5 Minutes with… Dustin Callif

Adobe Firefly is a proud supporter of LBB. As part of the sponsorship of the ‘5 Minutes with…’ channel, we spend time with some of the most innovative and creative minds in the industry.

Today, that’s Dustin Callif, the president of Tool, the North American creative production partner that helps bring ad campaigns, experiential activations and more to life for brands.

Despite being focused on Tool’s strategic growth, Dustin has always been obsessed with innovation, starting at the intersection of narrative content and web-based interactive during the late ‘90s – following an “aimless” college experience studying philosophy.

His first roles saw him creating episodic content for the web, even working with David Cronenberg and Tracy Ullman to put their first-ever content online. “This was how the younger generation was going to watch content, and that's absolutely how it is now. But then, it was way too early,” he says. “But it got me hooked. I love the idea of trying new things and innovating in content production.”

He then became a co-owner of the digital agency Spacedog, creating some of the first web-based campaigns for the likes of Qantas airways, Carl's Jr., Hardee’s and Tourism Australia. “That’s what got me into the advertising space,” he adds, “and I've been in it ever since.”

Speaking to LBB’s Ben Conway, Dustin discusses his career journey, why the AI revolution reminds him of the dawn of the internet age, and what’s kept things interesting during his 16 years at Tool.

LBB> Were you still doing episodic and entertainment work when you jumped to the commercial side?

Dustin> I kind of got out of creating longer form content for the internet, and got more into doing advertising campaigns. For Qantas airways, we helped them create their first-ever US-based website. It sounds ludicrous now but back in the early 2000s, most of these companies had never had a website before.

I worked with Carl's Jr. and Hardee's in 2006, before the iPhone was around, and we helped ideate a campaign where people could use their flip phone’s camera to snap photos of themselves slaying hamburgers, and then upload that to our website. At the time, I remember selling that into the CMO at Carl Jr, and he was like, ‘What are you talking about? People can take photos on their phones?’. And I was like, ‘Yes, the phone is the new computer in your pocket’.

Again, it's ludicrous to be thinking about that. But part of this job that I love is helping open people's minds to new opportunities and ways to create advertising content.

LBB> Can you transpose that to today's industry and digital landscape? Where are the up-and-coming opportunities for Tool and brands today?

Dustin> Well, it's AI, AI, AI. Everyone knows this is a monumental opportunity, from both a business perspective as well as a creative perspective, with regard to how AI is going to transform the marketing business. Everyone recognises it, but you're still seeing that people need to have their minds opened to what the actual opportunities are with AI. They're hearing about it, CFOs and CMOs are telling them to use AI, but not everyone knows what that is, beyond using it in their pitch deck.

[At Tool] I’ve tried to put a focus on practical ways to actually create a marketing campaign using AI. We've had the chance to do that with DDB Chicago for Starburst, with Coca-Cola for an experiential activation, and we have more opportunities coming out soon. But there is no question about it – this is the new internet. This is the same feeling as it was in the late ‘90s with the internet and dot com. It’s the same thing happening right now, obviously in a different way, but it’s the same feeling.

LBB> You’ve also experimented with blending AI and live action footage, like with your experimental concept ad around the Land Rover Defender. Is that a focus for you from a production standpoint – or is it more about embedding AI into experiential workflows and other non-traditional campaigns?

Dustin> I would say it's both. This is actually our 30th year in existence, and a lot of people don’t know that Tool started as a live-action, commercial production company. It still is one of the biggest areas of focus for Tool.

​The Land Rover project is a great example of hybrid production, where you're leveraging live action for what it does really well, which is human performance and getting consistency of a product through a spot, and then using AI for what it does really well, which is allowing you to create other footage and version it out.

We created two versions of that spot – a snow version and an off-road version. If we had done it the traditional live-action route, it would have taken us days. This was a way for us to blend the best of both worlds, and I see that being a big opportunity for the industry going forward.

LBB> Is this also influencing your approach to hiring new talent – where you're looking and what skills you're looking for?

Dustin> I would say, yes. The mindset is the most important thing. I don't want to be in a place where we're shoving AI down anyone's throat. But at the same time, I would like to work with people and directors who are very open to whatever the right solution might be. And if AI is the appropriate solution, then they're ready to jump in.

[Director] Ben Tricklebank is a perfect example and Erich Joiner, the founder of Tool, is a great example too. He's been doing this for 30 years but is always open to the new thing that's going to help him tell the story and deliver on the craft he wants… I love that!

