Producing Tomorrow's Producers: Curiosity is Key for Katherine Maidment
Kat Maidment is an executive producer at Parliament with over 20 years of experience collaborating with the best directors, production companies and creative talent in the industry. In London, she produced award-winning TV, cinema and content campaigns at AMV BBDO, Saatchi’s, VLMY&R and M&C Saatchi for clients like the BBC, Visa and British Telecoms.
Kat’s love of the moving image led her to the Mill in Los Angeles, and then to Parliament where she continues to strive for the best creative work and production excellence. She is passionate about the craft and building teams to create amazing work.
LBB> What advice would you give to any aspiring producers or content creators hoping to make the jump into production?
Katherine> Be proactive, helpful and willing and you will go far in production. No job is too big or too small – it is the most important project to someone, so we take extreme care with every task.
When you watch films, programs, or content, try to figure out how they did it. Read interviews with directors. Watch making of films and behind the scenes clips on YouTube. When you hear an unfamiliar term or technique, Google it. Watch the credits of your favourite film and see who did the work. Look them up, contact them and ask them about their work – people LOVE to talk about their passion. Be curious and find the answers.
Show up, listen, watch, research, ask questions. Forever. We are never finished learning our craft.
LBB> What skills or emerging areas would you advise aspiring producers to learn about and educate themselves about?
Katherine> Everyone is talking about AI right now. AI is a very important tool but it is just one methodology available in a very expansive arsenal of filmmaking processes and production skills. Producers need to be aware of all the tools available.
LBB> What was the biggest lesson you learned when you were starting out in production - and why has that stayed with you?
Katherine> We fill many roles: diplomat, negotiator, scheduler, tech support, team builder. To be a successful producer, we have to be ready and willing to pivot and change roles continuously, and to go where most needed. If we don’t know how to do it, we find a way to figure it out!
LBB> When it comes to broadening access to production and improving diversity and inclusion what are your team doing to address this?
Katherine> Parliament embraces diversity and inclusion by mentoring, supporting projects, and participating in events that nurture up and coming talent from diverse backgrounds. We are also very female forward, especially being part female owned.
LBB> And why is it an important issue for the production community to address?
Katherine> Difference keeps creative work fresh and pushes boundaries. There are so many roads that lead to amazing, unexpected creative results, and so many people who can help get us there. Diversity makes the world more interesting and encourages the longevity and success of our industry in this unpredictable changing world.
LBB> There are young people getting into production who maybe don’t see the line between professional production and the creator economy, and that may well also be the shape of things to come. What are your thoughts about that? Is there a tension between more formalised production and the ‘creator economy’ or do the two feed into each other?
Katherine> Creativity feeds itself whether it comes from UGC or a massive Super Bowl spot. When something is new, clever or even just really well-made, it is remembered and copied until it becomes de rigueur, leaving room for the next shiny new technology, platform, technique or catchphrase to evolve.
LBB> If you compare your role to the role of executive producers when you first joined the industry, what do you think are the most striking or interesting changes (and what surprising things have stayed the same?)
Katherine> Until a few years ago, the path to executive producer was fairly straightforward and hierarchical. Career paths used to be much more structured but now there are so many more opportunities in production.
One consistency is that producers must be highly adaptable. Executive producers have always been at the forefront of change, accelerating and smoothing the way for their team.
LBB> When it comes to educating producers how does your creative studio like to approach this? (I know we’re always hearing about how much easier it is to educate or train oneself on tech etc, but what areas do you think producers can benefit from more directed or structured training?)
Katherine> Mentoring producers and artists is key to career development at Parliament. Our experience is shared and cultivated with the whole team. We give room for growth while always keeping the door open to provide help and guidance when needed. Structured training and protocols provides basic skills and guidance, for example when someone is interested in learning a new platform. Then we provide group and one-one training. We find learning while doing sticks longer.
LBB> It seems that there’s an emphasis on speed and volume when it comes to content - but to where is the space for up and coming producers to learn about (and learn to appreciate) craft?
Katherine> At Parliament, team building is key to ensure that no one feels overwhelmed or unsupported. We promote a friendly, skilled environment where questions are encouraged and everyone is approachable.
LBB> On the other side of the equation, what’s the key to retaining expertise and helping people who have been working in production for decades to develop new skills?
Katherine> A good producer never stops learning and adapting new skills. The best producers can produce anything from a family picnic to an Oscar-winning film because they possess the inherent skills of managing time, people and budgets, and they pick up the rest along the way.
LBB> Clearly there is so much change, but what are the personality traits and skills that will always be in demand from producers?
Katherine> Passion, persistence, diplomacy and curiosity are all very human traits. Producers are not in danger of losing work to AI while the people who create, review and digest creative work continue to constantly adjust their thinking. Production makes change happen.
