Producing Tomorrow’s Producers: “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!” with Katherine Croft
Katherine Croft is an executive producer and creative producer at ByAssociation. She came up in the industry in both the commercial and narrative space, and has produced multiple award-winning campaigns as well as feature films that have been released on Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix.
In addition to her commercial work with clients such as Dior, Valentino, UGG, and Lululemon, her recent slate of eight short films (that were produced in under one year) are currently on the festival circuit, being shown at Dances with Films, the Academy-Award qualifying LA Shorts Film Fest, and Palm Springs Film Festival. Katherine also recently launched a program called Drive for Drives, which collects used and repurposed hard drives for independent filmmakers.
LBB> What advice would you give to any aspiring producers or content creators hoping to make the jump into production?
Katherine> Figure out what kind of producer you want to be. Get on as many sets as you can, as part of the production staff - be an office PA, be a coordinator, be a production manager - becoming a strong producer requires a lot of knowledge, and that takes time. Seek to understand every department and their needs, so you can anticipate them.
When you meet production staff on set, volunteer to help them with office-based tasks - even if it is scanning receipts. Every producer needs to start somewhere, to understand the overall breadth of what producing entails. Also - read 'Producer to Producer,' and 'Dear Producer'. They are geared more towards narrative work, but a lot of the same information applies here.
LBB> What skills or emerging areas would you advise aspiring producers to learn about and educate themselves about?
Katherine> Being able to scale productions is an extremely valuable skill. Understand what a small scale social production looks like, and what a large scale agency-based production looks like - and how to approach both. Follow directors, production companies, TikTok and Instagram producing accounts that give free advice. Also - make sure to try and understand every department and their jobs, and the kind of equipment they work with.
LBB> What was the biggest lesson you learned when you were starting out in production - and why has that stayed with you?
Katherine> PAs are your biggest asset on set. Take care of them, treat them well, pay them fairly, and then you get to a point where you are privileged enough to be the person those folks want to work for - and you will have better run sets because of it.
Promote where you can, and ask your PAs what they want to do long term - so you can set them up for success and their ability to grow in their careers. Investing in PAs has supported my growth immensely.
Also - learn how to delegate effectively and do not micromanage people. Empower people to do their jobs by teaching them how to do it properly - and then you will have a better day on set. Producers do not have to micromanage to be effective.
LBB> When it comes to broadening access to production and improving diversity and inclusion what are your team doing to address this?
Katherine> Our sets are always very diverse - we work with Ghetto Film School, Made in NY, Justice for My Sister, and other organizations to find PAs who we then intentionally grow. Diversity is not just about checking boxes - we have to actively encourage people on set to take ownership of roles, and educate where growth is needed.
LBB> And why is it an important issue for the production community to address?
Katherine> I think, as of today, there has been a conversation happening for quite some time around this, and so we are all aware that representation matters. Living and working in New York, and previously LA, the world we produce our work in is inherently diverse because that is representative of the community and infrastructure that has been put in place by many organisations to get to a place where it is normal to have a very diverse set. But if you go to a place that is more Midwestern, or rural, that suddenly isn't the case.
Therefore, normalising diversity in the large cities does mean it eventually spreads outwards. It's important to continue to reinforce that diversity does matter, by continuing to push for these things on set.
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> I think that the world of advertising has certainly shifted - and we have all felt that in the last few years. Ad spends are higher on social media, so it is more challenging for businesses to be able to justify the spend of that money when creator content is also an affordable option that directly reaches an audience. Production budgets therefore decrease, and the cycle continues.
I think to thrive in the years to come, producers are going to need to be more adaptive to a changing model - but then so will agencies. This is why I say that producers who can scale budgets are extremely valuable right now. The creator economy is innovative - and we must know how to run both an extremely professional set for a corporate client, while also working with creators who are generally much younger and not used to that kind of structure.
LBB> When it comes to educating producers how does your agency 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> I think that producers need more leadership training. I am lucky enough that I started leadership training at 12 years old - I was in a structured military program as a teenager that specifically taught us leadership skills and traits, and then had us put them into practice by leading other youth throughout the program. Those skills transferred to producing very well. However, that training does not exist for producers right now.
I am currently creating a leadership program for producers, PMs and coordinators that will provide that structure, as well as help in making informed decisions about budgets that support a team to effectively do a job, while also being conscientious about budget. I believe that a budget is a reflection of the value that a business holds - where more money is spent, it is evident that is where the client places more value.
This kind of leadership training will help producers understand how to determine what their values are, and put them into the budget, while also considering client needs, and helping crews feel secure and informed on set about what the expectations are.
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> I think that every aspiring commercial producer should produce short films, help their friends with spec spots, or volunteer on a documentary. It is important to appreciate the craft from the creative inception of a project, to seeing it through post and getting it out into the world.
These experiences outside of the commercial world teach every producer the challenges of working on a small budget, how to negotiate better, how to deliver on a product, how much communication and creative investment that this job requires, the technical challenges of deliverables, marketing, etc. All of these skills are highly transferable.
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> Get out of your comfort zone! If you are always doing fashion projects, try and get involved in a sports project. If you don't quite understand how a scale-able social project is - ask someone who is doing them to walk you through a budget. None of these skills have to be a secret! There is room for everyone at the table and we should all be helping each other succeed.
LBB> Clearly there is so much change, but what are the personality traits and skills that will always be in demand from producers?
Katherine> Adaptability, clear communication skills, decisiveness, being even-keeled, and being genuinely invested in the outcome of a project.
