FCB London’s Production Partner on the Massive Lessons Juries Can Teach
Last week the London International Awards released its full list of winners for 2024, providing us with a benchmark for global creativity for this moment in the industry.
One category that is always a joy to immerse yourself in the winners of is Production and Post Production, celebrating the best craft over a plethora of sub-categories, ranging from 2D animation to visual effects. The Grand LIA in the category this year went to Telstra’s ‘Better on a Better Mobile Network’ and it is absolutely glorious on multiple levels. But it’s worth delving into the full list of winners across this category and revelling in the expertise on display.
One expert on the jury for the Production and Post Production category at LIA 2024 was Nikki Chapman, production partner at FCB London. Catching her after a morning of considering work with her fellow jurors, LBB’s Alex Reeves sat down with Nikki to reflect on how sitting on juries like this reframes how she sees the whole industry.
LBB> What do you think is unique about LIA as an award show?
Nikki> LIA is female-led, which I love. I love the fact that Barbara [Levy, LIA president] has the most amazing female team, as well as Terry [Savage, chairman] obviously – the token man! But he brings a lot of experience to it with his years working with Cannes Lions. The fact that it gives something back to the industry is what makes LIAs stand out as it has an educational programme for the Creative LIAisons mentees. I think this is just huge for them. Imagine starting out in your career and you get this opportunity!
The jurors are all here at the same time. For many of us, it's a different time zone as well, which I think is great for a lot of us, because it means you properly aren't working, so you fully focus on what you're doing. It's not like Cannes, which is a bit of a circus when you're down there, conflicted with lots of meets and greets. This is purely about the awards, about the work, and the fact that you come here and you’re fully engaged to watch every entry and you don't prejudge. I love that. It's so important. It ticks a lot of boxes for me. I go back feeling very enthused and very educated and reminded of why I work in this industry.
I do love the fact that it's very global as well. In the jury room, I think they've got the balance just right. They've got people from all over the world. That's pretty impressive!
LBB> How was the judging experience this year? With no pre-judging you get to see everything that’s entered. How does that affect your deliberations?
Nikki> The process allows us to hear everyone’s opinions properly. Everyone starts off quite cautious and respectful. To be fair, it always remains respectful, but it's very important to listen, because everyone has their own bias, and to change that bias you actually have listen to what someone says and consider it, you come away thinking, ‘I've learned something massive and been persuaded to look at the work with a different lens.’
LBB> Can you tell us how your category is split up and managed?
Nikki> It’s music videos, production and post production. And then it split into subcategories which go into directing, cinematography, VFX, casting, performance, editing, etc. – all elements of the production. You have to keep reminding yourself of what the category is and judge it on that basis.
For example, when judging cinematography, you have to separate it from what the director has added. A director elevates the script and brings in their cinematographer, casting director, stylist etc., and then crafts it together. But cinematography is the camera and lighting work, it is the look, it is the cleverness, I suppose, of how the film has been shot.
LBB> Does breaking that down into those disciplines have an effect on how you feel about what you do?
Nikki> For me, that is exactly what we do! That is the agency producer role – to look at all those elements. Creative teams come with their scripts, which they're so passionate about, the first job is finding the director, and as soon as the director's on board, it's who's the editor, who's the post house, who's the casting director? So we go through that process anyway. It's rigorous. If you're pushing your team to think about craft, you have to think about every single one of those elements.
LBB> That's a lot you have to hold in your head as a producer.
Nikki> Yes, but you have a sort of little black book. But it's also important to try working with different talent because certain producers get into a groove with their favourites, which is great, but when you push it even more and you feel slightly uncomfortable, you find the work gets better and bolder!
LBB> What does judging at a show like LIA do for you when you return to your job?
Nikki> It helps me focus very senior creatives when they're thinking about the craft. We think about awards all the time, actually, at FCB we start thinking about Cannes a year ahead. In fact, we've got some scripts we're thinking about for 2026. We're always thinking about what we can do on the circuit of awards.
It builds brands, it attracts talent. It's huge for agencies and it's huge for our clients. Clients ask me, ‘Do you think this will win?’ and when they say ‘How do I win?’ that's always interesting.
When you look at the winners of awards, it is just amazing. It charts the evolution of what advertising is.
