Want to Find Raw Talent? You Have to Seek it Out

The Stink team were deservedly celebrating at the Creative Circle Awards 2017 last Wednesday. And while we didn’t do too badly on the awards front, the night to me had equal importance in supporting the Circle’s drive to expose and celebrate current and hidden talent. Under the leadership of President Vicki Maguire and CEO Jeremy Green, the Circles make sure that this is a space where raw talent can take root and bold work can flourish. And Stink Talent has an affinity with this mission. 

Opportunities with new talent rarely land in your lap. You have to seek it out, and, once you find it, you need to commit the energy, people and resources to make projects happen and be the best they can be. If you don’t, they’ll either go elsewhere or go nowhere and ultimately that’s our loss.  

At that undeveloped, raw stage, most of the people we’re trying to connect with aren’t aware of our existence. They don’t particularly want to be commercials directors either. In the past, huge movie names like Ridley Scott shooting ads inspired young talent to follow in their footsteps, but I'm not sure that's still the case.  For the next generation, ads are a means to an end. They just want to be making films or TV. That's attractive and it’s why I like to call them ‘filmmakers’, they are making mini-films. This approach has been reflected in Stink’s work since the beginning, in the likes of Stella Pilot and Honda Impossible Dream. 

So to find them, you need to put some serious hours in; regularly keeping in touch with film schools and checking out platforms like the YDAs, D&AD New Blood, Nowness and Vimeo. You’re looking for a good eye, instinct that inspires the soul and makes any heart miss a beat. 

Diversity of voices, stories and world-views is what you get when you become pro-active about hunting out talent. It’s not about limits, labels or checking boxes. I have to be passionate about their work and this means I have to look harder. The people I gravitate towards have emotional storytelling at their core and can enable the best in actors. Well-crafted pictures are not enough, they also need soul and true narrative force. 

We are also supporting a young new director who works in her family’s scrapyard to raise money to fund her short films having learned her trade directing local no budget grime videos. Her first written and directed short film was Bafta-nominated; she’s recently finished her second and Stink Films will be producing the third. Instead of waiting for opportunities that come from traditional advertising, I prefer to match her drive, get behind it and produce her next film for her now. It excites me to find talent like that; I want to be a part of it and help develop it in any way possible.    

Stink has similar examples across the network. There’s a wealth of new talent coming out of Sao Paulo, for example. Douglas and Salsa [an example of who's work is above], in particular, seem to be following in the footsteps of Jones + Tino.  Developing that talent also means supporting brave work. I’d like to think that we’ve been good at recognising a project with potential and backing it fearlessly. Jones + Tino’s Bodyform ‘Blood’ and Tom Green’s Save the Children’s ‘Still the Most Shocking Second a Day’ were recognised at last week’s Creative Circle Awards, among the nods the Gold of Golds for Bodyform and Gold for best charity ad on Save the Children. Both were produced on very limited budgets, but these are the spots I’m most proud of in the last year. They’re powerful emotional stories first and foremost. It’s what makes them watchable, shareable and talked about.  It's what makes them award-winning. After all, we have reached the 'skip ad' moment. Anything less is ignored.  

Finally, I’m not just talking about directors, young producers need stimulation too. And, importantly, support. We can’t just throw them into the thick of it and leave them hanging. We have to build a real team around them. Creating opportunity is just as much about supporting talent once you’ve found it. 

If the industry – and Stink – are moving to a place where there are more opportunities for young directors and producers, then that can only be a good thing for all of us. So, support industry initiatives like the Creative Circle, get behind new talent, but most of all put the hours in and the talent will follow.