1) I’m being honest, it’s patience. I like to be the first responder and make sure everyone is okay immediately if I hear there is a problem. I am trying to remind myself in 2020 to take a breath first, to trust the incredible teams and humans I’m surrounded by, and find a number on my dial that isn’t 11! You of course have to keep the Survivor mindset of outwit, outplay, outlast in this industry, but remembering that the best way to do all of that is empowering and believing in the people around you is the real secret.
2) I feel like 2020 is going to be a great year. I think in general the past two years have been transitional in the industry and companies have their sea legs now. What at one point felt uncomfortable with agencies and production companies swapping roles or curiosity around what branded content is exactly - those feelings are so the 10s! I believe 2020 will see partners embracing in a different way - companies will be open to the role they play in a project. I also think there will be a return of loyalty - where you’ll start to see brands, agencies, production companies making alliances across quantity of work in order to maximize efficiencies. And in doing so, real creative partnerships will be re-ignited and that increased trust will be reflected in the quality of the output.
3) There are so many goals. I want to make every director on the roster feel creatively fulfilled with a dream project. I want to maintain the highest level of production for our partners on every project. I want to do work that ensures that voices that aren’t always included can be heard loud and clear. I want to be fearless in the type of projects we take on so we can truly produce anything that can be imagined. And I want to make sure everyone that works with us wants to do it again. A lot.
4) We have a few very fun projects for Super Bowl which have been creatively awesome and production challenges. I say challenges as a good thing as it exercises the problem solving muscle to take on these projects that require all the tools and experience from the years. We also have a few series and feature documentaries that will be premiering within the first quarter which is exciting as we expand into those realms.
5) These are issues that we’ve always taken seriously and involve subjects that we hold as core tenets of the company. We are owned by two women and an African-American male so our DNA as a company reflects groups that have historically been marginalized. When you look at our company makeup and roster, it’s a reflection of that same diversity and simply who we are. To make sure we are supporting the future of diversity in our industry as well, we have actually launched a mobile app called Pipelines that connects underrepresented talent to job opportunities in tech and creative industries, and connects companies with a vast pool of qualified diverse talent they may otherwise not access.
6) We have launched a company called Ventureland devoted to the creation and development of original IP extending from traditional film and television to brands. We want to be able to support the cross-pollination of artists and acceleration of ideas without being limited by platform or distribution method. It’s exciting to bring something to life that can serve our filmmakers and partners equally - to build a playground devoted solely to creation.