Meet Your Makers: Connecting the Dots and Identifying Needs with Alvaro Sanchez
My name is Alvaro and I lead MediaMonks production in SEA, out of Singapore.
I manage and oversee production work streams for multi-million dollar clients as well as all the ambitious digital and innovation work in the region.
I have 10+ years of experience producing digital and innovation work for global brands. Prior to joining MediaMonks five years ago, I lived in Korea where I produced global digital exhibits, innovation and content work for conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai and global brands such as P&G, Du Telecom and Chanel.
Besides leading the production teams in MediaMonks, I work closely with client and growth teams to ensure our business and creative practice is aligned with quality delivery for clients”
LBB> What first attracted you to production - and has it been an industry you’ve always worked on or did you come to it from another area?
Alvaro> I started in marketing, managing digital content for a large Telco in Korea and also managing the development at the product level of one of their most successful mobile app properties. We did a lot of tactical activations (experiential, OOH, digital content) and I had to work closely with agencies executing the work. I thought what they did was extremely cool, especially on the tech and interaction design side and knew then I wanted to be part of the magic.
LBB> What was your first role in the production world and how did this experience influence how you think about production and how you grew your career?
Alvaro> I was extremely lucky to join a renowned boutique experiential studio in Korea. These guys were super hands-on with all things emerging tech and had the facilities and people to do everything in-house (from high-quality content production and software dev to physical fabrication, R&D and prototyping). I think sitting there with the visual artists and engineers and just absorbing everything they did was priceless for my career. Learning every step of the process allowed me to better plan, budget and deliver projects.
LBB> How did you learn to be a producer?
Alvaro> I think it is all about common sense. It is about connecting the dots and identifying needs before shit hits the fan. In my first role as a producer, I was there to take care of the teams doing the work and to facilitate all the tools and time they needed to get their work done. For me, it was a combination of that and going out of my way to understand the production pipeline for content, software and installation work that taught me how to do this job.
LBB> Looking back to the beginning of your career, can you tell us about a production you were involved in where you really had to dig deep and that really helped you to grow as a producer?
Alvaro> I will always remember the big events we did for the likes of Samsung, Hyundai, etc (CES, MWC, IFA, etc) where we had to do large interactive installations, a lot of them never done before. The logistics and the hiccups during setup and physical builds were killers. I think you learn to be extremely resourceful when you are hit with situations you didn’t plan for or took for granted. I particularly remember an exhibition in Italy where we created a kinetic installation piece. It was a large set of floating ring structures that formed a 360 immersive display unit displaying sensorial content; an artsy thing. We didn’t cater to the interaction between the winches lifting the ring structures and the enclosed space and the noise footprint it would create in the space. We realised at the venue that the noise was unbearable. Our solution: we got our sound designers to create a new composition that matched the pitch of the winch sound so that during the exhibit people would not notice the sound of the winches at all. Great sucesssssss!
LBB> A good producer should be able to produce for any medium, from film to events to the digital experience. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why/why not?
Alvaro> That is like saying a musician should be able to play all instruments perfectly. I do not think it works like that. There are so many specialisations you can jump into. Building a web platform is a totally different ball game than working on a film. And following that analogy, you can go even deeper into all the elements that actually go into film production and find more specialisations like VFX & post, animation, line production, etc. I think a good producer should have a grasp and general understanding of how things work because that will empower conversations upstream (with clients, agency partners, etc), but leave the specifics to the experts, please. We will all have better project outcomes if we don’t try to be the ace of all trades.
LBB> What’s your favourite thing about production and why?
Alvaro> Production cuts all the BS and gets things done. Being part of the process of building someone’s idea is super empowering. I personally enjoy seeing things come to life and the process where you bring people together to achieve a common goal. I take pride in separating myself from fame and glory and rather use production to make the creator’s idea shine. That to me is enough.
LBB> How has production changed since you started your career?
Alvaro> When I started in production we were already lucky to have vast amounts of information available through the internet. Thus, anyone had access to tools and communities where they can find knowledge about everything. That said, if you look at the less traditional production (by traditional I mean film-heavy work), basically it is virtually impossible to capitalise on new trends fast enough. You have to be ahead of the curve, testing, prototyping, playing with emerging tech and finding ways to make sense of it all before it becomes mainstream.
When I started, we were playing with robots and motion platforms and exploring Unreal and Unity and what we could do by merging both worlds to create next-level VR experiences. This was no longer relevant just a few years later. I saw the same with Lenses and social AR where it was something almost unheard of. Now anyone can use Lens Studio or Spark AR, it is extremely simple and easy to create and publish effects. This both creates immense opportunities for streamlining production but also makes it hard to keep competitive.
Another example is web3 / Metaverse. Everyone is trying to jump on the bandwagon but very few understand how it works and what the actual long-term opportunities are. This will continue to be the case for quite some time and, to some extent, it is something we should celebrate as this is an ever-changing industry empowered by the very delicate balance between tech and creativity.
LBB> And what has stayed the same?
Alvaro> I think the process is pretty unchanged. Although people go after more nimble, on-the-go and iterative workflows, due to production being more and more integrated than ever, I think we still stick to similar processes and foundations for project management for example. Technology enables us to be faster and better but at the end of the day, the foundations seem very similar to me.
LBB> What do you think is the key to being an effective producer - and is it something that’s innate or something that can be learned?
Alvaro> Anyone can learn to be a producer. It is about common sense really. An effective producer is able to identify needs and problems before they happen, communicate and lead people and, I think, most importantly have an incredibly persuasive personality to get people on board, motivated and giving their very best. These are all soft skills people develop and learn over time. I don’t think there is anything you need to be born with to be a producer (unpopular opinion? maybe).
