Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 7 - Index

We at SCREEN Mag like to spice things up from time to time,
so for our annual Agency Creative Teams cover story, we
decided to shake things up and venture away from our
traditional “team profiles” style and try something a little
different.
This time around, we spoke to creative teams from three
agencies: Bromley Communications in San Antonio, Texas,
The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., and Element 79
in Chicago. And, instead of highlighting each agency
separately, we asked each team the same questions and
mixed their answers together to create more of a discussion
format, putting the reader right into the action!
We now present Abe Garcia/ACD and Benjamin Jara/Sr.
Copywriter from Bromley; Bob Meagher/SVP,Sr. Copywriter
and Pat Wittich/VP, Sr. Art Director from The Martin Agency;
and creative directors Doug Behm and Jon Flannery from
Element 79. Take it away, gents!
SCREEN: What advice would you give to someone who is
just starting his or her career as part of an agency team?
BROMLEY: Learn the definitions of being ‘passionate’ and
being ‘stubborn.’
THE MARTIN AGENCY/PAT WITTICH: Don’t automatically dismiss
a seemingly bad idea. Often there is a seed of a good idea
hiding in there somewhere if you look hard enough. Some
of the most brilliant campaign ideas start out as weird, little
stupid ideas.
So don’t be afraid to say something when you’re concepting.
And if you say something so extremely stupid that your
partner gives you a look of disgust, you can always say,
“What, you thought I was serious?”
THE MARTIN AGENCY/BOB MEAGHER: I would tell them to
try and get the best partner they can. Since one may be
assigned to you, it is up to you to be the best you can be. If
you are an art director, you should also be a good writer. If
you are a writer, you should be able to come up with visual
ideas. Then if you are lucky enough to work with a partner
equally as good, the two of you together will be fantastic.
As long as you don’t fight with each other too much.
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By CJ Arellano and Amy Wilschke
ELEMENT 79: Stay open to anything and everything. Even
the basic structure of the team – the copywriter/art director
duo – that’s been in place for 50 years will change. Why?
Because you won’t survive if you just write or just art direct.
And you won’t survive if you just do TV or just do print. The
days of just doing any one thing are pretty much over.
That said, no one is really great at doing everything. So
we’ll have to rethink how teams work – including how many
people make up a team. Instead of two, why not add a
digital person and make a team of three? Why not add
a digital person and designer and make a team of four?
There’s probably a limit on how many people can work
together and function as a team, but the point is that teams
are going to get some company. [We] have no idea how
that will work out. But it’ll be fun finding out.
SCREEN: Does it help to be a bit neurotic in this industry?
ADD, OCD and other neuroses/disorders often seem to be
advantageous for creatives.
BROMLEY: Yes. No. Maybe. Well, actually, yes, and if you’re
not, by year one you’ll have some sort of disorder.
MA/WITTICH: Obsessive-compulsiveness seems to be a
common disorder among creatives, definitely. Just about
every creative person I know has at one point or another
become obsessed over some tiny executional detail that no
normal person would ever notice in a million years. But I think
it’s all part of the process – the best work comes from this kind
of striving for perfection. But at some point, you do have to
stop listening to the voices and say, “Enough already!”
MA/MEAGHER: No.
Someone with a
disorder would just
be hard to work with.
Although if they have
just a “bit” of these
traits, it is probably not
a disorder. If an art
director is obsessive
and compulsive
about typography or
Bob Meagher
the design, that is not a disorder. That is craftsmanship.