Producing Tomorrow's Producers: Staying Positive with Ignasi Vargas

Ignasi Vargas is EP and founder at falca.com - service production company in Spain. Produce mainly Sports and Cars.  

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

Ignasi> Advice is dangerous as it is never clear you have the authority to give any. Roger Deakins can give advice, Ada Duvernay too. So please consider it limited advice only from a small producer's POV.

1) Learning good English will get you into international markets (this is not as natural as one may think).

2) Learning specific technologies. Not because of AI but because it will make your life easier. Be good at Excel, HTML, Photoshop, or something specific that can help someone senior who does not know. Thinking about being helpful to older people (higher in the hierarchy ) will give you opportunities.

3) Any business is a relations business, and people move up and down quickly. You are your brand. Have respect for yourself and others, and avoid anything that can put shame on your name.

4) Don’t whine. The production job is tough as it requires hours and there is pressure. Lots of competition. This is the business, and it seems difficult to change. And people don’t want to hear your problems. That is for family and friends.

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

Ignasi> You should touch AI and prompters and understand basic functionalities to prepare for the future.

I always found that having touched Capcut or Premiere or whatever edit software can give a feel of how much work a post requires and how hard it is to correct it later. So, it is better to be aware of editing.

Generally and specifically in production (especially if it is your money on the line), you need to understand finance, payments, and interest rates.

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

Ignasi> I lied to someone who trusted me about equipment on a location. I didn’t check it. I was busy and in a hurry and probably distracted. I was a PA. The next day, a big-time production had two hours of overtime because of my mistake. Lots of money.

To this day, this person is still my friend; it has been over 15 years, and I still have stomach aches when I think about it.

If you are ambitious, you will get responsibilities, so take things seriously.

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

Ignasi> This one is hard. I don’t have a recipe.

I think Spain has done a good job with access to Latin American citizens. Then, it is worse when it comes to Asian and Black Communities. Traditional communities like Roma have small or zero representation.

Ultimately, the socioeconomic and network contexts are critical for entry into industry. Adding to this, access positions need a driver's license, good English, the financial power to survive a non stable job (freelancing, project per day or weeks), and firm regulations on hiring make it hard. Some flexibility in hiring by the regulators would be helpful for companies and would give a realistic approach. And I see how some gaffers and other HOD, specially the young ones, are making an effort on this.

For context, I am sensitive to this. My dad is Colombian, and my wife is Tanzanian, so I have an eye for giving opportunities.

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

Ignasi> To me, it is about finding the best possible workforce.

Hard-working, with ideas and ability to execute, able to provide value.

All companies need help to hire good people. The idea is that the bigger the pool, the better the chances to get good teams. Plus a variety of crew will fit better the diversity of other parts of any commercial production (creative, talent, client and finally audience).

Our industry is different, for instance, learning computer science, where many steps need to be taken to be a professional.

And it can pay better than other jobs.

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?

Ignasi> Yes, and there will be more of it. There are different ways of producing; sometimes, one wins over others.

Budgets are limited, expectations depend on different things, and if you watch something like Mr. Beast, you may need to help to understand/to see all the work behind it.

On the other hand you need to be aware of how specialized our industry is to work right and how irrelevant your opinions and thoughts are in many situations.

Formalized production still has value, and the fact that some younger people experiment with the creator economy can be an advantage. Later on, if integrated in formal production, they must remember we often work in confidential sets. For some crew members - stylists, gaffers, Steadicam - having strong personal brands will help them get more work.

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?)

Ignasi> I remember that they used to drive Land Rovers! I drive a Focus.

I don’t know how there were, maybe fewer emails and more phone conversations.

Email, everything online and lots of screen access have made everyone work a lot before being paid and before confirming jobs. This is the new normal but it is a fact that the level of detail before going into production.

On the bright side, there is a certain level of restraint on cost, consequences and craziness. Maybe?

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?)

Ignasi> I would love to receive training in Excel.

Some structured training on tech things like camera and light equipment specifications would be helpful.

Sometimes, asking our tech crew smart questions instead of just saying, “Too expensive,” would be good.

A deep knowledge of fashion, design, brands, and culture, while it is hard to structure, would be great to have. Basically a shared reference language with creatives, directors , etc.

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?

Ignasi> We may need to have a different approach. Make priorities of certain things and just delete others. Not reduce, just suppress at all.

Then you become more effective. An Okcham razor approach so you can focus on what matters. Almost zero paperwork, open documents, high levels of transparency on costs, etc.

So at the end you can focus on the reality of problems to solve.

Anyone who has been in a messy set or production will value solid production. And understanding the base of chaotic productions.

Chaos is based on:

1) not being rational,

2) not being fair (to the work of others, to your own responsibilities, etc)

3) not being calm.

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?

Ignasi> I try to be open and not to be concerned about the next person being better than me.

Your assistants need to see and listen and hear. This is one advantage of the office. What you learn without anyone teaching you in an intentional way.

We sometimes try to write some things (I know, this industry is not really word-based).

It can sound pretentious but I love the approach to writing by Bezos.

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

Ignasi> Being positive, managing stress and focused.

Lear when to not talk and ask questions and listen.