LBB> Which production project from across your career are you most proud of and why?
Alvaro> The reason for choosing this is probably that it was very unique and new to the industry. A recent project we did for an online bank in the US called Ally. To promote its banking services amongst millennials, we worked with Ally to create a branded island in Animal Crossing. Ally Island builds on the game’s money-management premise to show how Ally makes everything easier. Built by professional island designers, we invited players to explore the island that’s packed with minigames and zones showcasing different aspects of Ally, and a turnip exchange that gave the best ROI possible. Alongside the island, we partnered up with the popular Animal Crossing streamer, Kang. They hosted a live-stream event featuring Ally staff inside the game who welcomed players, assisted their turnip exchange, and shared banking advice. See it HERE
LBB> And in terms of recent work, which projects have you found to be particularly exciting or have presented particularly interesting production challenges?
Alvaro> Web3 and the Metaverse I think pose new challenges. There is no clear understanding of what it is and most importantly how to long term capitalise on them, everything is claims and buzz, headlines and hype. We have been pitching quite extensively on metaverse projects, but it boils down to the fact that every brand wants to own the space but they offer no value to consumers other than showcasing their products in the “metaverse”. Therefore, to make anything remotely successful in the metaverse, it is all about how you bring people to the platform of choice and what you do collaterally to make the experience meaningful to consumers. Even when your platform has a compelling product (Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, for example), the moment you put a product in, your users are out. It is a delicate balance.
What was very successful for us on the ACNH project we did for Ally was that we worked so hard to integrate every single activity of the activation into what users love and enjoy about the Animal Crossing game. Most importantly we were able to hack the biggest pain point of the game (getting rich and quickly!!). We didn't have to do much to bring people in with meaningless buzz, just the premise of coming to our islands to have the highest ever turnip exchange rates was enough, and that idea connected to banking (the client), to the game (the medium) and to our audience. People flooded the islands (and Twitter).
LBB> Producers always have the best stories. What’s the hairiest / most insane situation you’ve found yourself in and how did you work your way out of it?
Alvaro> Maybe not so many. But they range from crashing a drone with a Red Dragon Camera in the middle of a Fjord in Norway and having to jump in the frozen lake to find it (this is before drones were a thing, so this thing was a huge quadcopter worth a lot of money), blowing up a huge servo motor for our motion platform the day before the event was supposed to go live and having to fly someone from the other side of the world with a new one overnight (poor guy).
LBB> What are your personal ambitions or aspirations as a producer?
Alvaro> I care about the quality of the work. That is it. As long as I can deliver that, my job is done. However, as I step into more managerial roles (let’s face it, people, you can’t be a producer all your life and live a healthy life), I strive to pass my knowledge to others and share the love. I think that is extremely important to empower other people to shine and be proud of their work as well. I also look after growth opportunities and help other parts of the business deliver quality and cost-effective work to clients.
LBB> As a producer your brain must have a neverending "to do" list. How do you switch off? What do you do to relax?
Alvaro> I don’t. Really. I am always thinking about the next problem. It is exhausting. I do find a way out through playing and recording music and maybe playing football.
LBB> Producers are problem solvers. What personally fuels your curiosity and drive?
Alvaro> The ah-ha!! Moments. I love sitting down with people who know their shit (visual artists, animators, devs, mechanical engineers) and just bug them with questions on how things work until they kick me out of the room. I think more than anything else, learning something new through every project is what fuels my drive. If I can learn a new thing about the tech framework we are using or about the content we are making I feel like my personal goals for the project are met.
LBB> What advice would you give to people who are interested in becoming a producer?
Alvaro> Learn some hard skills: find something you are passionate about and learn how to do it. (Code, design, animation, etc). This will give you the foundations you need to run successful projects. I wish I had done that when I started.
Find a good mentor: Stick to someone who can show you the ropes and have your back.
Overplan but don’t overthink: Be prepared but don’t get in your head. A lot of the problems you face have simple and practical solutions.
Find inspiration: Find something you think is cool and fuels your curiosity and go in that direction, jump right into the projects.
LBB> From your experience what are the ingredients for a successful production?
Alvaro> Budgets & Expectations: Transparency in communicating the value of the work is important from the get-go. Aligning expectations and budgets and agreeing on what that means upfront will help you avoid disappointed clients and unprofitable projects. Don’t over-promise.
Planning & Casting: Plan for the worse and have alternative routes. Get the right people on the project, this is the difference between a high-quality profitable project and a shitty overburnt mess.
Overcommunicate: People will be people. And while it is common sense, it is imperative that you triple-check everything.
Transparency: build your project on transparency and collaboration.
LBB> What’s the key to a successful production-client relationship?
Alvaro> Make them part of the process: Most clients appreciate being part of the process and being able to input into the project. After all, they know their brand better than you. This also means they are partly responsible for the outcome.
Be transparent: Establishing a transparent line of communication is important. It will help with misaligned expectations / “misunderstandings” and foster a problem-solving relationship rather than a finger-pointing one. Be realistic about what’s possible and what is not.
LBB> Producers are naturally hands-on - they have to be. How do you balance that in the more managerial role of an EP?
Alvaro> I try to give my producers a good head start. If I can get the kick-off of their project solid it will help them be successful. It kinda sucks that I don’t get to produce as much but if I can facilitate a good project kick-off, help plan, cast and build a solid production approach I feel like I have done my part. After that is all about being a facilitator, what can I do on a daily basis to make your job as a fellow producer easier?
