NERD Productions Christmas and New Year’s traditions

It’s that time of the year again where the cheap tinsel comes out and Mariah Carey gets defrosted to haunt every Christmas playlist in existence. At NERD Productions we have a global roster who all spend the festive period in different ways so we wanted to cap this year out with catching up with some familiar faces to discuss Christmas and New Years traditions and memories, so grab the mince pies and mulled wine and enjoy.

ALICJA JASINA

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“In Poland, Christmas Eve comes with a quirky tradition: twelve dishes on the table (one for each apostle), which makes the dinner both chaotic and magical. We also always set one extra place for an unexpected guest – a stranger who might knock on the door, because no one should be alone that night. No stranger has ever appeared… but we’ve always had plenty of friends to fill the space.

Another tradition is sharing opłatek, a thin sacred wafer similar to the communion host. We break off pieces and exchange personal wishes one-on-one. It’s a surprisingly emotional ritual.

The evening is always cozy and joyful, and it inevitably ends the same way: my uncle gets tipsy, launches into family legends (including pre-war stories about my grandmother), and then grabs his guitar – he can play anything by ear. He moves from traditional carols to all kinds of songs, improvising based on who’s visiting. Last year, when my Colombian friends joined us, he made up “Spanish” lyrics that sounded convincingly Spanish… but absolutely weren’t. The guests were delighted anyway, so I guess that’s what matters.”

KULAY LABITIGAN

“We enjoy the old-school card giving. It is simple but heartfelt. My husband and I normally create and print our own bespoke illustrated Christmas cards. We set a weekend in December to sit down, reflect together, and write our Crimbo cards by hand one by one to send to our friends, family, and loved ones. It is a beautiful tradition to reflect back on the amazing year and remind us that there are just way too many things to be grateful about.”

AHMET ILTAS

“I grew up in the Freiburg–Bad Krozingen area of Germany, and every New Year’s season, the town seemed to change color overnight. The streets would light up, decorations stretched across the buildings, and enormous Christmas trees appeared in the town squares. For us kids, it all felt like a giant amusement park.

One of my strongest memories is of a small wooden hut beneath the big tree in the square. It was actually just a stall selling souvenirs, but we had declared it our secret headquarters. I remember one freezing evening when we challenged each other to touch a metal bell and see who could keep their hand on it the longest. I won, but my hand stayed frozen shut for ten minutes afterward. At that age, pride definitely outweighed pain.

We would wander through the decorated streets, past colorful windows and towering Christmas trees, carrying our hot chocolates and trying to spook each other with silly games. Even today, whenever I see New Year’s decorations, I’m taken back to that giant tree, the metal bell that nearly froze my hand off, and those winter nights when we disappeared into the fog and laughed as only children can.”

VIKTORIIA TELFER

“I am originally from Ukraine and Christmas is a little different there compared to the UK. First of all we celebrate on the night of 6th January, as my family is Orthodox. Traditionally, there should be 12 dishes on the table for the apostles, and my grandparents always prepared specific foods such as sweet barley (Kutia), fish, chicken, with the feast kicking off as the first star appeared. We also prep various Eastern European salads which we would then eat for breakfast too 🤣.

New Year’s Eve is also very important and is largely influenced by Soviet traditions rather than religion itself. One thing remains the same, though: it’s always a big feast, and everyone loves to dress up, photo proof below…

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I have very warm memories of the holidays in Ukraine, but since moving to Scotland, I no longer celebrate Christmas on the 6th, as I’m not religious. I now fully follow the British holiday calendar and absolutely love Christmas Day on the 25th with my Scottish family. We either go out for a Christmas meal or enjoy a roast at home. One thing is certain, though, everyone is spoiled with gifts. We still write Christmas lists and make sure Santa brings a present for everyone, no matter their age or behaviour…”

It’s been a tough year for the industry but still a great year for creativity and craft, new friendships and collaborations ! No matter how you celebrate, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December 17, 2025December 18, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Carol Dunn

Is there any truth to “kids ruin everything”? Barking Owl’s managing director tackles the common proverb by comparing it to her own lived experience of motherhood.

Motherhood in advertising has long been an unspoken challenge – a career-defining crossroads where ambition is too often questioned, and support systems fall short. And while the industry has made progress in acknowledging the realities of working parents, tangible change is still slow, leaving many mothers to navigate the journey alone.

