Meet Your Makers: Emma Thompson on the Value of Loving Your Job
Emma Thompson has been in the Australian advertising industry for just on 25 years, producing a huge range of multi-faceted campaigns which have been recognised in award festivals around the world including, Cannes Lions, Spikes, D&AD, award, Axis, Ciclope and LIA.
Emma is currently an executive producer and head of production at Photoplay Films, one of Australia’s top 5 production companies where she heads up a team of talented producers & directors producing integrated campaigns for a number of major brands including NAB, KPMG, Airbnb, McDonald’s, Audi, BMW, NRMA, Telstra and Toyota amongst many others. Her work spans film, TV, digital, content, experiential, VR & stills.
Before joining Photoplay nearly 10 years ago Emma had a long freelance career that took her around the world and included work on advertising, documentary, TV and feature films working alongside some of the worlds best production companies and directors while raising her two kids. That depth of experience has taught her to be as comfortable producing high-end VFX as she is with a small doco crew traipsing through the jungles of Papua New Guinea.
Over the course of her career Emma has come to recognise the power, skill and beauty in storytelling across all mediums, which is why she still maintains enormous passion for her craft.
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?
Emma> The attraction was for the long hours the hard work, ha, no seriously, I majored in film & theatre studies at uni and my dad worked in advertising so it seemed inevitable that I would pursue a career in that direction. I started in a production company straight out of uni so apart from the mandatory hospitality work to help pay my way through I have been doing production ever since.
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?
Emma> I started on the front desk as a PA/receptionist at a production company in the late 90’s doing TVC’s. I was incredibly fortunate to land there, they were brilliant people to work with and I attribute my skills, work ethic, love of producing to that start and what they gave me.
LBB> How did you learn to be a producer?
Emma> The first production company I worked for was owned by a magnificent female producer Maggie Lewis who is a legend and took me and everyone who worked for her under her wing like a real mother hen and was greatly respected in the industry. She had over the years set up a team of really strong, creative and fun people who I worked with and trained under, making my way up the ladder.
I was exposed to opportunities to grow my skill set while being well supported and mentored. She modelled to all of us the way you fight for great creative, how to manage a team, to always treat people fairly and how to manage the many ego’s in our business while having a whole lot of fun doing it, she has the best laugh in the world. I owe a lot to her!
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?
Emma> I’m not sure it was a particular production as such that made me dig deep but the overall growth experience through the industry and what I wanted from it for my future when I started a family. I didn’t start as a producer I worked my way up from a PA, coordinator, and then a prod manager. I went freelance to work in features and TV dramas then when I had my first child I really had to take stock of how I could be effective in my role in the film industry and as a mother, in my eyes I was failing at both.
I came to the realisation that I needed to be the one making the decisions and running things how it best suited me and that I was only going to be able to do that if I produced the work I did moving forward. I was now in control to make sure that meetings happened when it worked best for me and for my young family and that I could make myself present when my kids needed me to be.
Don’t get me wrong it is still a constant juggle but I backed myself took charge of the direction I wanted and by believing in myself I grew into the producer I am now.
LBB> A good producer should be able to produce for any medium, from film to events to digital experience. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why/why not?
Emma> I guess I agree… The core skill set of most producers means you can shift between mediums easily enough but you tend to gravitate pretty passionately towards one area, any producer can do my job but how many are actually going to love it? I love producing film. Part of that is my familiarity with it but I also simply love the medium itself. Anytime you can mix your ability with passion you are most likely going to do your best work.
That being said, events and “the digital experience” present different challenges that are also rewarding in their own way so it’s nice to be in a position to mix it up, which my current job provides.
LBB> What’s your favourite thing about production and why?
Emma> That’s easy I LOVE problem solving. I love the challenge of working out how the hell a simple line in a script will end up on the screen. It is all a giant puzzle that comes together in the end but finding the best path of how to get from an initial thought bubble and then bringing it into a finished film, that keeps me ticking.
LBB> How has production changed since you started your career?
Emma> In a digital sense when I started in the late 90’s we were shooting commercials on 35mm film for TV & cinema only. In our production office we didn’t have email only fax, the internet was a new toy and my computer was the only one in the office that had a dial up connection (I don’t think I’m that old but that really does make it sound like ancient times).
Fast forward 25 years and the constant learning curves of new tech, new ways to reach audiences and the cracking pace & turnaround of commercial production it is a stark contrast to where I started.
LBB> And what has stayed the same?
Emma> What hasn’t changed is the art form of telling a story in 30 seconds, surrounding yourself with the best team to make it happen while having a laugh doing it.
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?
Emma> Communication and a genuine love of what you are doing is key to being an effective producer…can that be learned..maybe.
