senckađ
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
People in association withLBB Pro User
Group745

Dream Teams: Jay Short and John Martinelli Just ‘Get It’

08/02/2023
Creative Production Studio
London, UK
241
Share
As client services director and head of production, the Solarflare Studio co-founders come to projects with differing priorities, but they’ve learnt that listening to each other results in success, writes LBB’s Alex Reeves

When Jay Short and John Martinelli began working together at a tech company five years ago, they didn’t instantly click. “I wasn’t that fussed by John and I think the same was true in reverse,” says Jay. But gradually as Jay, in client services, started to bring in more projects and John, in production, had to budget and deliver these, their paths started to cross more regularly. “I was impressed by how methodical he was, albeit in a very stern way,” says Jay.

While John’s focus was getting work made, Jay’s natural inclination suited his more client-facing role. “My first impressions were that Jay was a sweet talker,” says John. But he was impressed with his colleague’s substantial knowledge of the immersive tech industry, as well as how he demonstrated that. 

Now the pair are client services director and head of production respectively, and both co-founders, at Solarflare Studio – a creative technology studio on a mission to ‘hack the human experience’. And it’s safe to say they’ve reached a completely different level of familiarity since they first met. “Since knowing Jay, he is certainly less charming, that’s for sure, and growing older ungracefully,” jokes John. “However, his knowledge of the tech space and its importance in our current venture is certainly just as impressive.”

The first project Jay and John took on together was for the Road Safety Authority of Ireland with BBDO Dublin – a pioneering project that used virtual reality to educate drivers about the consequences of drink driving. It was going to be a fairly large scale film production in Ireland and a lot of the groundwork had been done by the team. “John and I probably were slightly more peripheral than we would be on other projects, but it was a good way to begin to learn how each other worked,” says Jay. “It may have even led to our first disagreement over per diems not being included in budgets, or something ridiculous!”


John came in to shape the delivery, overseeing the talent and working collaboratively with Jay to understand the agency and client’s goals. The project went on to win numerous awards and is something both are proud to have had the opportunity to be part of. “More importantly, Jay and I have had the pleasure of collaborating with RSA on many projects since,” several of which are continuing to be recognised with awards.

There’s no secret alchemy as to why Jay and John work well together. “It sounds very oversimplified, but I think we both just ‘get it’,” says Jay. Whether approaching a project from a creative, technical or commercial perspective, they’ve become good at understanding where they can find the balance between them. “For example, if John thinks that a budget should be X and I explain that the client only has Y and that can’t change, he will adapt,” says Jay. “Conversely, if I say we should get a proposal turned around within 48 hours and John says we need extra time to deliver it to the required standard, then I will do everything I can to buy that extra time, as I trust John’s ability to deliver outstanding quality.”

It's been a process to get there. “Over time we have become a really strong team,” says Jay. “To begin with we were both very set in believing that we were right, and often we both were, but without understanding the full context.” They used to stick in their silos. “Sometimes I would roll in with the next BIG client brief and we need to respond ASAP because they need to make a decision RIGHT NOW,” says Jay. “I would forthrightly ask everything else to be dropped without thinking for a second that maybe my request wasn’t the most important. Likewise, John would be very set in his ways around what his priorities should be and how we should respond, without taking into account the limitations of client budgets or logistical challenges.

“As we have matured and our teams have grown, we have learnt to listen to each other a lot more, and I think the way that we respond to clients has improved as a result.”

One thing that’s helped boost the openness this requires is in-person rather than virtual meetings. John notes that people are just more decent to each other when they’re together in person. “There can be a sense of ‘keyboard warrior’ syndrome if everything is done virtually - so a bit of human interaction over a beer never hurts.”

Over the past three and a half years, the pair have built Solarflare from the ground up, through a difficult time, navigating covid and now the cost of living crisis. “Alongside this, there has been a whirlwind of personal life considerations that we probably didn’t (but probably should have), expected, that have also brought us together as both colleagues and friends,” says Jay.

Starting a new business at any time is a challenge and a risk in itself, but John reflects on how both he and Jay saw value in what they were doing and jumped at the opportunity to continue working with each other. “Bouncing ideas together, creatively and strategically, along with both being on the same page together, is a huge benefit when working in this industry,” he says.

Working together, “Everything is turbocharged,” asserts Jay. “We know how to respond fast and how to respond well. We are able to address large proportions of problems based on previous experiences which just means that everything happens faster and hopefully to a higher standard, because we have learnt from previous mistakes.” 

As a creative technology studio, every project Solarflare touches brings a different set of challenges. Recently a client asked ‘how much for a metaverse?’ “The general process is that we explain the complexities involved and how asking for the cost of a metaverse is like asking ‘how much for a car?’,” says Jay. “I tried this approach, but the client explained that he couldn’t share any information (even though we were under NDA) and that he needed an answer now. In the end, I just said ‘could be around £100k’ and he said thanks. The project did not progress, surprisingly.” 

Naturally, Solarflare takes a lot of inspiration from the tech industry. “Personally, I have a true passion for real-time VFX and therefore live installation experiences,” says John. “Work by Ouchhh, Refik Anadol, and Marshmallow Laser Feast, all play an important part in this workflow and provide stunning visual outputs.”

Jay’s equally nerdy about the business Solarflare sits in. “I think we are fortunate/unfortunate to work in an industry where so many of the companies that we would consider to be competitors are also some of the most inspirational. There is definitely a massive respect for the work that we see coming out of the likes of Nexus Studios and UNIT9. The challenge for us now is to be able to let the marketplace know that we are pretty excellent too.”

Although they grew up in different parts of the UK, Jay and John’s upbringings were quite similar in certain aspects, “particularly in the (dreadful) music we listened to,” says John. This took the pair to Las Vegas last year for a festival that was ultimately cancelled an hour before opening. “So, in our downtime, we like to sit back, relax and talk about how damn awful that was,” says Jay.

“And most importantly, I drag him down to watch Millwall draw 0-0 to Bristol City on a gloomy day in Bermondsey,” says John. So when they’re not arguing about budgets and pitch responses, they’re very comfortable arguing about whose fans, stadium or kit sponsors are worse. “I’ve learnt that Jay holds a wealth of knowledge about Premier League football players from the ‘90s and ‘00s. It’s very impressive.

“Aside from that, we’ve built a strong way of working together, enabling us to communicate in a manner where we have confidence in each other's input. This goes across all aspects of the business, from client handling to more strategic thinking.”

Despite a slow start, their relationship has clearly blossomed. “I have such a massive amount of respect for how he approaches nearly everything in the business,” says Jay. “With nearly every important decision, John is the first person that I will use as a sounding board, and his feedback is nearly always excellent.

“I think we have come to complement each other incredibly well when working together with clients - probably more so than anyone else I have seen commercially from a chemistry perspective, and just ‘knowing’ what we should be saying, which is a very difficult skill to develop. We are very lucky in that respect.” 
 


Credits
Work from Solarflare Studio
Living Canvas
Solarflare Studio
03/01/2024
25
0
Halloween Festival
Abode Records
03/01/2024
14
0
Hip Hop 50
Hennessy
03/01/2024
26
0
ALL THEIR WORK