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Daniela Michelon, senior digital producer, BBH

28th July 2010

Digital producers make sure digital projects, no matter how complex, are delivered on time and to budget. Daniela Michelon runs digital production at ad agency BBH for the Axe/Lynx and MySpace accounts.

1 What is digital production?
Working with the rest of the advertising team, digital producers ensure the great ideas have a perfect execution. It’s a very creative role where the creativity lies on finding out how to pull things off.

2 How did you get into your role?
I’ve been in the industry for about 11 years. I started as a creative at a start-up but naturally gravitated towards the producer role. I’ve done a bit of everything, from editing HTML pages and creating wireframes to running an account. It has given me great insight into every step of the process. Having worked as a creative has impressed on me a great respect for the end product of our work.

3 How is the industry changing and what opportunities are opening up?
The biggest movement is the morphing of disciplines and both the opportunities and pressures that represents. You don’t necessarily need to have a project management background to become a producer – there are tools to take a whole lot of the burden out of your hands while you focus on delivering the idea. On the other hand, companies expect people to be able to collaborate more, and to excel at that you need to have a much better understanding of the whole.

4 What sort of job opportunities are available in the market?
If I were to single out one thing I’d say that being able not only to have ideas but also contribute to their execution is a big thing. Art directors that are also great designers and creatives who can code, or planners that understand interaction design, for example. Curiosity, self-teaching and collaborative behaviour will get you far.

5 What skills and experience do you need in this role?
The producer’s role is, above everything else, to make sure people collaborate. That’s just as much about communication and people skills as it is about multidisciplinarity. You need to be able to understand what drives everyone and make sure you help them find the best way to focus their energy on getting things done. Getting the right people doing the right things (the ones they love) is also key. Also, you have to be able to change as you go. Question, try, fail, learn, try, succeed. Don’t be afraid of experimenting.