This edition of Motherland in Adland – the series founded by NERD’s Milana Karaica in partnership with LBB – sees Carol Dunn, managing director at Barking Owl, discuss the ins and outs of parenting as an ambitious woman in entertainment and advertising. From taking meetings with Wu Tang Clan, child in tow, to tag teaming parenting duties with a nanny and her mother-in-law, Carol looks back on what motherhood looked like for her over the course of her career in adland.

“Kids ruin everything!” I say it all the time, you can quote me… But that statement proves to be both true and false in the same breath, on different days, for different reasons. And here’s why…

I’ve worked in entertainment my entire career. Starting out as the switchboard operator at Capitol Records with a four year old at home and a sprog in my belly. When my kids were small, I had little to no guilt. As they grew older, they began to become vocal about their pride in watching me leave for the office, or even a business trip. The ‘adventure’ of doing their homework in my office was not an adventure at all but actually very normal.

I am lucky that I had a mother-in-law who tag teamed with a part-time nanny. This meant the kids had a home cooked meal every week day of their childhood — even if not a single one of those meals was cooked by me. Nor was I ever sitting at the family dinner table.

In spite of that, my kids, now 33 and 37, just this week told me they would both love to be “doing what [I] do”. Yes, I have tried to talk them out of it…

If I had any advice for new mothers it’s that it is normal to want to be at work and not at home sometimes. It is okay. I was back at work (due to terrible American maternity leave policies!*) three months after my second was born.

But, when all is said and done, I was thrilled to go back to work. I was lucky to be able to pump and provide breast milk to my daughter. Even she, at just nine months, was ready to spread her lactose wings and walk away from me – yup, she walked at nine months. Both of my kids did.

I was never afraid of my kids loving their grandmother or the nanny for that matter (which I find to be the oddest fear) more than me. I believe the thought and guilt a lot of mothers feel comes from outside chatter. External sources – family members, friends, IG ‘Trad Wife/Mom’ types – insisting that what they are doing is the right way to do it. But there isn’t a ‘right way’, there is just your way. No one can criticise you for doing it your way.

After all, where does most criticism blossom from? Jealousy and self doubt.

I am not going to say I had it all, nor that my work life balance was balanced. But while my career was my first choice my kids were my first loves. I truly have no guilt for the choices I made.

My daughter’s first trip to Manhattan was because I had meetings with Wu Tang. My son’s first dance floor experience with me was with Sia. The kids’ first concert was N’Sync at The Rose Bowl — we left after 4 songs, too loud!

Those experiences were available to us because of my access. My access was possible because of my work ethic. My work ethic was dogmatic because of my dedication to providing a full life for my children, with me.

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*Shout out to Bulgaria and Sweden: Bulgaria offers 410 days (approximately 58.6 weeks) of paid maternity leave at 90% of the mother’s salary, starting 45 days before the due date; and Sweden provides 480 days of shared parental leave, with 390 days paid at 80% of wages.

This leave is designed to be shared between parents, with 90 days reserved specifically for fathers…

December 11, 2025December 18, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Charlotte Jimenez

As part of the series ‘Motherland in Adland’, the head of operations and senior producer describes how working with fellow parents at creative studio, Ourselves, restored her confidence after facing redundancy.

In this instalment of Motherland in Adland – the series founded by NERD’s Milana Karaica in partnership with LBB – we hear from Charlotte Jimenez, head of operations and senior producer at creative studio, Ourselves.

Charlotte’s story is one many mothers can relate to. Her ‘work hard, play hard’ approach to work was not sustainable in quite the same way after having children. Especially when toddlers just love to collect illnesses at nursery and require last-minute early pick ups. Juggling responsibilities in the home and the office left her edged out of her own career, and eventually, she was made redundant. Thankfully, her journey also comes with a happy ending, and hope for parents that like-minded, empathetic, adaptable workplaces are out there.

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I’ve been working my dream job at Ourselves, a remote creative studio, for almost six years now. When Aaron and Steven, the founders, first called me, the timing couldn’t have been better. I was a new mum, still reeling from redundancy at the big agency where I’d spent most of my career, and in the middle of a real crisis of confidence. Their offer felt like I’d just been handed a golden ticket.

