On My Radar: Pete Riski

What the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

Even though it's little bit older, I just saw this film The Indoor Generation by Velux and it really made me think about how we have separated ourselves from nature. It's a beautifully crafted film, with that warmth and humanity I'm always looking for in any form of art.

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

Usually I just read the news from several different places, but I follow what's happening in movies and series from IMDB.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought and why?

I listen to a lot of music and when I'm travelling I always have my portable UE Boom speaker with me. It's a tiny thing with beautiful sound. After six years of hard use, it suddenly broke down and I had to get a new one, which sounded even better.  

What product could you not live without?

It's a little bit sad to realise that it's my Macbook Pro. Of course, I'm using my phone quite a lot, but I think my laptop has become a tool I use for everything.

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

I really enjoyed Border, a Swedish film, which mixes genres in a very natural way. It's from the same writer of Let the Right One In and it captures beautifully that same sort of natural, subtle, quiet style.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

Because of climate change, I've found myself thinking a lot about the film Children of Men. It's a powerful story about a selfish man finding himself in the middle of a chaotic, desperate world and learning to do something that matters. He finds a sparkle of hope in the middle of darkness. A bit like all of us at the moment; which path will we choose to take in this time?

What’s your preferred social media platform?

I really try to cut down my use of social media, but I think Instagram is my favourite. Though I think they are messing it up with their stories. Just keep it simple.

What’s your favourite TV show ?

There's so many series I'm watching. Of course, Chernobyl was totally amazing. But because I'm quite a geek, I was really excited about The Boys from Amazon. Great mix of comedy which is built around strong drama I've also to mention that everyone should see Barry, Season 2 Episode 5. That's an absolute masterpiece and shows how an episode structure can be something totally different.

What’s your favourite podcast?

I don't have one. Am I the only person who hasn't found the whole podcast world!?

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?

This might sound like a joke, but I think, emotionally, the strongest experience I got was when I was visiting my three-year-old daughter’s kindergarten and seeing her piece called Autumn. It had lot of different shades of brown and some leaves glued on it. I could sense what she feels about the winter coming.

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?

I think the global feeling of uncertainty can also be seen in our industry. It feels almost like you can't really be sure about anything before it actually happens and, even then, there's a chance that something will go wrong… or it might just be me being paranoid?

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

I think the best work has always come from those moments when everyone is working together and pushing towards the same goal, then there's no compromise in any area. When everyone is afraid of failure there’s no courage to create something new, so we want to somehow prove to ourselves by numbers and tests that it will work. 

That's usually the moment when we lose most of the warmth, honesty and human touch. There's no mathematical equation to create something emotional. If there were, everyone would be doing it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that any sort of creative process is always about a certain amount of freedom and that freedom can be achieved when everyone trusts each other in the process.

Who or what has most influenced your career and why?

I think it must be watching E.T. as a kid. Even I didn't realise that, at that moment, it was a turning point in my understanding of the power of cinematic storytelling.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know.

I'm quite a nerd. I collect toys.