Celia Nicholas Calls for Young Producers to Get On Set – Any Set – As Often as You Can

Celia is the founder of Austin Studio, a producer-led, project-based production company that eschews exclusive rosters in favour of curating independent directors for agencies, brands, and platforms with creatively ambitious ideas.

A multidisciplinary executive producer with three decades of experience across commercials, branded entertainment, and series, her career spans live-action, design, post, and VFX, always driven by a passion for craft, storytelling, and cultural relevance.

Known for her strategic eye and ability to build bespoke production teams and workflows, she champions creativity through curiosity, insight, and collaborative partnership.

LBB> What advice would you give to any aspiring producers or content creators hoping to make the jump into production?

Celia> Entry level positions are sometimes the best bet. That’s how most of us got here. You learn fast by doing, by watching how different people solve problems, and by being part of the organised chaos.

Some of the best producers I know started out making coffees to learn the ropes, so be curious, take notes, ask questions, and don’t be precious. Get on set, any set, as often as you can. If you show up with a positive attitude and a willingness to figure things out, people remember.

LBB> What skills or emerging areas would you advise aspiring producers to learn about and educate themselves about?

Celia> I often say, the best creative producers are part translator, part problem-solver, part vibe control manager. Getting across production workflows, bespoke software and understanding emerging tech is important -- but equally, so is learning how to communicate clearly, read a room, and lead with empathy.

LBB> What was the biggest lesson you learned when you were starting out in production - and why has that stayed with you?

Celia> That asking questions and “figuring it out” is a skill in itself. Early on, I was trained to never forward or share anything that I didn't understand myself, which allowed me to be more confident in being curious and set a good foundation for building stronger relationships. In advertising, when the hours are long, the time line pressure is high, how you treat people is everything. If you can stay calm and kind, you earn trust that lasts beyond the project itself, and that’s still the lens I work from today.

LBB> When it comes to broadening access to production and improving diversity and inclusion what are your team doing to address this?

Celia> We intentionally collaborate with a range of independent directors and producers, many of whom sit outside traditional pathways into advertising and production. We mentor and offer paid placements to underrepresented emerging filmmakers and university graduates.

LBB> And why is it an important issue for the production community to address?

Celia> Because the stories we make shape culture. If we want to reflect the world honestly, we need to make space for the people who live different versions of it. More diverse teams and crews lead to better, braver, more relevant work. It’s not just an ethical issue, it’s a creative one.

LBB> There are young people getting into production who maybe don’t see the line between professional production and the creator economy, and that may well also be the shape of things to come. What are your thoughts about that? Is there a tension between more formalised production and the ‘creator economy’ or do the two feed into each other?

Celia> The creator economy is a new generation of storytellers who are self-taught, entrepreneurial, and audience driven. Traditional production brings craft, scale and structure with little risk for delivery, at a way higher price. A sweet spot could be the intersection where they can overlap: when creators are given access to traditional production support to craft and develop their skills and traditional production companies learn to grow and move with more agility and experimentation, it doesn’t mean craft has to go out the window, it just means you still need to fight for it.

LBB> If you compare your role to the role of executive producers when you first joined the industry, what do you think are the most striking or interesting changes (and what surprising things have stayed the same?)

Celia> What hasn’t changed is the source and architecture of each job: strategically finding the opportunities through networking, pitching with a clear creative vision, making magic happen under pressure, not compromising the craft or communication and leading by example. That side of the role remains the same. The changes are how 'hands on' an executive producer needs to be. To maintain your currency, you need to be multidisciplinary and willing to roll up your sleeves and dive into every part of the process at any point.

LBB> When it comes to educating producers how does your production company like to approach this? (I know we’re always hearing about how much easier it is to educate or train oneself on tech etc, but what areas do you think producers can benefit from more directed or structured training?)

Celia> Learning by doing, it's important to learn first hand how problems and solutions play out in real time—even if you are only starting out. Navigating complex project timelines, budgets and workflows are areas we take time to discuss as a team before we respond to our clients and partners. There are so many different ways to approach problem solving, that it pays back to workshop a more considered approach almost every time and include the entire team, it's the best way to learn.

LBB> It seems that there’s an emphasis on speed and volume when it comes to content - but to where is the space for up and coming producers to learn about (and learn to appreciate) craft?

Celia> You have to make the time to consider each key production decision, by taking care with locations and casting, being thoughtful about your heads of department and your partner for post. Always good for younger producers to spend time with directors, DOPs and editors, asking questions about their process, so they feel more confident in understanding why their decisions or approaches might change from project to project based upon limitations or constraints.

LBB> On the other side of the equation, what’s the key to retaining expertise and helping people who have been working in production for decades to develop new skills?

Celia> The industry’s evolving fast, but when experienced producers stay open to learning and change, they naturally stay relevant. Being curious is part of the job at every level.

LBB> Clearly there is so much change, but what are the personality traits and skills that will always be in demand from producers?

Celia> The tools, process and formats change, but producers will always be someone who brings clarity, energy and a sense of momentum to the room and each project. I’m grateful that experience, trust and emotional intelligence still matters in creative problem solving… most of the time.