Seth Epstein: Move fast and find your freaky

Founded on the idea of bringing great creatives together regardless of geography or discipline, Los York is a hybrid creative agency, design studio and production company built around collaboration. 

Led by Seth Epstein, the studio works across disciplines to bring ideas from concept to execution, challenging the traditional boundaries between advertising, design and production. Collaborating with brands at the centre of contemporary culture, Los York helps clients find their creative courage and produce fast-paced work without compromising on craft. 

Epstein’s own journey to founding Los York was far from conventional. A self-taught designer and photographer, he began making money from his artwork as a child designing Christmas cards before launching a clothing company at 18. Since then, his career has been shaped by experimentation, entrepreneurial thinking and a willingness to learn from things that don't go to plan. 

In conversation at OFFF Festival in Barcelona earlier this year, Epstein reflects on the challenges of bringing agency and production cultures together, why he believes the industry is rediscovering the value of in-person connection, and why you can't have a breakthrough without a breakdown. 

 I think we're born with some sort of need to express ourselves, and it finds a way out in different ways. 

Above: Seth Epstein giving his keynote talk at OFFF Festival, Barcelona. 

What was your journey into the creative industry like? Was is something you always wanted to do?

I was a weird kid who liked drawing and photography. I grew up in a divided home, with divorced parents and a lot of arguing, so art was my escape. I would draw on everything, do graffiti, and just find ways to express myself. I think we're born with some sort of need to express ourselves, and it finds a way out in different ways. 

My first jobs were making Christmas cards and designing things for people as a young kid. It's funny, having a Jewish kid draw Christmas cards! Then I started a clothing company when I was 18, designing jeans. People started buying them, and the business took off. I was self-taught in design and photography. I did study art at UC Santa Barbara, but dropped out because of my clothing business. 

You have to create space for experimentation, but if you want to move quickly, you need to clear the way first. 

Above: Los York created Everything is Dame for NBA 2K during COVID, from concept to creation, in around three weeks. 

Are there any favourite projects you've particularly enjoyed working on? 

There are a lot, and they're favourites for different reasons. Sometimes it's just because we managed to pull off a miracle in a short amount of time. 

One was Everything Is Dame, for NBA 2K. It was made during COVID, and I think we had about three weeks. What I liked about that one was that it turned out so beautifully, but we were also able to flex our capabilities. 

Some of the Motorola work is another good example. And this year, the Minnesota Twins work was beautiful hybrid work. Almost everything we do blends and overlaps different disciplines. 

You can't have a breakthrough without a breakdown, and you can't solve a problem you're not willing to have. 

How do you balance craft and experimentation with speed and efficiency, especially when you're working with brands who want a quick turnaround? 

You lose the luxury of time, so you have to become an investigator. You need to listen to the client deeply, extract as much information as possible early on and identify what's going to get in the way. That allows you to put your energy into the creative process. 

You have to create space for experimentation, but if you want to move quickly, you need to clear the way first. That means understanding the playing field, the client's tolerance for risk and how courageous they want to be. We call it creative courage internally. We'll ask clients, “How courageous can we be here?” 

We don't want to come back with something tame and safe if there's room to move. But if the timeframe is tight and there are constraints, we need to identify those upfront. Are we doing something great here, or are we just trying to get over the finish line? If we're going to do something great, what barriers will we face? Who are the decision-makers? You need to know who's on the field. 

Above: Epstein especially enjoyed Los York's 2023 work for Motorola, directed by Courtney Phillips. 

Can you walk me through your creative process at Los York?  

I don't think our process is necessarily different from anybody else's. You take a brief, bring your team together and communicate with the client. Everybody does some version of that. 

The difference is how you do it. How do you listen? How do you read between the lines and tease out more information? If you want to move quickly, you need to understand the landscape. You have to ask the right questions early, because the things you don't ask about are what end up hitting you in the back of the head unexpectedly. 

I'm seeing a move towards being together in person and spending less time on social media. I think the industry is recognising that what matters is analog. 

Have you worked on any projects that didn't go to plan but taught you something? 