I’ve always been ambitious and full of energy. I love people, I love teamwork, and I come from the ‘work hard, play hard’ millennial era. (Thursday night drinks after work included.) But life looks a little different now. I’m a mum of two boys, and while I’m still passionate about my career in advertising, I want to do it in a way that works for my family too. That means working from home more than the office, being flexible and agile, making it to school events, taking the boys to their after-school clubs, and, most importantly, not being so stressed that I forget what (and who) really matters.

In the early years of project management, I worked my way up the ladder, got recognised for my hard work, had the chance to work abroad, and lead a team. Back then, the mums on my team were often labelled as ‘part-time’, despite being the first ones in the office and usually the last ones online – working longer and harder to make up for leaving early for school pick-ups.

Then I had a baby. What a shocker.

My firstborn was often unwell as a toddler, which meant the nursery would regularly call asking me to pick him up early. Those calls triggered frantic conversations with my husband as we both scrambled to negotiate with our bosses, promising to work late into the night to make up for leaving the office two hours early.

I constantly felt like I was letting my team down. Even when I was home with my son, I didn’t stop working. I managed projects from my phone, took calls while driving, and juggled spreadsheets with one hand while cuddling a poorly child with the other. Eventually, I was given smaller, less critical projects. I was left out of key conversations and pushed toward standalone jobs. Looking back, I realise this was my boss’s way of keeping me in a role without relying on me for anything crucial, so if I had to drop everything and run to nursery, I could. But I hated it. I felt sidelined, excluded, and my confidence took a huge hit. I wasn’t myself.

When covid hit and, subsequently, redundancies, there were no surprises. It was clear to me and to many of my friends who had started families that we were first in line. We had chosen motherhood, and in the eyes of leadership, that meant we couldn’t give the same blood, sweat, and tears as younger colleagues or those without children. That was it, confirmation that I was seen as the weakest link.

Birds of a Feather

Then came an unexpected lifeline. Aaron Howard, a creative director I’d worked with for over six years, called one afternoon while I was at home, juggling two young children and questioning my life choices. He and his co-founder, Steven Bennett-Day, were starting something new and needed a producer. Not only was I on Aaron’s list, I came highly recommended by peers and that was a huge lift for me.

As fathers themselves, Aaron and Steven had both left big ad-agency life to reclaim autonomy, choose projects they cared about and be able to enjoy family life. They offered me the chance to help run a startup and shape how it would operate: flexible hours, remote working, and a culture that genuinely understood what it meant to be a working parent as a positive, not a negative. It felt like a dream job.

Fast Forward 6 Years

Today, at Ourselves, we’ve built the kind of team we once dreamed about. When we advertised for an account director and senior copywriter, we weren’t just looking for skills and good people, we wanted colleagues who shared our values and working style.

Now, we’re a powerhouse of parents (and like-minded teammates) running the show. We get the work done, in the working hours that suit us. We support one another. We’re flexible, so both our creatives and our management team can do their best work. Some of us work abroad when needed, we’re able to swap working days or hours, and we pick up the slack for each other without resentment. There’s no ‘us versus them’ mentality – just trust, respect, and genuine smiles for our 9:30 status meetings!

December 3, 2025December 18, 2025

NERD PRODUCTIONS: WORLD DISABILITY DAY

World Disability Day, officially known as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is observed annually in December. It is a day to raise awareness about disability issues and to promote the rights and well-being of people with disabilities. A chance to promote and celebrate their achievements and contributions to society.

Advertising can be a platform to showcase and educate people on raising awareness on people living with disability. NERD Productions is lucky enough to have talent on the roster who have worked on projects that promote and help us think differently on the topic.

One of Arcade’s most recent projects for AS Apple Autism Awareness shines a light on children living with autism. The film is a celebration of togetherness and represents the spectrum showcasing children from different backgrounds who live with the condition. Autism can affect people differently with symptoms appearing in early childhood. It can affect people differently providing distinct strengths and weaknesses and can often be a very misunderstood disability that isn’t always visible or clear. Arcade’s film shows these children are no different from other children; they have the same desires and ambitions to play and discover. Arcade applies welcoming visuals and a playful colour palette that matches with the tone and message of the film.