We run an internship program at Photoplay where a lot of film school grads come and work with us for a few months as either part of their degrees or because they are trying to get a foot in the door. You can tell someone who is going to make it in production instantly. They listen, they have initiative and know when to use that and when not to, they aren’t afraid to ask questions and they work bloody hard. I may be wrong but I don’t think those attributes come naturally to all no matter how hard you try.
LBB> Which production project from across your career are you most proud of and why?
Emma> Looking across the last 25 years I think anything with a social cause is what I am most proud of.
I recently produced a campaign for the Yes Vote for the Uluru Statement of the Heart with director Warwick Thornton. I felt really passionately for the cause and was really proud of the film we made.
LBB> And in terms of recent work, which projects have you found to be particularly exciting or have presented particularly interesting production challenges?
Emma> I love shooting in overseas locations (who wouldn’t!!) and I recently had the pleasure of filming a large US campaign in Mexico City. It is always fun to see how similar and yet how different productions work in different countries. The team we worked with in Mexico were brilliant, creative, hard working and genuinely happy to have us there. I can’t wait to go back and shoot there again.
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?
Emma> Filming a job across multiple countries in the South Pacific and starting in remote Papua New Guinea was pretty high on my list of hairiest / scary & most beautiful production moments.
When we landed in Port Moresby myself and the DP were brought out the back for intense questioning on our visa status (or lack there of) and left to sweat it out in a little back room of the airport while certain back hand arrangements were being made to get us out.
When I saw the 800kg of gear we were schlepping around being loaded by armed guards into the back of an open truck and our 1st AD volunteering to travel with it I had had a sense of dread that we would never see the gear or her again but after 3 x days traveling and an overnight boat trip we landed in the Conflict islands in utter paradise for our first shoot day, I really have a great job.
LBB> What are your personal ambitions or aspirations as a producer?
Emma> To continue to make great work, to keep learning and to make sure I keep loving what I am doing. I’m not great at the work life balance and not sure how much better I will ever get at that but I aspire to learn how to take more time for myself.
LBB> As a producer your brain must have a neverending "to do" list. How do you switch off? What do you do to relax?
Emma> I think that ‘to do’ list is a common personality trait of all producers and definitely one of mine, just ask my poor husband & kids who are on the constant receiving end of said ‘lists’. To relax I do love spending time with my family, cooking & entertaining for friends, I listen to podcasts while I walk the dog, reading, but to be honest I work full time and have two active teenage kids there isn’t a lot of me time left.
LBB> Producers are problem solvers. What personally fuels your curiosity and drive?
Emma> I still learn something new on every single job I do and I love that, it keeps everyday fresh and fuels my curiosity. As an example on the last few jobs I have learnt a whole lot about building materials, Brolgas and their dancing, BMX and mountain bike tracks, grass skiing, stunt trapeze work and how best to make a paper mache volcano explode chocolate chips. I am cursed with loving my job and driven to keep having fun doing it.
LBB> What advice would you give to people who are interested in becoming a producer?
Emma> I personally feel getting real on the job experience from a junior role and making your way up the ladder helps makes you a great producer. Expose yourself to lots of different productions big & small, TVC’s, dramas, films. When you are starting out watch how those around you deal with tricky situations, how they manage and speak to people, don’t spill peoples secrets & gossip. There is much to be said for believing in yourself and listening to your gut, that last bit has saved me on multiple occasions.
LBB> From your experience what are the ingredients for a successful production?
Emma> In advertising I think it is the collaboration, trust & respect between client/agency and the director/producer to recognise they have a common vision to make a great film. As a producer don’t leave anything to chance, don’t cut corners, expect that curveballs are part of the job and don’t stress too much when they do come, there is always an answer and it always works out ok (eventually).
Surround yourself with the best team of crafts people, technicians and crew that you respect and like working with, life is way too short to work with dick heads.
LBB> What’s the key to a successful production-client relationship?
Emma> Understanding the client. If you understand what the client wants from a project you can unlock the creative side of the production through that same lens. I always try and ensure the creative vision is presented as a way of getting to what the client ultimately wants – not competing with it.
If you understand the client you can start presenting “creative risks” as the creative realities they need to achieve their desired result. It leads to the whole relationship feeling more collaborative. The client are confident they’ve been heard down to every little production detail and the director has a focused goal to aim their creative energies toward.
LBB> Producers are naturally hands on - they have to be. How do you balance that in the more managerial role of an EP?
Emma> I am a pretty hands on EP and I still produce constantly for our directors… control freak? Yes, probably, but my role at Photoplay is to stay across all production and I love being right there in the middle of it (making films is the fun bit). The additional managerial responsibilities we divide up between the whole EP team so it isn’t too onerous.
I take a key role in the support and training of our internal team and I’d like to think I channel a bit of those mother hen vibes that I was lucky enough to be nurtured with when I first started out. A large part of being an EP is relationship management and that comes pretty naturally to me.