The longer you do this, the more refined your mistakes become. When I was in my twenties, I delivered a technically flawed project for ESPN. They pulled the job because we weren't producing it professionally enough. They told me they wouldn't work with us for a year and that we needed to get our act together. 

I had a company called FUEL at the time. We went away, and about a year later I called ESPN and said I wanted to work with them again and thought we were ready. They gave us a tiny project, which we did well. Then they invited us to pitch on the X Games redesign. We were the underdogs, but we won, and the job went on to win an Emmy. 

Getting fired by ESPN led to winning an Emmy for ESPN. That early failure also led me to think differently about listening, asking questions and extracting more information. There's gold in those experiences if you're willing to look for it. Even if that client never works with you again, what you learn can help you with every other client. 

It's okay to move fast and fail if you're willing to understand what went wrong. You can't have a breakthrough without a breakdown, and you can't solve a problem you're not willing to have. 

Above: The hybrid Minnesota Twins work is an example of how Los York's projects blend different disciplines. 

What in culture is inspiring you at the moment? Where do you tend to find new ideas? 

It's an interesting time because of the amount of stimulation coming at us through Instagram, TikTok and wherever else we consume media. I think our brains are rewiring a bit. Inspiration feels more precious, and with AI, it could become even more important. 

I'm finding the most inspiration in events and being with people in person. It's a break from the screen. That's unusual for me because, as a creative, I like going into my cave and hiding out. But I think inspiration is out in the world, whether that's nature or people, rather than necessarily in the places we've historically looked. 

What do you think the industry is getting right and wrong at the moment? 

What's right is that everybody knows change is happening. There's a healthy sense of uncertainty around AI, and I think that's justified. We don't know how it's going to turn out, so it's difficult to say much more than that. 

I'm also seeing a move towards being together in person and spending less time on social media. I think the industry is recognising that what matters is analog. 

Find your freaky. Find your thing. The things that give you that feeling of “Yeah, that's it. I love that.” Go after those things. Nobody else has to get it.

Above: Part of Los York's We Are Jordan campaign for Jordan Brand, directed by Epstein. 

Do you think the lines between agencies and production companies are going to continue to blur?  

Having done this for quite a few years, I can say it's hard to do well because you're dealing with two very different cultures. 

Advertising agencies that put strategy and creative first are what I call formulation-driven. They like to stay in the world of formulating an idea, at a conceptual, high level. Production is concentration-related. You cut off options, make decisions and work within time and budget. It's practical and focused on execution. 

The mistake is when a big agency decides it needs a production arm without understanding those differences. It's like Spain and Italy: they're both in Europe, but they're different. 

I think the trend will continue, but there's a limit because it's hard to do well. If you want to operate at the highest level of creative and production, it's even harder. Whether you're coming from the agency side or the production side, there are serious cultural chasms to cross. 

Our approach is to bring people together across disciplines, rather than keeping them separate as production, creative, agency or design. We want people to cross over and understand each other's work. 

Above: Imagery from Epstein's Emmy-winning X Games redesign for ESPN, created by his previous company FUEL. 

What have been the most rewarding and challenging aspects of running your own studio? 

The studio is people, so the most challenging thing is people, and the most rewarding thing is people. The thing I'm most proud of in my career isn't the work. It's the people and the tribe we've built. 

There's a lot of love, passion and commitment to each other, and that's special. We can all do great work at different moments, but building a tribe is something else. It's also difficult. I'm not a big people person, and managing people isn't my favourite thing. I like the creative stuff. But I've learned from people on my team who are amazing at it, and I've thought, “Oh wow, that's how you do it.” 

It's about going beyond the head and trying to go from the heart. Los York is a thing, and it has a heart. My job is to ask: what does it want? 

What advice would you give to a young creative today trying to make their way in the industry? 

The thing that carries through a long career is finding your voice, although I'd put it differently. When you vibe on something, when something feels cool and a little weird or different, and you're not sure other people are into it, don't give a damn about anybody else. 

Find your freaky. Find your thing. The things that give you that feeling of “Yeah, that's it. I love that.” Go after those things. Nobody else has to get it. Find what resonates with you, what gives you energy, and let that guide you. It'll take you towards certain people, films and companies. That's the trick.