Spanish Production Pioneer Maripaz Lara on How She Made Her Mark in a Male Dominated Industry
Over 40 years of pioneering in creative production has shaped Maripaz Lara into the powerhouse and industry reference that she is today. As the managing director and founder of La Joya, a Spanish production company, she has made a name for herself in the advertising world. Over the decades, she has worked with many talented people from the industry including pioneering collaboration with prolific film directors.
Maripaz first entered the advertising world with help from her brother. Family and self-worth have remained important to her as she has moved up in the production world.
Recently, Maripaz has launched Diamond Rocket, the international service division of La Joya. Led by a team of universal producers, Diamond Rocket has become an exciting addition to the global advertising world.
In this interview, LBB speaks with Maripaz about her greatest influences, how she stood up in a man’s world, and what her vision for the future is.
LBB> Tell us about your inspirations and influences growing up.
Maripaz> Well look, it's going to sound ugly, but I'm my own inspiration. Because the truth is, I never thought that I was going to dedicate myself to advertising. I think I hardly even knew what that was.
I was someone with concerns, sometimes too many concerns and I developed into an adult quite quickly, especially when I became a mother at a very young age. So if I'm honest, my real influence was my daughter. Being a mother at the age of 18, I discovered my own internal strength and became my own inspiration.
In terms of influences, I really liked music. For me at that time, Miguel Bosé was the bomb. But at the same time I loved Nial Diamond and Mecano. There was a real mixture of music.
I also loved Spanish cinema - old time, classic Spanish comedy pieces like "Las que tienen que servir", starring Alfredo Landa, and "How to Be a Woman and Not Die in the Attempt".
LBB> So your career in advertising was quite accidental.
Maripaz> Absolutely accidental. Yes, I liked everything related to advertising, but I also discovered it thanks to my brother. He started working as an executive assistant at BBDO, and when I left Canarias and came to Madrid, my first role was a substitution, as a receptionist.
Around that time I met Graham Bourne, a wonderful man who worked in market research for brands. He saw that I was very smart and then he asked me to organise research groups for him - I pretended I knew a lot, but really had no idea! So I worked as a receptionist and I did training in production as well as some work in accounts, and organising test groups.
That’s when I realised that what I liked was production. I thereafter met Ana Hidalgo, who was my professional godmother and it was she who encouraged me to get into production.
There was a tiny production company called Vídeo Spot at the time and I joined them and had my very first encounter with the U-matic! We did a little bit of everything there, and I got to know a lot of people from agencies also.
And then an executive creative director appeared whom I also have a lot to thank, because he told me a producer at his agency was leaving and he wanted me to take their place and that I had what he was looking for.
So I got hired at my first agency, which was Danis-Benton & Bowles, created by the Fontcuberta brothers - great professionals of the advertising industry. Further on, the agency then merged and became a multinational, and it was renamed DMB&B.
LBB> What was your early career like? What fond memories do you have from that time?
Maripaz> Well, my time at the agency was wonderful. I don't have bad memories, quite the opposite. It was a huge opportunity. I worked for all kinds of clients. It was a wonderful time where we shot some great work which received awards at ad festivals like Cannes Lions. We did much of our post productions in London, because in Spain they were still playing catch up. My memories from that time are really fantastic.
I was trained really well. I think multinationals train you really well. Above all, there’s one very important concept which I’ve always told my team, even to this day, which is about understanding “the method” behind a process. The right way of doing things. If you know the method, then one day you can skip it. But you have to know it first, before you can do your own thing.
LBB> And how did you progress from there? What are some of your proudest achievements?
Maripaz> Having been in this profession for 36 years is the greatest thing and the greatest pride that I have. Not prizes, nor prestige. But these 36 years.
That is the best prize and my proudest achievement so far.
And I will continue in that fight and continue to evolve. For me, evolution is essential in our business, because it is evolving at a dizzying speed, and either you’re part of that evolution, or you miss out on very beautiful things.
We shouldn't just skim over the topic of influencers, gamers, and all the other '-er's... To me they are all invaluable from which we can learn so much. They represent other forms of selling, other forms of tapping into demographics. In the end, the true essence of advertising has always been aspirational, and it will continue to be so. Influencers are aspirational to the people who follow them, who want to be like them, and want to be on that level. In the end, advertising has always been this way.
LBB> You set up La Joya in a still quite male dominated industry. What was it like for you at the time and how did you navigate the challenges you came across?
