A Production Perspective from the All-Seeing Eye of CICLOPE

Number 1: If you’re going to lean into madness, trust is key.

The 2024 CICLOPE Festival kicked off with the award-winning work of Nike, ‘Awaken Your Madness,' the title of which could easily have been the catchphrase for this year's event.

Created by Wieden+Kennedy and Magna Studios in advance of this year’s UEFA European Football Championship, the spot stars Erling Haaland, Vini Jr., Kylian Mbappe and Ronaldinho. Nike’s Jordi Pont, Wieden+Kennedy’s Rebecca Pottinger, and Magna Studios’ Sam Pilling discussed the mood behind the creation and how that translated to its execution - a tight Euros Deadline included. LS Productions did happen to service the Manchester shoot element with Haaling, so a few of the surprises had been spoiled in advance of the talk.

The gist was: “Production partners can try to tame ideas or go with them.” Go with it or Just Do It in true Nike form. 

The intense result was by all accounts a testament to the willingness by all parties to make it a true collaboration. From burning negatives with a blowtorch (then, subsequently, ironing them to get back through the scanner) to 15 setups within 75-mins to filling entire pitches with smoke and rewriting scenes right before filming, there were no shortage of situations where trust would be tested and where a stringent adherence to job titles naturally went out the window. 

But, in the words of Sam Pilling, you just may “make braver, more exciting decisions when your back is against the wall.” 

For the true limits to be tested within the deadline, not to mention the ever-changing players’ schedules, trust had to be threaded throughout the project.

Magna Studios Dir. Sam Pilling, Nike's Jordi Pont, and Wieden+Kennedy's Rebecca Pottinger - the team behind Nike's 'Awaken Your Madness' - explain the chaos and trust making the spot.

Number 2: The difference between adaptation and evolution.

The production landscape is facing some choices, and resistance to change is futile. AI was the talk of the town, no surprises there. WPP & Hogarth’s Dave Rolfe kicked off ‘The Ever-changing Landscape of Production” talk by saying: 

“Adaptation precedes evolution.”

In conversation with Stink’s Daniel Bergmann and Lego’s Paulina Embart, the continual question posed was where production fits into a frontier that is increasingly feeling more dangerous for businesses. All key players have been massively impacted by swift changes in technology, new areas to spend money, and the desire by many brands to produce some, if not all, of their work in-house.  

The new Wild West needs to be tamed with some structure and rules in place. To the hopeful, there is the question of whether technology can actually help bring about a new equilibrium amid an ever-increasing focus on the budget (all while projects get more expensive to make). The taming also needs TLC by all beneficiaries to ensure the talent community does not go the way of the dodo. Production companies have worked hard to carve out a niche environment in finding, nurturing, building and investing in talent. 

Ultimately, it was a discussion, at times a debate, about what is going to be sustainable going forward. While we are far from having all the answers, and are all looking at the landscape from different vantage points, everyone on stage is aware of the challenges. Everyone is looking for where they can contribute to adaptations that result in an evolution which, while it may very well mean some survival of the fittest elements, also protects what is precious.

Number 3: We need 360-degree perspectives now more than ever.

Perhaps the headliner, if the queue to get in offers any evidence, was the Craft Talk, “Untold Stories: Insights from Four Female Production Owners,” led by Epoch’s Mindy Goldberg, Eleanor’s Sophie Gold, Prettybird’s Abi Brown and Biscuit’s Shawn Lacy. Over half of those waiting to get into the room were turned away, volleying up the closing question of the talk: 

“With all this talk of progress, why is this talk not happening on the main stage?”

The demand for this talk and the wealth of experience these voices carry, is the best testament to the hunger to hear from key, informed perspectives on how they have shaped the industry, and equally been shaped by it. Goldberg has had Epoch for 35-years and Lacy started Biscuit 25-years ago. All four women are mothers (joking that they are not just mothers to directors), but also noted that women are thrown into the role of mother in the industry, whether or not they have kids of their own. No topic was off limits, from normalising emotion to sex and motherhood. 

As a female-led and founded business, LS Productions is hungry for more of these opportunities to gather as, ultimately, the theme that shone through was the desire to build community. The foundation of which was very evident from the fact that all these women have people they can pick up the phone to in order to see the winning treatment or ask advice. 

One additional sought-after perspectives of note at CICLOPE, was from headliner, Sharon Horgan, whose official title read “Actor/Writer/Director/Producer,” and could have also included “Co-Founder, BAFTA award-winner,” and so much more. She discussed what is (and is not) funny alongside O Positive’s David Shane. David mentioned the key moments before or after a line is delivered, and Sharon commented on the moments that might read nondescript, dark or tragic on the page, and how to get them to play out and land (the way she had it in her head when writing). 

In some ways, this discussion tied directly into that of trust, particularly in creating the madness or the comedy. It left the audience with even more respect for the talent and perspectives required in the craft to truly deliver.

The Awards Ceremony on the closing night of CICLOPE 2024.

CICLOPE brought together - planned and spontaneous, formal and informal - conversations that both celebrated the craft and refused to shy away from the difficult issues atop everyone’s minds. Trust within projects and across what we once exclusively referred to as “competitors,” as well as knowledge-sharing from other difficult eras, personally and professionally, are critical. 

No matter from where we came to Berlin, the week was essential to our individual and collective odysseys. We got to see each other, and what is at stake, clearly and in focus.