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Arcade – Apple available here

Emmy award winner and stop-motion artist Hayley Morris crafted a thought provoking short film Undone which was inspired by her grandfather which devastatingly captures the debilitating nature of Alzheimer’s disease. Hayley’s hauntingly melancholic film expresses so much without words, instead utilizing abstract imagery and soundscapes that conjures up a sense of isolation and sadness. Stop-motion allows a sense of tangibility that adds emotive power to the film with touch playing a huge role within the narrative.

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Hayley Morris – Undone available here

Ahmet IItas worked with Cochlear to produce a captivating piece of animation that shows the struggles and disconnect those who suffer from hearing issues face on a daily basis. Ahmet uses sweeping transitions and a clever use of colour that showcase how Cochlear hearing implants can provide comfort and connection back to those who need it.

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Ahmet’s handcrafted approach to the animation style lends to the themes of togetherness and human connection that we can sometimes take for granted. It also allows the audience a chance to view things from the perspective of someone living with hearing loss and how that can impact everyday life.

Ahmet “The Cochlear ‘Connection’ project drew attention with its emotional depth and refined artistic approach, setting itself apart from the conventional advertising line of the medical device industry. The animated film tells the meaningful story of reconnecting with the world through the implant, addressing the isolation caused by hearing loss. The primary goal of the project was to emphasize the meaningful change in the user’s life rather than simply describing the functionality of a medical device in a dry manner.

In line with this vision, a sophisticated aesthetic was adopted, featuring traditional brush strokes and artistic stylization, distinctly setting it apart from other medical ads in the sector. The narrative conveyed the emotional transition, from the world becoming abstract and pale during moments of hearing loss, to the restoration of sound and the world becoming clear and colorful again with the implant, through powerful metaphors.”

Ahmet IItas – Cochlear Hearing Implant available here

If you’d like to see more from NERD Production click here

November 27, 2025November 27, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Casey Bird

In this instalment of the ‘Motherland in Adland’ series, the creative director explains how discovering AI during maternity leave unlocked a new creative freedom – and why mothers must play an active role in shaping the future of work

In this instalment of Motherland in Adland – the series founded by NERD’s Milana Karaica in partnership with LBB – we hear from Casey Bird, a creative director who most recently worked at Channel 4.

During her second maternity leave, Casey didn’t just return to work – she rewired how she thought about creativity, career progression, and possibility. AI became her tool for liberation, reinvention, and self-determined ambition. Now, as she launches her own creative studio, she’s calling on mothers across adland to experiment, challenge norms, and help shape the next era of work – because if they don’t, the future risks being built without them.

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The AI Revolution is Here. Mothers Can’t Be on the Sidelines.

I’m not a technologist. I’m not a coder. I’m a mother of two (Hi Ruby & Mason, mama’s in LBB!).

I’m an award-winning creative director in advertising and marketing by trade, and someone who spent most of my career working global brands or brand partnerships, most recently Channel 4. But, during my second maternity leave in 2024, something happened: I became obsessed with AI. I became obsessed with the possibilities, the opportunities, the limitless ideas and thoughts. My brain literally exploded.

Not in a “sci-fi robots” kind of way, but because I saw how powerful it could be when applied to real life. I devoured hours of podcasts or YouTube vids on the topic. I started using it to brainstorm business ideas, draft pitches, shape creative concepts, things I had always relied on late nights or over-caffeinated mornings to do. Suddenly, instead of squeezing myself into a workplace model that was never designed for me, I could start designing my own.

That shift was life-changing for me. In 2025 I created the first advert for a brand on behalf of Channel 4 using creative imagination, prompt engineering and a lot of human editing. I could do this, because I felt confident with the tools I had been practising behind the curtains, that when the opportunity arose, I was able to raise my hand and stand out. It was so much fun feeling limitless in the execution and not restricted by a shoot.

Now? I’m currently in the process of taking a pause whilst I launch my own creative studio, one that works around my time, my energy, and my commitment to my family. And AI is at the heart of it, obviously. My imposter syndrome sometimes can tell me this is a bit of a gimmick, but I truly believe it’s going to the scaffolding that allows me to build a business on my own terms as a mother.

