Where production is constantly changing
When it comes to TVCS, which are the ones that you remember most? The ones that you felt a connection with, stayed in your mind or that spurred you on to share with others? That’s exactly what The Workshop does.
The specialist team creates beautiful, memorable content for 99’s clients such as New World and Mazda and their direct clients Farmers and G.j.gardner. But The Workshop also does everything else from social to images to radio, in-house and with enviable turn-around times, which is why it holds a unique position within New Zealand’s advertising world.
UNDER ONE ROOF
The Workshop gives its clients an immersive, hands-on experience in the journey to create an engaging and memorable end product that connects with their intended audience. If a client were to sum up this content creation and production company in a few words, I imagine they might choose efficient, inclusive, fun and talented.
The Grey Lynn-based specialist team of 20 includes DOPS, producers, editors, motion graphic artists and colourists applying their talents across a variety of different mediums.
The Workshop is 99’s straight-to-production offer, giving clients direct access to their in-house TV, content, social, digital, photography and audio teams so they can benefit from a leaner, faster and more cost-effective production work.
Managing partner of The Workshop Angela Bird, who now juggles two roles after recently becoming 99’s director of delivery, says having everything in-house is what sets them apart and enables them to deliver high-quality content in a short space of time. And the amount of content is growing.
“The quality of output that we have is really quite unprecedented for the amount of people that we have working here,” she says, explaining the average campaign from initial concept to delivery can span between just days to a few months.
“There is always an element of speed to what we do, not in compromising the quality of work that we output,” adds Bird. “Because we don’t have to work with third parties, we’re not constantly having to try and schedule our work in with [others].”
CREATIVE CLIENTS
At The Workshop, clients are seen firstly as creative partners, although they can also take a less-involved approach if they prefer. The agency recognises their clients’ strong understanding of their target audience and what they want to achieve creatively and put their expertise to good use, forming a transparent, collaborative way of working.
“Clients are always in here reviewing work or having discussions about the creative idea and they see everybody
working on it, no one’s hiding,” says Bird. “They sit in the sound studio, they sit within the edit suites…they feel part of the team and that’s something we all feel very strongly that we want to cultivate with our clients.”
Clients are involved in every step towards the finished product, even during filming, an approach Bird says their clients love and has worked very well for the company, ensuring there are no surprises by post-production.
“For me as an ex-producer,” Bird says, having spent 12 years of her career as a digital producer, “that’s a very strong position for us to be in. Our clients get to work with the people who produce their work…that allows us to work in a very agile and more stream-lined way.”
SPECIALIST TEAM
The Workshop can have 10-20 projects happening at any one time, from smaller social content through to an expansive brand ad, yet their speedy turn-around times are maintained thanks to their inhouse and specialised team combo.
“Our clients are having to be more and more reactive to the marketplace and being able to produce work more cost-effectively and faster definitely has its benefits,” says Bird.
Key time-saving parts of their process involve directors coming on-board early on, bringing an idea to life quickly and avoiding a lengthy brief. Strong relationships with talent agencies also cuts time.
Because of their specialisms in different areas, The Workshop team can cater for a wide range of clients who challenge them with a diverse set of briefs, which is something the team thrives on.
“We don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach or tone of the output that we have,” explains Bird. “Nothing that we produce is formulaic – there’s a real diversity in the work that we do and that keeps it really interesting.”
The work may be fast-paced and stressful at times but it’s always worthwhile and rewarding, says Bird.
“We’re really fortunate to have the clients who want to push themselves creatively and us creatively and that really allows us to stretch our muscles,” she says. “You can’t help but feel proud of what the team has produced because it’s very much a team effort, that pride is shared by everyone.”
Bird’s passion for her work is unmissable. The production process is addictive she laughs, “…just knowing that you produce good work all the time and actually build really great relationships with your clients means that it’s hard not to be part of that process, that environment and that team.
“I really feel that The Workshop team is really one of the strongest production teams I’ve ever worked with.”
