No Agenda, No Presentations: Why We’re Growing an Exclusive Event for Commercial Producers Who Get it

What if we told you, ‘there is such a thing as a free lunch?’. You think, ‘in 2025? No chance’. Well get ready to lick your lips because LBB and COVERT have been treating our industry’s producers to something new in more ways than one…

For the past 18 months, the two companies have been running quarterly events aimed specifically at connecting the production community. It's no secret that budgets in the production world have changed dramatically over the past few years and competition is at an all time high. With hybrid working environments in place for most businesses, affordable local networking opportunities have been far harder to come by. But LBB and COVERT had one shared belief that our industry is built and grown with good relationships, or as COVERT EP Ben Dubois puts it “it's the conversations, the connections, and the energy that make this industry so special”. In other words, it's the thing that sets one company apart from another.

Together LBB and COVERT wanted to bring back that much needed time and space for producers from agency, production and post to reconnect, chat with old friends and new, over good food. As COVERT’s EP in NYC Nick Litwinko says, “no agenda, no presentations, just a great dinner with people who get it.”

It was with Nick that both companies decided to expand on their local London event and take it stateside to NYC last week. Nick joined COVERT in 2024 from 1st Ave Machine, having previously held leadership roles at industry giants like MTV, Psyop, Blind, AlkemyX, and Nice Shoes VFX, to name a few. He is one of the slew of many big hires the post-production company has made over the past two years that has allowed them to expand their service offering from 2D, 3D and animation to include sound design, colour and finishing. “...And with more to come,” teases MD and Partner at COVERT Max Murphy.

The Opportune Moment


“The start of this event and our partnership really came at a crux point in growth for both companies” explains LBB’s COO, Phoebe Siggins Talbot, “at the time I met Max and the team, LBB was undergoing a complete internal restructure. We had always been built on a community basis that thrived on relationships and connections. We’d become truly global and we wanted to transform the way our teams worked with our community around the world. We were merging our teams into regional business units so that they could become hyper focused in local areas whilst continuing to report on, celebrate and promote the news, work and talent in the industry globally.”

This restructure aligned with a complete relaunch of the LBB platform which not only updated its look but created the biggest free-to-view creative library in the industry. “This was huge for us. It took LBB from being a company-focused platform to something that became a functional and lucrative space for individuals - just like IMDB but for advertising. It was this move to connect with individuals on a local level as well as a global one that made this an opportune moment for us both to start something new,” adds Phoebe.

At the time of LBB’s restructure, COVERT was becoming very much less clandestine than its previous origin in white-labelled post. They founded the fully remote company in 2016 but despite many businesses driving a return to the office post-COVID, COVERT actually leant in to this model. The post production industry, at the time, was in constant flux but this decision paid off, propelling them into full-scale VFX. “We've always believed there was a gap in the market for a team that thinks and works differently,” says Max.

Artists were flocking from big studios to independents which promoted a better work/life balance. In parallel, brand’s adspend was diverting towards new forms of content. COVERT had work/life balance and agility woven into its very core - its mantra being ‘Hungry, Humble, Human’. Today, you can see how it has reaped the fruits of that office-less labour and culture-first working practice. Now with 40 staff across nine countries, its agile remote model has seen it stand shoulder to shoulder with the biggest post houses in the UK on the Televisual Top 10 Post Production Studios list for two years running. It also has them inviting work internationally.

“It's all been a bit crazy over the last couple of years,” says Max, “I’m just super proud of the team we have built. We've picked up some awards, set up some amazing new divisions, delivered work and built relationships with some of our dream clients and done it all whilst being us. To have this reciprocated by being put up in these top 10 lists (amongst such prestigious industry names) is nuts. It's a testament to the team's hard work and creativity.”

Post Without Borders

The international expansion (including fast growth in the USA) is something very much driven by this agility and growth. EP & global head of sales Ben Dubois explains, “we're now able to approach each project from multiple creative angles. This means our clients benefit from a more tailored, precise, and holistic approach to their work. We're able to offer greater flexibility, faster turnaround times, and a level of creative precision that simply wouldn't be possible with a smaller team or with the overheads of multiple offices.” 

On the US specifically, Ben adds, “the US has been very open to working with a remote studio. They get access to world class work in a world where budgets are challenged. Over time we've really established ourselves in London too, but it took time as we've had to tread our own unique path into the industry - supported by building those all important relationships and connections”

That path went side by side with what was to become the London Producer’s Lunch. “I couldn’t be more proud of what we have collectively achieved with this event,” says Phoebe. “The feedback we get from these things are insane. People frequently tell us ‘we’ve needed something like this for so long’ and ‘we never get to do this anymore, so thank you’. We’re now battling for space on the guestlist each quarter. It’s kind of beautiful. And to be doing something that not only helps move our industry forward but has helped everyone that’s joined us, including COVERT, make new moves in a market as tricky and competitive as the UK is really all that we could wish to do in local creative communities.”

What’s Next?


After taking this to New York for the first time. The sky’s the limit. “Hosting this in NYC was huge,” adds Nick. “This city has been at the center of so much of my career, and there’s nowhere quite like it when it comes to the creative energy of production and creativity. Bringing this event here felt like the perfect way to connect with the people who drive this industry forward. It’s a reminder that while the industry evolves, the relationships at the heart of it are what really matter. And this is just the beginning—we’d love to take this energy west in the future and bring more of these conversations to LA and beyond.”

And Phoebe concurs, “we love these events and we’ll work with COVERT to take them anywhere they want them to go. We also have a tonne of exciting events on the horizon, our plan is to keep bringing more local, intimate and useful events to local industries around the world. Hope you can all join us for a glass or two soon!”