William Sargent, Joint Chief Executive, Framestore

LBB: Tell us a little about what you offer now as a company, where your offices are, and why?   WS: A team of extraordinary talent creating extraordinary images across all forms of moving images and screens - from work on major features and advertising campaigns through to animation in online games, in game CG imagery, mobile applications and active poster sites - the only team working creatively across such a wide landscape of formats and platforms.

 

The team has won every major award over the past decade in film, television and advertising. Based in Soho London and SoHo New York we are at the centre of a client base that produces the most demanding creative challenges for us.
 

LBB: Are you offering any particularly cool services that people may not be aware of? If so here is your chance!

WS: Framestore has always been a leader in providing cutting edge creative solutions for our clients. Our, award-winning, reputation for quality vfx work is unsurpassed. So the shift towards integrated advertising media over the past few years has been a great opportunity for us to further impress the creative community.

Why do Agencies produce their best visual assets for television & cinema, and accept inferior work for other marketing platforms? Framestore's pioneering work on digital pipelines now offers broadcast quality creative for all marketing platforms. Over the past year we have developed and delivered pioneering work for websites, banner advertising, Flash games, Facebook and iPhone applications and digital billboards. We have worked with clients such as Sony, McDonalds, Abbey, Pepsi, VW, Ask.com, Virgin Music, Westfield Shopping, L'Oreal, The Prince's Rainforest Trust and most recently, completed an amazing launch project for Activision's DJ Hero which launches in October.

Integrating campaigns at Framestore is not just about superior quality; there are really significant client cost savings to be made from centralising the process.
 

LBB: It must be tough always being the last company to handle creative on an ad. Obviously the amount of talent in top post houses is unbelievable. Do you feel that the folks back at the agency and the end client are aware of your input?

WS: Yes

LBB: We presume you are working directly with some advertisers now, which makes perfect sense to us. However, we gather sometimes the agency doesn’t like this. Is it an issue?

WS: Yes we are occasionally approached directly by brand owners or their production consultants with requests for information (RFIs) with the opportunity of becoming an exclusive or roster supplier. 

We are always happy to bid in these instances, as developing strong, on-going brand relationships suit our business model well.  However we do our utmost to reassure the Agency that we will always defer to them, where possible, as the main creative guardian of a brand. For the accounts we work on this way, no it is not an issue.
 
LBB: New companies are appearing to offer global adaptation work, a job traditionally done in a post house. Are these companies offering a different approach or can you offer the same cost effective service?

WS: Various new companies are appearing to offer global adaptation.  Framestore's worldwide versioning service for our clients is financially competitive, but more importantly, backed by our reputation for service & delivery.  Our quality control processes and technical expertise have been honed from handling moving images for advertising and firm for many years.

Capacity, flexibility and reliability are all paramount to complex adaptation work, and with an ever-changing technical landscape, including new HD and digital formats; Framestore remains the ideal to handle this work.
 

LBB: Has the business of post production changed a lot over the last 10 years? And what do you think it will look like in 10 more years?

WS: Over the past decade post has become 'production'. What we do starts when a writer or creative team imagine images they want to see created. From complex pre visualisation through to final grading and delivery our work touches every phase of film making. For the coming decade that will deepen further as we become a more integral partner in the creative process of making extraordinary images with our clients.
 

LBB: Tell us about your favourite job that your company has worked on. Can you tell us why you have selected this from so many?

WS: This year my two favourites were Pepsi "Penguin" because it is a witty impeccably timed and executed spot which made me laugh out loud on a wet and cold Monday morning in London. Alongside this at the same time I was deeply moved by Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" where we did 100% of the animation to bring his vision and the Wild Things to life - I am very proud of what we achieved - real people real 'things'.