Matt Blitz on the Producer’s Skill of Helping “The Square Fit in the Circle”
The nature of production as the industry knows it is evolving fast, ushered in by challenges around sustainability, diversity, budgets, and the drive for more content at scale. To discuss all this and more, Remote Filming - the leading remote streaming service technology - is asking the industry’s top production experts about their best practices and the ways they’re utilising technology to help overcome the challenges at hand in an ongoing series for LBB.
Anthony Barry, co-founder of Remote Filming says, “We’re all seeing the industry change. I believe that when it comes to tackling the myriad of production issues, especially sustainability, technology is key. Bringing together the right people and the right technology is how we can make a real difference to production, cutting costs, increasing efficiency and making it more sustainable.”
Matt Blitz, EVP and executive director of agency production at FCB Chicago, has over two decades of experience in the world of ad production. In that time, he’s seen the industry undergo multiple seismic shifts and, while he doesn’t surprise easily, the transition from film to digital took some adjusting to with Matt saying that “some of the craft was lost as the film itself helped tell the story.”
Still, never one to dwell on the negatives, Matt is motivated by a healthy spirit of competition and he aims to make work that others in the industry are jealous of “because for so many years I was jealous of the work others were making,” he explains. Excelling as a necessarily ‘creative’ producer, per the words of FCB’s CEO Kelly Graves, Matt's commitment to craft is laudable and can be seen across hundreds of award-winning projects including the industry-shifting ‘Ostrich’ for Samsung.
Today, LBB sat down with Matt to learn about how he works guided by FCB’s ‘Never Finished’ philosophy, how the demand for a high volume of content dilutes the craft (and what can be done about it), and why he’s always focused on maintaining creative integrity.
LBB> Matt, thank you for taking part in our interview series! You have over two decades of experience as a producer - have any industry developments really surprised you in that time?
Matt> I don’t surprise easily. As a producer, you learn how to adapt to the ever changing environment that is production. New technology, from film capture equipment to new software for post-production means the field is ever evolving, but in a way that makes the craft better.
The biggest surprise for me was when we turned our back on film and went digital. I started my career as an assistant director in film and television and after spending all that time hearing “roll camera,” “camera speed,” and the call to “check the gate,” for so many years, it was hard to transition. Not only for the loss of the anticipation of wondering if there was a “Hair” in the gate but the look and feel of our films was lost for a bit. That was until technology caught up to the change by developing software that can make digital look film-ish. Some of the craft was lost as the film itself helped tell the story, evoking emotion by the ‘mood’ and look of the film.
LBB> How has the producer’s role evolved from where you started to where you are now? Do you think the role is more or less complex today?
Matt> When I started in agency production, our jobs weren’t simple but they were less complicated in some respects. We were siloed as producers by expertise – there were broadcast producers, who handled film and radio, art buyers who handled static image capture, and print producers who handled all the mechanical/post and fulfilment for the statics that the art buyer captured. We made :30s films with an occasional cut down and sometimes we had to produce a few radio spots, but there weren’t as many deliverables. This may seem like a dream to some people, but craft was at the forefront. We had focus. Today, it’s a lot more complicated. We still have the :30s but the cut downs and versions are seemingly endless. We have to figure out how to capture our core assets plus static and a countless number of additional assets in the same day. It’s not an impossible ask, but it does take more planning than ever before. It’s also watered down the craft of the work, because we must prioritise shots and plan each one meticulously to make our days, which doesn’t allow us the freedom to “play” and craft the best work.
LBB> Your CEO, Kelly Graves, said that you excel as a creative producer. What does that look like and how do you deploy that creativity?
Matt> I’m blushing! But I do pride myself on this. I’m highly competitive (in a healthy way), and I want the industry to be jealous of the work I produce because for so many years I was jealous of the work others were making. This starts with a relationship with your internal team, especially the creatives. We need to be creative problem solvers and help the square to fit in the circle without losing the creative integrity. To do this, you need the best talent, internal or external, who will challenge our partners and debate the work to evolve it through the execution process, while bringing our clients along for the ride. FCB’s ‘Never Finished’ philosophy transcends this idea and is crucial in an execution where craft is the most important thing. Our ideas are our product, and they live or die in the execution.
LBB> You’ve worked on hundreds of award-winning projects. Is there one (or a few) that in hindsight you still can’t believe happened from a production perspective?
Matt> There’s a lot of work throughout my career I’m really proud of, but there are two campaigns that really stand out as the ones that I was surprised actually happened.