CONSTANT EVOLUTION
A few noticeable trends that make an advertisement highly effective in today’s market are emotional engagement, a clever idea or something visually compelling, notes Bird.
“Ads work in different ways. I think very sales-focused ones need to get across price and product and make sure that the consumer understands the message so that definitely has its place,” she says. “Whereas some ads need a storyline…it needs to be a strong narrative with a strong message.”
She describes one example of a visually commanding, beautiful brand ad The Workshop created for GJ Gardner, where the team produced six TVCS of the company’s different franchisees around New Zealand. It also turned out to be one of their most challenging shoots because of the 21 day schedule it involved filming in locations across the country.
Although digital/online is an unstoppable force, TVC still has its place, says Bird, especially within the NZ market, which doesn’t seem to be depleting year-onyear like in the UK.
“The budgets that we have for TVC work are still quite comprehensive and our clients all come to us with a need for TVC work.”
Bird says social is becoming one of their bigger channels and believes there is a clear delineation between content and social. Social is consumed faster, she explains, so production of it needs to be considered in a lighter, stripped back way. She also sees VR and AR playing an increasingly important role.
“It’s a whole different way of engaging and it’s a very exciting way of engaging and it opens up a whole different channel and means that the work that we do for film will have to work within that space as well,” she explains.
“I think it’s our responsibility to make sure that we’re able to not only keep up with how the industry is evolving, but also be at the forefront of that – we should be causing the industry to change,” she says.
“I feel personally, very strongly, that the more traditional way of producing certainly film content, in all of its different levels, needs to change; we can’t rely on massive budgets, we can’t rely on having a cast of thousands working on things, we can’t rely on keeping clients at arm’s length. That model is changing and I strongly feel that The Workshop is at the forefront of that.”
“Now of course that's the norm and I think people have initially struggled to monetise that.”
And if it’s not about talking tough on price, it’s at least about getting the maximum bang for the buck - and that option means top-tier content at a lower price point.
“We are expected to do a lot for a production cost,” says Cahill. “That does not seem to have changed much over the last 10 years, but the ideas are more challenging for the budgets available.”
“It has reached the point that schedules are usually at the minimum required to produce the project. There is no fat or time margin for finessing now, generally speaking.”
“This is not desirable for creative, logistical and financial reasons. There is an old saying that of ‘fast, good and cheap’ you can have any two, but you cannot have all three. Not without risk anyway.”
Give the director their due
So what do these new expectations mean for production companies tasked with bringing these campaigns to life? In a world of lowered margins is there still a premium on specialist skills in the Youtube/gopro age?
“Specialist skills are in demand more than ever, but that doesn’t mean you need to charge a premium for it,” says Michelle Walshe, CEO of Augusto.
“We have a shed full of creative and production specialists here, but that’s how we create efficiencies: By being able to make better unified decisions on each and every brief. This ultimately saves our clients time and money, and creates better work from the collaboration of ideas between thinkers and makers.”
Walshe points to Augusto's recent work for Tourism New Zealand featuring Rhys Darby and Jacinda Ardern as an example of this unified approach.
“Reacting to a topical issue in market, we were able to pull a team together that turned both the concept and shoot around in a matter of days with no compromise to the quality of storytelling.”
“This wouldn’t have been possible with a traditional approach, or without specialists.”
Now, more than ever, (quality) content is king. With audiences, even the very young, growing ever more sophisticated, it seems there is expectation—and necessity—for tight scripts and slick production values, regardless of budget. Even online projects still strive for the cinematic look and feel of traditional campaigns at times, and that is still well and truly the domain of the specialist.
“We say there are no shortcuts [to engaging audiences] and that means getting the right specialists on board to ensure your ‘film’ will get the best impact,” says Mcateer. “Everyone is a ‘prosumer’—both a producer and consumer of content—so it’s still vital to exceed expectations.”
