Producing Tomorrow's Producers: Mikey Levelle on Reliability, Transparency and Adaptability

Mikey Levelle is an executive producer at London-based production company FAMILIA. Mikey has been embedded in the creative production industry for over 20 years, with experience spanning film, commercial and music video production. His work has taken him across the globe, producing commercials for house-hold name brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, BMW and Coca-Cola. At FAMILIA, Mikey works alongside the executive team to mentor and cultivate next-generation production and directorial talent.

LBB> What advice would you give to any aspiring producers or content creators hoping to make the jump into production?

Mikey> Life can be complicated. Full of complexities, politics, uncertainty, intricacies and production is no different, however always embrace the mistakes you make throughout, and learn from them.

LBB> What skills or emerging areas would you advise aspiring producers to learn about and educate themselves about? 

Mikey> The never-ending advancement of technology. AI, virtual production and digital shooting formats to name but a few, will never stop evolving and understanding what the essential tools of your industry are made of and how they work will only better a total understanding of your role.

LBB> What was the biggest lesson you learned when you were starting out in production - and why has that stayed with you? 

Mikey> Human connection, clarity of voice and transparency of actions is always of paramount importance. 

LBB> When it comes to broadening access to production and improving diversity and inclusion what are your team doing to address this? 

Mikey> We at FAMILIA are always evolving as a creative hub, celebrating diversity and our focus as a company is to be more inclusive in our pursuit of creating visuals. A huge part of our makeup and focus is our commitment to this policy, installing a strong diversity and inclusivity policy across not only our rosters of talent, but also across our production teams and shooting crews. 

LBB> And why is it an important issue for the production community to address? 

Mikey> Educating industries worldwide on the importance of diversity and inclusivity is morally essential. By pledging to use one’s best efforts is not enough, action has to be taken to engage and support with the goal of providing opportunities for underrepresented groups at all levels.

LBB> If you compare your role to the role of the heads of TV/heads of production/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?) 

Mikey> Maturity, accountability and responsibility would have to be at the frontline of major change for myself and my career since I first joined the industry. Working in the most innovative and creative industries in the world, it’s forever changing and we are forever adapting to those changes. Our attitude and approach to change is to always learn, adapt and evolve.

LBB> When it comes to educating producers how does your company like to approach this?

Mikey> At FAMILIA, we take great pride in always delivering above and beyond expectations at every stage of production. In such a competitive industry, it’s vital we employ and educate producers with attention to detail. In such a fast paced industry, the smallest of mistakes or lack of information can be catastrophic for any production and working relationships. 

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? 

Mikey> The learning experience and career promotion of a producer is considerably faster than it has ever been historically. Priceless training grounds such as the APA Masterclass are invaluable for up and coming producers and as such, learning from those with more years experience in the field should be considered as a precious source of knowledge.

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? 

Mikey> In my humble opinion, loyalty is a major, key factor in production. With loyalty swiftly follows reliability, workflow and experience all of which mostly contribute to learning and development of new skills. Keeping up to date with advancing technologies, platform trends, audience demand and strategy to name but a few is forever essential.

LBB> Clearly there is so much change, but what are the personality traits and skills that will always be in demand from producers? 

Mikey> Reliability, transparency and adaptability are three of the key traits and skills currently for a producer on the frontline.