The first one is Samsung’s ‘Ostrich’. This film was presented and bought, then put on indefinite hold for six months. Usually when this happens, the project doesn’t come back to life. Well, this one did when the client saw the work as an opportunity for it to be their symbolic ‘phoenix’, and act as the launch spot for the Galaxy 8 line of products. The tag line was “Do What You Can’t,” and that’s exactly what we did to make an ostrich fly. We had originally planned for there to be four animation shots with the CGI bird, but after MPC built the model and did some tests, they gave us nine shots because the model ended up better than they could have imagined. When we finished the spot the director, Matthijs Van Heijningen, said it was the most terrifying project he ever worked on, because we were making an ad with a live ostrich and relying on a CGI model that we had to create, so a lot of things could’ve gone wrong. But they didn’t!
The other project I didn’t think would happen was Skittles’ ‘Broadway the Rainbow’. We had a few hurdles, like getting a Broadway Theatre, a celebrity, writing, design, composing, rehearsing, and building… all in three months. The only theatre that fit the definition of a ‘Broadway theatre’ and would entertain us, had a concert planned for the evening we wanted to run our show. We were very lucky we had a partner in Smuggler, who had a great relationship with the Broadway community and were able to broker a deal with the band to get us the theatre and the talent to be able to pull off the project! It was definitely the most stressful project for me in many ways, but also the most satisfying in my career, so far.
LBB> When it comes to new tech, whether that’s software or hardware, how do you know when to get excited, when to approach cautiously, or when to completely ignore?
Matt> I’m always cautious when it comes to new tech. There are always seemingly different schools of thought about how new technology can be applied to production. Most of the time, it’s hard to ascertain who’s right until we see the application of the tech demonstrated in a way that benefits the needs of both the agency and client.
LBB> Which industry trends do you find affect what you do most, i.e. sustainability, diversity, different platforms, demand for high volumes of content, etc.? How are you addressing these?
Matt> The industry trends that impact production are often the ones that are priorities to some, and not others. This might sound crass, but not all trends hold the same weight to everyone. On the agency side, we cannot be alone in any of these missions. We rely on our clients and production partnerships to put the same level of importance on every ‘trend’. I like to see sustainability and diversity lose their ‘trend’ status and become the norm, which takes a village, and every villager working towards the same goal.
There is also a huge demand for a high volume of content – more than ever before. This ask has a significant impact on the craft. We used to be able to sit on set and evolve the idea in real time with the director, and have the breathing room to play and make the best, most entertaining and emotive film possible. Now, we’re asked to capture so much content on a shoot that we sometimes have to simplify our executions so we can move from shot to shot, and get all the additional pieces for social or print. For me, craft is key, and I would love to find a happy medium where we can keep the craft while prioritising how much we need to capture.
LBB> The AI conversation is here to stay. What’s your view on it, especially from a craft perspective?
Matt> The best applications I’ve seen of AI, so far, are for content at scale and CRM. Everything I’ve seen in the post-production of films has used AI to lay the ‘groundwork’, but the heavy lifting for the craft is still being done manually by human artists. That human touch is still so necessary to create work that feels relatable and, well, human.
LBB> Why do you think as an industry we’re still doing so much travelling for shoots and productions? Is it really necessary?
Matt> So, when travel was halted and we did shoots remotely, I definitely noticed the level of craft drop across the industry. Agency and client attendance on a set is crucial to the success of the work. Being there and being able to develop a relationship with the director, evolving the work in real time and being able to impact the day is crucial to ensure we are crafting the work to the best of our capabilities. It’s also a moment to ensure there’s good communication between agency and production as that has a tendency to break down when everyone is remote, causing unnecessary delays and overages that could have been avoided if we were together.
LBB> Some brands are mandating a maximum number of people to attend shoots to improve the sustainability of their work. What do you think about this?
Matt> At a minimum, we need the traditional people on a shoot: production, creative, and account management. We also need to look at sustainability beyond travel. I’ve always said that we are an industry of waste. From leftover catering to the materials that we use to fabricate props, dressing, sets, etc., we waste a lot of reusable goods. I know we have organisations to help monitor the waste, like Green the Bid, but again, we need support to ensure these organisations are engaged, and I’m proud to say FCB and our clients are very good at supporting these sustainability services on our productions.
LBB> Finally, the ‘noisy content landscape’ conversation is inescapable - what do you think is the key to creating work that cuts through the noise?
Matt> As content seems to be king right now, there’s a lot of noise and clutter. We need to continue being storytellers, entertainers. We need to make people laugh, cry, and ultimately feel something about our brands. It’s our job to make consumers stop and watch something that they want to talk about and share with others. Something that will last in our zeitgeist for more than just a moment in time.
