Engine to building AI integrations. All in-house.”

As for real intelligence, that calls for embracing diversity and inclusion, affirmed Katie Keating, co-founder/chief creative officer at Fancy LLC. She commented, “Fancy is 100% women-owned, operated, and driven. And we’ve been that way since day one in 2011. As important to us as the work we create on behalf of our clients is creating an environment that works for the way women want to work. We’ve had a distributed workforce for over ten years, we create bespoke solutions for family leave, and we assemble teams on a case-by-case basis to maximize opportunities for passions and skillsets to align with client objectives. We know that when women can fit the job into their life (as opposed to their life into whatever’s left after their job), the work is more inspiring, and the experience is more fulfilling for everyone. We’re not doing this because we have to, because the industry is shifting, because the world is watching. We work this way because it’s the only way we can. It’s who we are.

Creative director Rachel Carlson, co-founder of Foul Mouth Creative, noted that her shop is “one of the 1% of women-owned agencies. We prioritize working with diverse voices and talent. Actually, that’s false. It’s not some bullshit “prioritize, yada yada buzzy diversity”. We exclusively work with diverse talent. Entirely. So many shops spout off DEI goals, but behind the scenes, deadlines and demands often lead to defaulting to traditional talent who have the proven work and resume because it’s the easier path. We purposefully build in time monthly to make connections with a diverse creative village. Networking, baby.”

Survey
For this part one installment of our Production Outlook Survey, SHOOT posed the following questions to folks in the agency community:

1. What’s the most relevant business and/or creative lesson you learned in 2023 and how will you apply it to 2024? 
2. 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? 
3. 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.
4. 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. 
5. 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? 
6. 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.

What follows is the feedback we received from a wide range of respondents... click on the NAME or HEADSHOT below (shown in alphabetical order by last name).