Producing Tomorrow’s Producers: Harnessing a Can-Do Attitude with Joanna Riding
Joanna Riding is head of production at social-first creative agency, Formidable, where she oversees all video output produced by the agency for leading brands such as Amazon, LEGO, and Team GB. Joanna has over two decades of experience running highly-skilled production teams, having started her career in broadcast television, producing a diverse range of content across the globe. Her broad range of experience from TV to the evolution of social, has given Joanna a unique perspective of film production, meaning she is never shy of a challenge.
LBB> What advice would you give to any aspiring producers or content creators hoping to make the jump into production?
Joanna> Be helpful and learn quickly! The best way of learning in this industry is to get stuck in and absorb what’s going on around you. Try to get involved in all the areas of production to get an understanding of where your skills lie, and to get a holistic view of the entire production process. Work your way up the ladder - are you ready to be a producer and undertake all that this role requires? Feel free to move up that ladder quickly, but don’t skip a rung!
LBB> What skills or emerging areas would you advise aspiring producers to learn about and educate themselves about?
Joanna> AI is something that’s very topical at the moment, so learning about how it can be weaved into production or how it can be applied across business processes is a great skill to have, and one that an aspiring producer can explore independently. Having an in-depth knowledge of the different social platforms, the types of content that work for them and examining the strategy side of things is another area that an aspiring producer can become a self-learned expert in. These are incredibly valuable skills to potential employers. Knowing what works on Instagram Reels vs a TikTok video is valuable to any agency and their clients.
LBB> What was the biggest lesson you learned when you were starting out in production - and why has that stayed with you?
Joanna> It all comes back to that ‘being helpful’ advice I mentioned earlier. Being resourceful and sticking your hand up to learn a new skill or try something that you’ve not done before is so valuable in this industry. An inquisitive nature and training your mind to think about the different facets of a production will stay with you your whole career.
LBB> When it comes to broadening access to production and improving diversity and inclusion what are your team doing to address this?
Joanna> At Formidable we really value the importance of having different voices and having a team of people with different lived-experiences. We work together as a senior team to make sure that no matter your background, you’ll have a sense of belonging when you join our team. We seek to recruit new members of staff in a thoughtful way; we’ve hired a number of colleagues through a positive action scheme and we have plans to make further strides in that area. An equal footing attracts the best talent, and that’s something definitely want: the best people working in our agency.
LBB> And why is it an important issue for the production community to address?
Joanna> When I started my career, if you didn’t live in London and/or have parents that could contribute financially while you undertook unpaid work experience, then the industry was not open to you. Looking back, it’s extraordinary that this continued for as long as it did. There’s so much work still to do to create a level playing field, and I’m proud that at Formidable we take this seriously. A workforce that brings different values, different cultures and different experiences together to form a rich mix of people, enhances the quality of our work.
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?
Joanna> The two can co-exist perfectly well and both thrive - but blurring the lines between the two, without careful thought and planning, could end in an unorganised production and create underwhelming content that doesn’t perform as well. That’s not to say that the two can’t be merged: we have successfully worked with content creators on both small and large campaigns but the production will generally be managed by my in-house team, all of whom have high standards and bring their rigorous eye for detail to the table, meaning that our productions are well-run and the right questions asked at the right times. We’ve noticed that some post production skills, for example, can vary hugely in self taught content creators vs traditionally trained editors who’ve been in the industry for years - but success is all about having the right people internally to support that content creator. That’s not to say that education only goes in one direction, there is a lot to be learned from content creators who have up-to-date knowledge of new trends and new apps/plug-ins, for example, and so as an agency we make sure that we regularly internally share inspiring work made by creators.
LBB> If you compare your role to the role of the heads of TV/heads of production/exec 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?)
Joanna> When I first started in production there were very few heads of production, and generally speaking the role of production as a whole was incredibly under-valued. As the responsibility of producers and production managers has increased, I think the role has garnered more respect, but we are still often the first to log-on in the morning and last to leave the office at the end of the day. Our hours can be long particularly in the run-up to and during a shoot. When I first started in the industry, it was usual that your working hours would be lengthy with no additional reward, with people sleeping in the office overnight rather than waste time on commuting home(!) and I’m happy that people’s mental wellbeing is now a primary focus and those days are in the past. At Formidable we still do have periods where we are super-busy, of course, but we always try and balance it out with time off. Our desire to build a safe and open space for our team comes first and we manage the needs of a production with that in mind.
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?)
Joanna> Formal training in the industry is a pretty recent thing. Our agency is a member of the APA which means that every year we get a space on the well-respected Producer’s Masterclass which we give to the most suitable team member at the time, and it is always found to be hugely valuable. We also undertake more informal internal training, for example, making sure that our team is up to speed with the latest camera technology and that they understand the post-production process so we’re continually learning on the job. As a social-first agency it’s important to us that our producers are social-natives who understand how we can translate up-to date trends, collaborate with our creative department, and then use their production skills to turn it into a wicked video at the end. Much of that is learned by exploring content and becoming familiar with social best practice, which we also talk a lot about internally. As my team develops and people become more senior, I ensure they have access to management courses - being a good producer, doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be a good line manager. So we try to cover all bases!
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?
Joanna> A producer’s craft is really just an in-built knowledge of what is required to make a particular piece of content. The skills used to make a fast-turnaround, less expensive piece of content are just as valuable as the skills used to make a glossy TVC, and I think it’s important to realise that high-quality craft doesn’t always equal expensive. At Formidable we create such a huge variety of content, that we are able to make sure we put our producers and production managers across a range of productions, keeping up their skillset, and giving them the opportunity to learn on the job with guidance from the more experienced members of the agency.
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?
Joanna> Every day is a school day! The different types of content we produce and the fast-paced rate that this industry is moving should mean that there’s no room for standing still. Supporting my team with career progression is important to me and I have bi-weekly meetings with them in which we not only discuss the day-to-day aspects of their roles but also make sure that they’re going in the direction they want to, with their careers.
LBB> Clearly there is so much change, but what are the personality traits and skills that will always be in demand from producers?
Joanna> Attention to detail - I don’t expect perfection but I do expect thought and care to be put into every cog in the production wheel, big or small. Whether you’re booking a taxi for talent or creating a complicated post schedule, both are equally important. A can-do attitude and being a team-player are also essential. The production department at Formidable is a group of people who are willing to muck in - if any one person has some quiet time they’ll always ask the wider team if they 'need a hand with anything', which makes me very proud.