Here’s the thing I’ve been pondering, AI is being called the biggest shift since the internet. But if mothers aren’t part of this revolution, then once again the future of work will be built without us in mind. And we can’t afford that. Women constitute only 20% of employees in technical roles in major machine learning companies, 12% of AI researchers, and 6% of professional software developers. (UNESCO)

Because let’s be honest, the traditional workplace is already failing mothers. And if you’re reading this and nodding along, you’re not alone. Too many of us are pushed out, sidelined, or quietly exit because the system doesn’t bend and work with us and our commitments. AI could change that. It could be the tool that helps us re-enter, reinvent, or completely bypass the structures that excluded us in the first place.
So imagine if mothers everywhere used AI not just to lighten the admin load or think up dinner ideas for the week, but instead:

Prototype businesses faster: turning that “what if” idea into a plan overnight. With no-code website builds you can take your idea to MVP in a day. No dev dude to patronise you.
Access opportunities that don’t depend on presenteeism: pitching, networking, or upskilling on your own schedule. Getting LLM’s to challenge you, set goals and learning schedules. Research indicates that women adopt generative AI tools at work 25% less than men, potentially widening the gender gap in career opportunities. (AllBright)
Rewrite the CV narrative: using AI to frame maternity leave not as a “gap,” but as proof of leadership, resilience, and creativity. The more we feed the LLM’s and tools these narrative, the less bias will present.
Create new economies of work: where flexibility isn’t a perk, it’s the foundation. The opportunity is enormous. But only if we claim it!

If AI is left to be defined by the Silicon Valley bros and tech dudes in your office, it will replicate the same systems that already shut us out. If mothers step in, experiment, and shape it, we can build something better. Not just for us, but for everyone.
Think of it as inventive, as being resourceful and creative with our thinking. And mothers have always been good at that, right?

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So here’s my call to action for mothers and others, reading this…

Mothers, play with AI. It’s not scary or uninviting. Break it, bend it, push it. Use it to sketch that side hustle, to pitch that business idea, to design work that actually fits your life!

Because if mothers don’t step in now, we risk being erased from the future of work before it’s even been written. Now is the time to really flex the skills, and pull up a seat at the table. In fact, forget the table, build your own AI table with cosy chairs and warm cups of tea and invite other women to sit at it with you.

November 18, 2025November 27, 2025

SAKARI LERKKANEN’S CINEMA INFUSED LOVE LETTER TO CAMPARI

In the latest edition of getting down and NERDy we caught up with Sakari Lerkkanen to discuss the filmmaking process of Ode to Cinema for Camapari. A love letter to not only the iconic drink but to the history of cinema, blending many different genres and playing homage to some very iconic filmmakers. Sakari doesn’t just pay homage to the work of other famous directors but provides his own distinct and striking form of storytelling the oozes style and sophistication. Juggling the act of capturing the brand image of Campari, while also capturing the spirit of classic film iconography and then on top of that still applying your own unique stamp is no easy feat. You could say it’s like a creative cocktail, balancing new and old flavours together to make something totally original and refreshing.

When you think of Campari what’s the first thing that comes to mind for you and how did you apply this to the campaign?

Cinema. Cannes Film Festival. The Riviera. Italy. In that order – though only after directing this campaign.

Across all the films, that Italian sensibility was essential, especially in art direction, design and elegance. Campari is an Italian icon. But it became more in focus in the ’60s spy spot. The original script leaned on Western spy tropes (notably James Bond), but we shifted toward Italy’s own “spaghetti spy” tradition. It felt more intriguing, more distinct – and more Campari.

What was the trickiest aspect of shooting this campaign?

Time. Prep was tight. But the script was strong, and we had an exceptional team who instantly connected with it. Everyone brought ideas that enriched the final films and added far more nuance than I initially imagined. I love that kind of collaborative process. It makes the final piece feel so much more layered and alive.

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How did you use technology and equipment to capture the visuals of the different genres to make them feel authentic? (e.g. lenses, audio)

The goal was to study and mirror each filmmaking era as authentically as possible.

For example, in the 40s, wide and long lenses were limited. The equipment was heavy. The film stock was less refined than today. We purposefully burned highlights, avoided anything overly polished and kept the audio mono. Our sound team even matched the tonal footprint of the period.