Maripaz> When I opened La Joya, the man’s world had already evolved quite a lot. I once had a client who never even looked me in the eyes when I spoke to them. But mind you, I was much freer in the '80s than I feel I am now. I don't want to be put up against men. I think there is a lot more stigma now. I think that men and women work very well together. Each one contributes in their own way because we’re all different and contributes things that are equally important.
I haven't honestly been rejected as such, by men, but I have felt like there weren’t many women in the industry, especially back in the day. There were secretaries, receptionists etc. But, as I’ve always had a rather quick temper, I’ve managed to set the necessary boundaries and have always received respect in return. When I was told "I'll get you that budget tomorrow, honey", with a wink and a smile, I’d reply "I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, could you repeat?"
So when I set up La Joya in 2011, I was tremendously happy. I armed the company with both male and female producing talent. I do not contract my people based on gender, I contract them based on their talent, as producers, as professionals, as human beings… Although sometimes I may have felt that there are already too many women at the office and that we could do with a little more testosterone around :)
LBB> You were one of the first to introduce film directors to the world of commercials. What was it like before this? What led you to this decision in the end and how was it received?
Maripaz> It was during my time at Ovideo that I began to see how inspired I was by films that I really liked and started thinking how their directors had a potential of bringing something special to the craft of advertising.
And when I set up La Joya in 2011, I wanted to differentiate the company with a unique positioning in the market, and I decided that would be to offer our agency and brand clients the opportunity to create their creative campaigns with film directors.
Before then, I’d already worked with film directors, for example, Fernando Colomo, with whom I shot various campaigns for Carrefour. When I was an agency producer, I got to shoot with the tremendous Spike Lee, and I don't think anyone else in Spain had yet shot an ad campaign with. It was a campaign for Pepsi with a Madrid production company and it was an incredible experience in so many ways.
LBB> How were they received by the market, the film directors?
Maripaz> They were really very well received, but there was a lot of initial speculation as to whether film directors could really work within advertising, particularly since they weren't used to making shorter formats.
But I have actually learned a lot from film directors, among other things, that we as advertisers have had the opportunity to learn how to make longer formats, which is great because it prepared us for the new formats of communication, and the production of longer form content for our clients.
For me, the main concept of offering film directors to the advertising market was TO THINK BIG.
LBB> You recently launched Diamond Rocket - the international service division of La Joya. Can you tell us how the two companies will work together and how you hope to grow your vision?
Maripaz>I’d been thinking about the concept of Diamond Rocket for many years. Establishing and positioning La Joya as one of the best production companies in Spain was the first step. Establishing roots, foundations. We don’t just manage productions. We produce them. And we do it very well. And to this day, we have our two very well positioned offices in Madrid and Barcelona, that count on strong production teams in both cities.
Diamond Rocket opens its doors at the perfect time for La Joya, led by a team of experienced international producers and heads of production, to carry out this great project with all the success it deserves.
As far as if the two companies will work together, WE ARE ONE as far as I’m concerned. Of course, the two labels will coexist and pull creative and production resources together between them. But it’s true that we thought it was important that the international services division have it’s own separate identity, to a certain degree. Mainly on a visual level, but Diamond Rocket is an integral part of “the mothership”, AKA La Joya.
LBB> What are you most excited about within the advertising space for 2023 and beyond?
Maripaz> I am excited about everything that’s coming and what we’re fighting for. For the challenges. I am a person who is all about challenges. Always evolving, always moving forward.
We are very much about forward movement as a company, and the exchange of creative, positive energy, and my team is truly my maximum motivation. For me it’s the greatest thing that I have and I love it!
LBB> And lastly, what is the best piece of advice you were ever given and how has it shaped you in your life and career?
Maripaz> Well, I'm not really one to ever give advice, nor have I ever been one to receive it. I do however find the world of coaches really interesting. I have a lot of coaching qualities and the ability to truly motivate others.
I'm also a perfectionist, for my sins… You win pitches and you lose them, but it’s true that losing a pitch annoys me, it pisses me off, even though I accept that there are sometimes factors that are just beyond our control.
So I really like to motivate. I really like listening to some truly influential coaches out there, and how they tell you that the attitude towards life is what you project and doesn’t depend on what happens to you. Life doesn’t just happen to you, it’s truly what you make of it. Of course, I talk about normal circumstances, day to day challenges. An attitude when facing difficult moments of “Come on! What's up?! It's OK. You got this! The sun always rises, again and again.” I really believe in this.
If I ever had to give advice? I think it’d be: “Think big and keep moving forward. Evolving. Growing. Fighting.” I’ve always been a fighter. In my life, in my career, in everything I do. I’d love to have known another way, perhaps a little easier at times, but it wasn’t so.
