Whitney Ferris: How Good Horror and an Anti-Drug Campaign Inspired a Career in Advertising
The best way to understand a person’s career is to look at the work that made them. Their first campaign. The campaign that someone else did that made them jealous. The campaign that taught them some painful but useful lessons. The work that they’re proudest of.
In partnership with Create This, LBB’s The Work That Made Me channel celebrates the work that shaped the lives and careers of some of the industry’s most well known faces.
In this interview, LBB speaks with Whitney Ferris, head of integrated production at 215 McCann. An award-winning producer with an MBA from Wharton in operational development and entrepreneurship, Whitney is a master in fostering creative development, strategic problem-solving, optimising business growth and leading cross-functional teams towards lasting impact.
Most importantly, Whitney’s passion for driving purpose and social responsibility in service of radical progress can be found throughout her work. When not on set, Whitney can be found on a mountain top with her fur baby Almond or deep in costume prep for next year's Halloweek.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Whitney> “This is Your Brain” from the 90s was one of the first commercials that had a deep impact. It was one of the first moments I recognised that film and television could be used to impact societal choices and drive social impact.
Not exactly from my childhood, but the Haagen-Dazs Anthem in 2004 always stuck with me for its simple beauty and the emotion it evokes. Funny enough, I referenced this commercial to Cindy Fluitt when I asked her for a job back in the day, before I realised she was the producer on it!
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Whitney> I fell in love with film as a baby. My mother used to take me to the movies to calm me down when I was fussy. There are so many transcendent films that embedded in my core and drove me to what I do today. Legend, Alien, Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, Fargo, Silence of the Lambs, My Fair Lady.
One of my favourite films of all time that showcased the passion and artistry that goes into this incredible field was Tarsem’s The Fall. I read that he used the money he made from advertising to fund this phenomenal passion project film. Shot in beautiful, real locations all over the world, Tarsem, used interesting locations as canvases to paint his story.
The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Whitney> Alien, hands down. Good horror is often the industry innovator. People generally have low expectations for horror films, which means that there’s freedom to try things and take risks. Horror throughout film history has driven new techniques in lighting, camera, style etc.
Ridley Scott changed cinema with this film in so many ways. The iconic non sexualized female action star lead, Ripley. The complete tangible set build that is as believable today as it was then. How he plays with natural light, no frills, and allowing absolute darkness (like Hitchcock). I could go on and on. The whole film is a masterpiece that will be referred to in cinema forever.
My first professional project…
Whitney> I’m not sure that this was my first, but one of my early set experiences that I’ll never forget was assisting on HP Happy Baby with Noam Murro. It was a hilarious shoot. We had triplet babies on set so we could maximise the time on set. And I’ll never get that song out of my head.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Whitney> I have been lucky in my career to have the opportunity to focus on work that is socially responsible and culturally impactful. And I think that work can sometimes be a really big risk for a client to take. I had one moment, where we built a stunning and important edit (overnight in 48hrs) for gender rights and at the last minute, the client pulled it. In the moment, I had never been angrier about ‘the work’, but in hindsight I (still don’t agree with but) understand the decision.
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Whitney> Anything that drives meaningful change in the world. Basically everything that Not Impossible Labs does. Those projects never get the time, money, attention they deserve and they take a group of truly passionate people to bring them to life.
The creative project that changed my career…
Whitney> I still think back on this all the time. I was lucky enough to work with my mentor, Todd Porter, on a documentary short that is still near and dear to my heart, I Want to Say. The film documents true stories of hope from six families with children on the autism spectrum who were able to communicate for the first time through touch technology. It was absolutely a passion project that everyone donated their time and energy to for over two years before it saw the light of day. We all became incredibly close to the families we worked with and their progress. I still check in on them today! On top of sharing these amazing stories and spreading a message of hope and understanding to the community, we shortlisted for a Titanium at Cannes and were given a stage at the Palais to screen the 27 minute film.
The work that I’m proudest of…
Whitney> 100% the above. If you haven’t seen it and want to, please set yourself up in a quiet place and watch it all the way through without stopping. It’s worth it.
I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Whitney> I cringe not because of the work, the work was amazing and we had an amazing team and crew that made it happen. I cringe because everything that could have gone wrong (nothing life or death) at every stage, did go wrong. It was such a herculean effort in fact, I wrote about it to get into grad-school. It’s too long of a story to go through, but let’s grab a beer and I’ll tell you all about it.
What I will share is, it was absolutely the hardest shoot I’ve ever been on, and my head of production gave me these words of advice which I still hold true today. She said, “Everyone is going to panic around you and look to you to determine how to react. You must be the calm amongst the storm.”
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Whitney> I’m thrilled to be where I am in my career. I work with the most fantastic, collaborative team, that I am thankful for every day. We do everything we can to make the best work possible, our clients trust us, and we go above and beyond everywhere we can. I’m very fortunate to work with such a talented group of people, and to have the most adept producers and business affairs on my team.