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In the 60s, mainstream production value improved, but spaghetti spy films were often low-budget. We leaned into that charm – of course, with elegance in mind. Our editor (an absolute cinephile) also noted how rare match cuts were then, so we adopted a simpler, slightly imperfect rhythm. Later, there was even a brief trend when editors who could do match cuts became a novelty in Hollywood, which feels funny in retrospect.

In the 90s, post-Star Wars, the more expressive, layered sound design became standard (so to speak, modern sound design). In our Se7en-inspired piece, we used that freedom. However, Fincher always emphasises the plot with clarity and purpose. This poignancy was essential – nothing messy. Visually, handheld cameras and most modern lenses were already part of the mainstream grammar by the ’70s onward, so we used them.

Even though Anderson’s films feel nostalgic, he also uses these modern tools. Playful title cards, clean optics, precise framing. Studying Moonrise Kingdom, we also realised that his symmetry is very different to Kubrick’s, and his art direction blends eras rather than being pinned to one (primarily mid-20th century).

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When paying homage to other artists or work how do you make sure to create your own personal stamp?

When aiming for an authentic film, there’s always a paradox: everything can’t be perfectly authentic. 40s or 60s film stock would be too aged today, so you rely on modern tools to echo the past. Storytelling is subjective, not objective – visible in every cut you make. Every decision you make.

I am not Fincher or Anderson, but I can embrace what I love in their work and how it makes me feel. In storytelling, that honest, personal feel is something that we all connect with. It’s like speaking to another person. That becomes your signature. In Wes, the curtains and jacket had Lynch vibes, while the plot carried a touch of Kaurismaki. Why hide it? In the noir, Mona had a natural telenovela flair – so we embraced it. And guess who’s the voice on the phone? These decisions all add nuance and texture.

I remember being very happy with the first cuts, but rewatching them again at home, something felt off. Moments that felt funny or exciting earlier weren’t anymore. The spark was missing. The next day, we tore each cut apart and rebuilt the flair. That’s the work – finding the emotional truth.

Ultimately, your style comes from your workflow, the people you collaborate with, and your taste – not from forcing a look. In my early years, I leaned on flashy effects and signature tricks to create a certain “style.” Later, I realised: story comes first. What does it need? How does it connect with people? The sharper the intent, the stronger the resonance.

That learning curve allowed me to translate my vision across multiple film genres and work with vastly different brands worldwide. Now, it is fun to see how some people say my reel has a bold voice, while others highlight its versatility. Both are true. For me, the story and intent always lead – rest follows.

While preparing for the shoot were there any films you watched for inspiration?

For noir: Tension (1949), D.O.A. (1950), Casablanca, The Third Man and The Maltese Falcon.

For the 60s: Audrey Hepburn: Charade, The Spy Who Loved Me, Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Danger: Diabolik (recommend) and various others.

Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. For the thriller: Se7en, Killer and various others.

Mostly, though, we broke down and analysed the frames, techniques and scenes rather than entire films. Everyone was already familiar with the titles. It was a mix of agency references and my own. (I had to pull these titles from my notes.)

Music also plays such a large part of telling the narrative in each of these films, how was the music brought to life for this?

Each track needed to instantly throw the viewer into the film’s world. First, we aligned on era-specific instruments/styles, then shortlisted five tracks per film – twenty total. The ones that were both instantly recognisable and uplifted the films with a distinct edge made the cut.

The funniest case was the Wes spot. I’d never associate that track with Anderson, but I love surf guitar (I play it too), plus the song’s rhythm elevated the film with a deadpan wink. It made us smile – and it worked.

Need to see more from Sakari then click here 👀
And to find out more about NERD Productions talent click here 👈

November 11, 2025November 27, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Sarah Collinson

In this instalment of Motherland in Adland – the series founded by NERD’s Milana Karaica in partnership with LBB – we hear from Sarah Collinson, chief executive officer of Havas New York.

Sarah shares her experience of navigating pregnancy, parenting and leadership all at once – from fertility struggles and all-day sickness to the emotional tug-of-war between work and home. With candour and humour, she reflects on what it really takes to lead while parenting young children, and why embracing imperfection, drawing boundaries, and showing up authentically may just be the most powerful form of leadership we have.

