'Striking Out' with Steve Smith

[Steve Smith - Executive Producer at Beakus]

Beakus Website

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Conversations with Steve Smith

"I saw the ugly side of commercial work. The bureaucracy of it. Getting your idea through to 20 people in the room, who all have different ideas, is a difficult time. And then you have people who are very protective of their brand; saying 'you can't do this' and 'you can't do that'." - Steve Smith

"Stay creative when you are young, we get increasingly selective as we become more experienced/older and as myself, I wish I had kept with my creative side." - Steve Smith

(On the topic of commercial work; Fun Facts) "Having 20-30 people around you, looking at you for feedback or direction is empowering." - Steve Smith

Any advice for pitches? Look at it from a clients perspective. You are doing it for someone who may not be creative. It's about filling out that brief. It should be relatable to the client, or does it relate to their demographic. Tick the boxes that they are looking for. It's about doing the minimum, but as professionally as possible." - Steve Smith

Do you have any preferred animation styles "I don't have any interest with the 'flavor-of-the-month' style. You have to tell the client what will work, given the budget, and what is out there in that same style. The more you get from your client, the better. But you should still retain your own style among that." - Steve Smith

What is your best advice for starting up an independent company? "Starting a company was easy, you could fill in a form and pay a fee and that's it. But it has gotten much more complicated over the years. Having an accountant to manage the difficult stuff is essential now." - Steve Smith

What philosophy do you have for your business? "When I was starting, my philosophy was to make the best stuff ever but evidently that hasn't happened. But on the flip side, I've made a frickin TV Series (Olobob Top). My philosophy going forward, I'm not sure. I think philosophy is more having a business plan." - Steve Smith

What skills have you learnt or developed that's helped you to become more persuasive in client meetings? "I did this when I was younger, I used to 'fake' my understanding of the (animation) process. This helped relax the clients." - Steve Smith

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Reflection Segment

"When considering on what Steve was saying during this 'Striking Out' session, it worries that my idea coincides in the commercial world. Steve mentions that he has seen the horrors of commercial work and getting your idea across to the 20 people in the room is a great challenge. Two things come to mind when hearing this.

- Prototyping - mentioned in a previous post, a protective client can communicate effectively exactly what they like / dislike about any aspect of the project so far. An established pipeline just for prototyping can give the client every opportunity to give feedback and opinions on the production. This also grants a huge amount of transparency on the project between business and client.

- Persona creation - Attempting to please the entire room with your ideas is quite the unlikely endeavour. Creating a persona to the individual that is going to make the decisions for the brand was expressed by Timea Kadar and it is a statement I totally agree with.

- Persona A - lead client, the individual making the decisions, for the brand you are creating for.

- Persona B - the customers your client is trying to sell for.

In my opinion, having these (at least) two personas, and tailoring the creative medium around them, should be a priority. I think this, in turn, should retain the greatest chance of success to please the majority of clients in the room."

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What I've been listening to: