Face to Face with... Jay Lichtman

With experience of both sides of the pond at MPC London and Method New York, Jay Lichtman has now taken the reins as managing director of boutique post house MassMarket. A sister company to Psyop and Blacklist, here we find out about the new boss’s global ambitions and blurring the production lines.

What drew you to the role at MassMarket?

After Method I’d decided to take a bit of a break and in my hiatus Mark Tobin, the new COO of the group, got in touch to discuss the role of managing director. Everyone has always had their eye on MassMarket. It’s done outstanding work and is the type of shop that’s renowned for its creativity. So when I was approached and they wanted to hand the company over to me to maintain that reputation, as well as expand it and go on a global recruitment drive to find the greatest artists in the world, my immediate answer was ‘yes’.

Do you have a blueprint for your expansion plans?

Right now we have offices in New York and Los Angeles but we are looking to expand overseas, too, whether that’s in the UK or India or any of the other places we are looking to explore.

We’re smart enough to know that you have to be as diversified and present globally as you possibly can in the current market. In post production it makes sense to have larger teams at your disposal so you can punch above your weight. There are a lot of big facilities that have presence in the UK or USA but what’s unique about MassMarket, especially when taking on that business model of having presence in other areas, is that we can easily handle larger scale projects while still maintaining that boutique feel. For us it’s very important to make sure that everyone who comes through the door feels like they are the one and only client.

You’ve got new EPs in New York and LA, what other hires have you made?

I’ve hired a Flame artist from Paris called Fabien Coupez and we have some extremely exciting hires still to announce in both NY and LA. What I’m doing is hiring smarter artists – I like to call them new generation artists; those who don’t just necessarily rely on the established ways of working and who are constantly improving the pipeline.

I’m fortunate in my career that I worked a long time in London. The UK has a lot of homegrown talent but it’s also a melting pot of people coming from Sweden, Germany, France, South Africa. I’ve maintained those relationships so I’m hiring people from all over the world, not limiting it to any particular place.

And how do you feel MassMarket’s relationship with Psyop and Blacklist helps the shop?

It’s useful because internally we’re often able to share artist resources. Our sister company Pysop has historically targeted a certain type of work which is beautiful and absolutely world class. MassMarket benefits from having access to those artists when certain projects present themselves. We also have a collaborative and symbiotic relationship with Blacklist.

What’s important to note is that whereas the artists are sometimes shared internally, our identities and business models are very much distinct– we target external directors and agencies and MassMarket specializes in photorealistic VFX. We also have the ability to do motion graphics and design as well as working on alternative platforms such as interactive and digital applications and installations.

And in what direction do you see the post industry heading?

Across the board, whether you’re an agency, production company, editorial or post house, the lines are being blurred ever so slightly but in a very positive way. From a post point of view we’ve always dreamt of getting as far upstream in the creative process as possible and we want to do that because it helps us have a voice and plan for any pitfalls and challenges in a project. It also helps all parties work within the sometimes constrained budgets. It’s when you don’t bring all the players into the room early on that you have to throw money at the problem at the end.

I think the industry as a whole has learnt to become more efficient and we’ve had to trim the fat at every level. We are there to act as an even broader tool for our clients. We have an incredible amount of brains and talent under the roofs in post production and these talents can be applied in so many other mediums. I believe that is what the future holds for us – whether it’s digital, interactive, applications, installations, design or motion graphics.

I don’t think VFX facilities are pigeonholed nearly as much as we ever were and we’re not just there to make things beautiful, we’re there to create true experiences and I think everyone’s extremely excited about that.

Check out MassMarket's recent work from shots.net below.