Appetite for consolidation
With cost pressures front-of-mind, there’s an opportunity for in-house studios from media owners to come in and do it cheaper—sometimes with production thrown in during the media sales process. Increasing integration sees places like TVNZ’S Blacksand doing production work for clients while Bauer APN and Stuff have in-house studios.
Mcateer, executive producer with “talent aggregator” Nimble says these sorts of in-house scenarios have their benefits—including better creative consistency and fewer personel required to deliver production.
“The new in-house production teams are constructed with a very nimble approach, assembling the right freelance team for each project, using ‘predators’ (producer/director/editors) through to full-scale production teams.”
That produces a better outcome for clients he says, as a single media/agency combo can manage all of a client’s brand messaging internally, only enlisting external creative resources when actually required.
“It’s also a smart alternative to building your own production teams inside your company, which can be an expensive exercise,” he says. “Over the past five years, the capability, approach and quality of what is produced by inhouse production teams has increased.”
“This has been bolstered by the availability of freelance directors, and bolder clients prepared to see the benefits of using this creative service.”
Made in New Zealand
One thing that does need to be mentioned here (as if it’s not mentioned enough everywhere else) is hobbits.
With exports like Peter Jackson and Taika Waititi enjoying success overseas—and even James Cameron getting involved in the local scene—new Zealand productions really are gaining a degree of prestige in the global marketplace, especially in the visual effects milieu. A recent New Zealand Advertising Producers Group survey
placed annual advertising industry turnover at about 50 percent from local sources and 50 percent from offshore.
“We’re an incredibly strong and vibrant filmmaking nation and one of the best in terms of talent and crew,” says Fiona King, managing director of The Sweetshop New Zealand.
“Growing up in the industry, nearly all directors have developed and directed a short film or a feature. The stories are unique with no comparison to what anyone else is doing in the world. We do our own thing in New Zealand and don’t compare ourselves.”
And being so far away from the rest of the world might just be one of the keys to our growing success, says King.
“As one of our directors tells me, ‘We still climb trees in New Zealand’, meaning we know how to work from the ground up and be a super strength at the top.” And hey, we’re the guys that made
King Kong. That’s gotta count for something.
“For sure,” says Mcateer, “We are known for high-end VFX and amazing locations and crews, and generally being film-friendly.”
“The flip side is that South America and other countries are also offering similar options, so competition for shooting your oversees campaign is growing, [but] we still win outright with our VFX, great crews, and pro-film approach.”
Mixed media
So sure, there are unique pressures facing production houses, but there’s still an appetite for top-tier work, both in terms of cinematic-style and the platform perhaps best suited to it, television.
“Clients still see TV advertising as the crown jewels because TV is still better than the rest at engaging consumers,” says King. “The moving image on a large screen, high-quality video and audio, the ability to stimulate emotion and engagement – it’s hard to beat. Amid a constant barrage of advertising messages, TV still offers a brand a way to stand out; an exclusive spot in the middle of a TV programme that draws millions of relaxed viewers waiting to be entertained.”
“Beautiful brand advertising just works best on a TV platform,” says Bird. “You look at some of the archetypal adverts—the John Lewis Christmas advertising, for example, the ‘Holy Grail’ of advertising in the Uk—that would only work as well as it does on a TV platform. Those grand narratives just work really well on television.”
“It’s just that clients have become savvy to the fact that they don't need to spend extortionate amounts of money to get very good quality TV ads produced.”
And maybe it’s the case that there will always be a place for those big, beautiful brand campaigns to coexist with the new aesthetics, formats and opportunities presented by other platforms—whatever they ultimately end up being.
“We live in an always-on world where our stories must now take many forms and exist on many channels,” says Walshe. “In marketing terms, a big brand TVC would be just one of the things our audience would come across on a customer journey.”
“Marketers gravitate towards video because it's still the richest and most engaging medium through which to tell a story,” she says, “regardless of whether that story is five minutes or five frames in a GIF. It can take people on an emotive journey.”
“Content marketing and brand marketing are not mutually exclusive, rather they are colliding in beautiful ways that would be impossible to achieve without digital.”