5 Minutes with… Matt Hall

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, we speak with Matt Hall, executive creative director for IPG Health’s Studio Rx, the network’s digital-first global production company built to service the unique requirements of healthcare brands. Matt has been part of the IPG Health family for over 15 years now, utilising his background in TV, animation and design to great effect in the worlds of commercial production and creative. 

Matt’s filmmaking background - having been an editor, animator and director - allows him to bring a very story-focused approach to the team’s work. And these stories in healthcare, he explains, are often literally life and death stories. With the stakes of the content being so high, he enjoys digging into the cutting edge science and using the health industry’s restrictions as a catalyst for creative solutions.

Speaking to LBB’s Ben Conway, he discusses his excitement for new content forms and blurring emerging technologies with storytelling, as well as how the studio is embracing a philosophy of collaboration and innovation.

LBB> What creative content inspired or interested you most when you were growing up? 

Matt> I was a big reader and a huge movie fan growing up. I have a soft spot for the French movies I watched as a kid with my dad – in particular, the weird ones like ‘Diabolique’ and ‘Delicatessen’. 

LBB> You started out in animation and editing. How have these skills and experiences formed the basis of your creative approach and leadership as an ECD today?

Matt> I think a filmmaking background gives you a very story-focused approach to any creative  project. Regardless of the project, I’m always looking to find the most impactful story for that situation, the one that will capture an audience’s attention and pull them in.  

LBB> What’s the most important piece of advice you received early on in your career?  How does it influence you and your work today? 

Matt> The best advice I've received is that being nervous about a project is a sign you're pushing boundaries and moving forward. I encourage my team to embrace this mindset: don’t play it safe; take big swings. That nervous excitement about new projects means you're stepping  into new territory and being bold. 

LBB> You’ve worked in the IPG Health family for over 15 years now, gradually moving upstream from post production to the worlds of production and creative - how did you find that transition? 

Matt> One of the great things about IPG Health is that you are constantly given new opportunities and challenges to tackle, if you are up for them. For me, my focus has been on expanding the capabilities and offerings we can have in-house, and constantly improving the quality of the work. So, these days, we have an incredible team with a huge depth of capabilities, and it’s really exciting to be able to propose big ambitious ideas and know that we can deliver them. 

LBB> How have you seen health marketing in general evolve in that time? What have been some of the biggest changes and challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Matt> The biggest challenge has been scaling. When I began, I was part of a five-person team within a 400-person agency. Studio Rx is now over 500 people globally, supporting a 6,500+ person global network! And the work has changed as well. There’s now a much higher volume of lower complexity work, like social content, and at the other end of the spectrum, much more complex digital work, like interactive data visualisation or gaming.

LBB> Studio Rx creates content in so many different mediums - from video to XR, live events, animation and more - how do you stay across all of these as an ECD, and protect the team’s creative ideas during development? 

Matt> The variety of work is what keeps things exciting! I have really strong creative leads in all of our different specialties – I empower them and support them when they need it. And I also  focus on connecting us all together to share ideas and inspire each other.

LBB> When discussing health marketing, people often discuss the restrictions and regulations - but what creative opportunities does this sector provide that the wider marketing world is perhaps unaware of? What has kept it creatively fulfilling for 15 years?

Matt> I think restrictions and regulations force you to come up with creative solutions! And there is so much that makes it fulfilling. Firstly, the thing about healthcare is that we are telling really important stories – literally life and death stories sometimes. So, the stakes of the content are real – and that is inspiring. For example, we created a short film series where we interviewed real patients and then created illustrations and animation bringing those stories to life. 

It’s also fascinating to get to learn the science behind the diseases and medicines we work on. To dig into cutting-edge science in a really deep way and through that, get to better understand how our own bodies function. One of our current projects is an interactive game that teaches kids about the microbiome. I find that fascinating! 

LBB> Looking at the broader industry, what gets you really excited and what frustrates you? What could the industry be doing better - be it just in health or further afield? 

Matt> It’s hard not to be wowed by what’s happening in generative AI right now. It feels like every  day we are uncovering new things we can do. For example, we just launched a whole new  identity for Studio Rx where our artists used a whole new AI-augmented workflow, including custom-trained AI models as part of the process. However, it can also be a bit frustrating because you wish you could try all of the new developments you are seeing out there, but there is just so much! And of course, there is that fear around how it’s going to impact the production industry, but I’m a tech optimist and I think this is going to be an incredible new set of tools for us to create with in new ways. 

LBB> Who or what in your field inspires you at the moment?  

Matt> I’m really inspired by the interactive work coming out of The New York Times – the way they are experimenting with new interactive experiences, data visualisations, short-form video – but always doing it in a way that really enhances the story they are telling. I also love immersive and think the Apple Vision Pro is a sneak peek at how we will all be interacting with content in the future.

LBB> What would you say is your creative philosophy? How are you shaping the creative output of Studio Rx’s clients in 2024?

Matt> Collaboration + Innovation. 

Really tight collaboration is what always delivers the absolute best work – and that means collaboration within our team, with agency teams, and directly with our clients. And then you have to always be pushing boundaries and embracing innovation. But you have to do that while staying true to the core message. This approach helps our clients stand out and connect with their audiences in meaningful ways.