2017 in Review: Simon Cooper

In general, do you think 2017 has been a good year for creative advertising?

Better than 2016, not as good as 2018, hopefully. But I’m writing this before the deluge of Christmas ads, so I might change my mind. It does feel like there is a growing desire to return to intelligent, engaging pieces of work that get talked about in the pub. I’ve felt less shouted at in 2017, less compelled to skip. Maybe the realisation might slowly be taking hold that unwatched content is worthless, no matter how much of it you might be getting for your pound. There has been plenty out there this year that I wish we’d done.

What piece or pieces of work have impressed you most in 2017?

Presuming it’s not the done thing to mention one’s own output, and with apologies for listing them as if they were the director’s work alone: The Sacred Egg’s Mailchimp madness, Ringan’s Clowns for Audi and Last Days for Jose Cuervo, Jaron Albertin’s Get Closer for Bose, Matthijs’s Samsung Ostrich and Kia Hero’s Journey, Sam Brown’s Stroll for Apple AirPods, Tony Barry’s McDonald’s McCafe Madness, James Rouse’s AA road safety spot Designated Driver, Ian Pons Jewell’s I Love Doing Dishes for Finish. In every case the aim is true and the creative ambition is clear, whether it is epic in scale or modest. None feels meddled with or compromised by last minute doubts or testing. Most would have been ruined by research. 

What have been the biggest talking points of 2017 in the production arena?

Disappointingly, the same as last year – in-house production and diversity. We seem to be making headway in the UK with the first and not nearly enough with the second, other than in the usual horrible box-ticking way in front of camera, and Free The Bid behind it. Hopefully that will change next year with more BAME-focussed, Streetlights-style initiatives starting here. [LA-based streetlights.org places ethnic minority crew onto shoots]. Watercooler highpoints were Pepsi’s ad managing to combine both issues in a perfect storm of shitness, Nils Leonard vs George Clooney [Halo coffee], Nicole Kidman’s weird Oscars clapping, Bohemian Rhapsody with footballers…

In-house production, both within agencies and clients, continues to be at the forefront of production minds. How has that situation evolved in last 12 months and should traditional production outfits still be concerned?

I think we probably all know where we stand better now than a year ago. Agencies and clients will continue to produce content in-house and the independent sector will continue to offer a financially and creatively competitive alternative landscape. As long as we don’t give in-house production the appearance of competitive validity by competing against them on what can never be an even playing field, and as long as brands still have the desire to ensure they are getting a true creative and financial choice for their content production, then I believe there is probably room for us all.

Is the term traditional now just a euphemism for old-fashioned. Do production companies – whether old or new – now need to be more than a company that makes great advertising films?

Being a company that makes great advertising films is still an admirable and sustainable ethos, but we all need to be less traditional in our approach to that end goal. Passively waiting for agency work to come along wouldn’t be doing justice to the directorial talent we rep and the production excellence we can offer, but it is up to individual companies to what degree they want to position themselves as agencies or TV networks to that end.

For Academy and A+ the key has always been the quality of the output, the ability to pick and choose those opportunities, rather than maximise volume, whether the funding is brand related or otherwise. But the vast majority of what we do is still making advertising films. Hopefully great. 

The barrier of entry to becoming a director is low, but the competition is very high. How has that affected bringing in new talent to the industry?

It is harder to launch new talent as the traditional habitats of young directors disappear. Low-budget commercial work, where risks used to be taken, has been swallowed by in-house production, and music videos have so little money attached they rarely offer any opportunities to experiment and grow. 

New directors need strong voices and for us to find them opportunities to demonstrate those voices, whatever the budget. Agencies and clients need to recognise the value of supporting that process and taking a risk sometimes. Those of us with a reputation for launching and growing talent are at an advantage because there’s trust that we can deliver with an untested director. 

 “It is undeniably harder to launch new talent as the traditional habitats of young directors get destroyed.”

What might 2018’s talking points be?

Hopefully, the continued resurgence of great unskippable, pub-discussed, independently produced advertising and the remarkable rise in production budgets to that end. I hope it isn’t the ugly exposing of an advertising dirty dossier of historical bad awards behaviour and ill-judged knee touches. It will probably be in-house production and diversity…

What do you think the production sector’s New Year’s resolution should be?

Trust in our brilliance; don’t make shit; don’t compete with in-house; don’t loan out directors; drink Nils’s coffee; don’t touch knees.