Seen and noted

Q&A with Michelle Stapleton, MD and founder of Wanted Films, UK

By the way ... NONE of the interviews on bestads are paid-for advertorials.

bestads: How do you start up a film production company from zero?

Michelle Stapleton:
With a lot of passion, belief in yourself and the directors who believe in you and the will to want to do things your way, take the risks and be an employer rather than an employee

bestads: and then 10 years later do it all over again?

Michelle Stapleton:
Wanting to do it alone, with one single direction. And go back to being “Small Is Beautiful”


bestads: One year & 8 directors down the track, are you wishing you’d taken up accountancy?

Michelle Stapleton:
No, far too creative for me

bestads: We featured the new Phones 4u ads last week. They’ve been described as “out there”. Tell us a bit about them.

Michelle Stapleton:
Fantastic commercials basically where the agency has been allowed to do some gutsy advertising with the backing of a brave and respectful client and it’s paid off. Sadly, these days, the majority of clients not only think they can do the job of the agency but do it better and agencies won’t argue their point in fear of losing that account

Click here to view one of the Phones4u spots.

By and large clients these days have no respect for their agency. Agencies are treated like an internal department within the company and just told what to write, how to shoot it and how they want it edited. Marketing Director’s wives have more say in how an ad should look than a Creative Director does.

Phones 4 U shows you how strong advertising can still be when a talented, experienced and passionate creative team and director are allowed to create a strong, clear film that works and is also funny and entertaining. There is still hope.

Remember the Hamlet Campaign, Carling Black Label, Martini, Orange tango to name but a few great pieces of advertising when the respect for the industry was still there.

bestads: Is there any other work you’re especially proud of that you’d like to tell us about (& perhaps we should be having a look at)?

Michelle Stapleton:
Yes – several commercials that I have either produced or exec produced as well as a couple of shorts that I am very proud of. In terms of commercials, Keep London Tidy “Fairy Litter” and Playstation’s “Fire First” both directed by Seb Edwards, Volvo and Mazda by Selby and then of course there are the Tony Kaye ads I worked on including Nike “Kick It” (written by Chris Palmer when he ran Simons Palmer and Dunlop). I’m also proud of “Unexpected” conceived by Tom Carty and Walter Campbell when they were at Abott Mead Vickers and finally Phones 4 U directed by Brian Baderman and produced by Vanessa Hetherington both at Wanted Films.
The shorts include ‘Big’ directed by Sara Dunlop which won Rushes Soho Short Film Festival and ‘Juvenile’, a film I have just exec produced, directed by China and produced by Jess Ensor through Wanted Films.

http://wantedfilms.tv/






bestads: ... and now for the questions that we put to loads of production companies: There are quite a few production companies out there. How do you get the attention of the agencies?

Michelle Stapleton:
Through constant dialogue, keeping them up-to-date with all your work. Building relationships with the producers and creatives and earning their respect when you are lucky enough to work with them, and directing a job that you are all proud of so they think of you the next time round


bestads: When you send out a treatment of a script do you worry about who might steal it?

Michelle Stapleton:
Yes, but that’s advertising and there is nothing you can do other than to feel proud that even if they didn’t work with you both you and they know where a certain idea came from.

bestads: PSA (charity) ads ... A necessary evil (paying back favours) or a chance to shine?

Michelle Stapleton:
I assume you mean charity by no money.
In which case you do them for both reasons. But you are aware from the outset what the deal is and therefore do the job as you would a budgeted production. Although it must be said it’s easier to do a charity job for nothing than it is a huge, well-known, product ad for nothing.


bestads: A great script comes in. You really want the job. What do you do to make it happen? (it’s okay ... you can tell us – people don’t remember what they read on the net. Scientific fact.)

Michelle Stapleton:
Do the best pitch you can. Support your director, be passionate and you’ll get it.

bestads: the best scripts always come with the worst budgets .... True / false

Michelle Stapleton:
False


bestads: the smaller the idea, the bigger the effort .... True / false

Michelle Stapleton:
Not as simple as a true or false. Depends on the product and the client’s real belief in their product. If everyone shows a true belief in the product then it doesn’t matter how small or big the idea is.


bestads: You can’t really afford to be truthful in this sort of interview ... True / false

Michelle Stapleton:
Where have I been false?

bestads: having a roster of directors is like having a large family ... True / false

Michelle Stapleton:
FALSE. The 2 are completely separate. Home is home, work is work.


bestads: the future of production is: scripts written & shot by the punters, edited & post produced on a laptop, the sound guy does the track in his bedroom, the client’s wife is the research, & it gets sent out as a viral. .... True / false


Michelle Stapleton:
False. Just my point when talking about Phones 4 U campaign, the state of the industry and the lack of respect.

If advertising / production is that easy. Then
Go ahead produce them that way and I will select a panel of respected industry figures along with myself to judge them and we will make the “X Factor” of advertising.