LBB> What else are clients commonly asking from you to bring their marketing to life?

Dustin> AI really is the thing that everyone is coming to us to at least explore.

We also have a big experiential side of our business, and as far as experiential goes, we're seeing a return to in-real-life events and activations. But everything goes through cycles – cycles where it's innovation-led, meaning you're trying to use creative technology, and cycles where it's more just about showing up and having a really nice activation or owned event. I feel like we're in that latter part where there's not as much risk right now in experiential, but you're still able to produce some great moments for people to come together, build a community, launch a product etc..

On the traditional video content side, there definitely seems to be an uptick in comedy. That's really great for us because we have so many amazing comic directors. But where we're getting the most interest is with people who want to talk about exploring AI. The AI side is the common thread; everyone is poking around to try to see how they can use it.

^{Above: Tool's work for Starburst, with DDB Chicago}

LBB> What’s your read on the wider production landscape in general?

Dustin> There's no question we're at an inflection point as an industry, particularly when it comes to commercial production. A lot of people in the production community are coming to the realisation that things are not going to be the same as they were pre-covid. The number of opportunities, the level of the creative, and the budgets are different.

So now everyone has come to that realisation, they’re trying to figure out what their role now is in the world of commercial production. Is there a different type of director and talent that the marketplace is looking for? Seeing that business ROI and value are so highly scrutinised by the industry [now], how do we properly show the creative value that we bring to brands?

As the industry is grappling with this, at the same time, AI is this overarching thing across the industry, and everyone's questioning whether that’s what's going to help them find their place and solve some of these considerations, or whether it’s a major threat. That's where you see this dichotomy – some people are embracing it and some people are vehemently against it. It’s going to be really interesting to see how it all plays out over the next couple of years.

LBB> You've been at Tool for 16 years or so now, and you've seen many different changes in that time – AI perhaps being the biggest. What’s kept you there and interested for such a long tenure, especially in this industry?

Dustin> I think it's just the constant reinvention. I get to sit on the strategy side but also a lot on the innovation and technology side, and it's always changing. There's always something new to explore and talk to the industry, our directors, and our in-house creative and technical teams about.

That's what's always kept me excited – having creativity at our core, but also an openness to constantly find new ways to innovate how we're delivering that creativity with our clients. Quite honestly, that’s what I've always loved to do since I was working with the first personal computers back in the ‘80s. I think if I got to the point where I was just consistently coming to clients with the same solution, and they were no longer coming to me asking, ‘What's the next thing?’, I might say that I've done what I can at Tool and in the industry. But right now, it's about to be the next golden age, with AI and everything else we're doing.

^{Above: Recent work for Gran Centenario}

LBB> So as we enter this new “golden age”, what are some of your goals for the rest of 2025 and beyond?

Dustin> The goal is to help set up the company for the next wave of advertising and commercial production. We've been laying the groundwork but you're going to see Tool reworking our overall messaging to the industry and how we structure ourselves. If we do it right, our hope is that we become not just one of the leaders and places for clients and directing talent to go to, but to set up almost a new framework for commercial production.

Commercial production has been largely doing it the same way for 40 years, and it needs to be shaken up. That's what you're seeing right now – a big shake-up. We've got some ideas brewing of where we want to take this thing, and if we hit it right, I hope the industry at large sees it and goes, ‘That’s an interesting, new paradigm shift that Tool has taken the industry to’. That’s my hope.

LBB> Can you tease any of those changes?

Dustin> Tool is going to continue to do what it does really well – be a home for directing talent and help clients produce video content. We're going to continue to do great experiential, and we're going to leverage AI across everything in the right ways and in the right moments.

But I do think that there are evolving opportunities for the relationship between a production company and a director. There are new opportunities for how we structure to leverage AI for visual effects and other elements of the overall production. And there are new ways for solving some of the issues our clients are having.

As far as brands and agencies go, they need tons of versions of content. That is the reality of what we're dealing with now. So it's different from helping someone with 60-second and 15-second spots, and maybe a couple of social media assets. I want to be better at that, but it's larger than that. It's all going to be positioned from a marketing perspective.

Right now, when you talk to some people, they know Tool for our great commercials but they absolutely have no idea that we do experiential technology. Then there are other people who know Tool as this amazing innovation-led company, but don’t know we shoot commercials and have directors. It's shocking when you sometimes hear that one way or the other. I think there's a way we can bring it all together so that the market really understands, and we're seen as this different kind of creative solutions provider.