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Being a leader is tough.
Being a leader, while being a parent to a 4 year old, while also being pregnant is maybe the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Part of me feels bad even saying this because my journey to parenthood has been an exhausting fertility rollercoaster that has taken up the majority of my thirties.
From the relentless ‘keep-trying-but-nothings-happening’, to the nightmare of miscarriages and an ectopic, to countless doctors’ appointments, injecting myself in random bathrooms, and running around cities at 7am trying to find somewhere to get a blood test before a meeting – it’s pretty much been the opposite of a good time

But MAN, working parenthood is tough.

Our industry is about people.
We have to research them, understand them, appeal to them – and yet with all that knowledge of what it takes to be a human, the basic pulls of working in a client-service business mean that for parents, balancing work and home can feel impossible.

The constant juggle that makes it feel like you’re half-assing everything, anti-social global hours that don’t take bathtime into consideration, and pitches that can swallow a weekend or five. All this, coupled with the thing I always struggled to admit – that when my son Felix was very little, working sometimes felt easier than being with a crying baby.

This industry also demands energy.
It’s a team sport, and we have to show up every day for our colleagues, teams, and clients.

It’s the thing I’ve found the hardest (and most rewarding) about being a CEO. If things are good, the people responsible need to be celebrated and recognized. If things are bad, they need encouragement and help. If you lose an account or a pitch, everyone else can despair, but you need to be there pretty damn fast with momentum and a game plan that helps people pick themselves up and start again.

It takes a lot out of you. And there are times I feel I give everything to work, and then rush home only to be a moody parent who doesn’t have the energy to read Curious George eight times in a row.

I found out that I was pregnant with my second child at the end of January and almost immediately started pretty epic morning sickness that lasted all day (and until week 16). Think heaving in the toilets no one uses on the 4th floor before big meetings, exhaustion levels that meant I wanted to nap under my desk and a generally crap feeling that never dissipated no matter how many bagels I ate.

Almost as soon as this phase wrapped (thank god), my hips and lower back seemed to disintegrate. I got an ugly belly band and tried to up my stretching, but walking was painful and standing still for any length of time became excruciating (why does no one sit down at drinks events??)

None of these things are conducive to being a pinnacle of energy and light.
It was a particularly tough adjustment because my first pregnancy was at the height of covid, and I didn’t step foot in an office.

To deal with it, I’ve become maniacal about energy conservation.
Getting good sleep, trying to ‘exercise’ – even if that means just walking for 30 minutes in the evening – and becoming even better at saying that wonderful word: “no.”

There is no solution for how to make this easy, but these are my learnings :

Tell partners early

Because of my fertility history, I didn’t tell anyone for a long time, but as soon as I brought the leadership team in, I felt supported. From ordering me mocktails when out with a booze client, to moments in pitches where I thought I might hurl and whispered they might have to take over (it never happened – but it came close), to simply having people to moan to – they, and everyone else at Havas, have been truly wonderful. The good news is we work in an industry of amazing humans. Let them help.

Prioritize ruthlessly

If you’re a parent, you’ll already be doing this. Do this more. Cut the chaff and focus on what is essential and meaningful. Sometimes that will mean cutting meetings short and delegating things you might not have before (they have to get used to you being out soon anyway).

Draw ground rules for yourself that you don’t break

This is something I’m telling myself in retrospect, as I very much did not do it initially. Give yourself a break, allow yourself to rest, hold time in your calendar to stretch, to walk, and to just sit in silence. Maybe don’t go into the office as much – especially if it’s summer in NYC and a million degrees.

Know there will be adjustments

I went to Cannes six months pregnant. I still did all of the Cannes things, but in orthopedic shoes with scheduled time for breaks. I also discovered the joy of swimming in the sea between panels and going for dinner. And yes, I mean that beach by The Martinez, where the chances of running into your biggest CMO in a towel are very high. I’ve never done it before for this very reason, but there’s nothing like being overheated and pregnant to make you think “fuck it.”

Lean into doing less

As someone who usually says yes to (almost) everything, turning down invitations and saying no has been tough, but I have to admit, it’s really helped. I’ve trimmed my priorities to family and work. Other things have fallen off a cliff, but with the knowledge that it’s not forever and they will be picked back up (I have a running list on my phone of all the fun things I am going to do when I can walk and drink again – a list my friends are increasingly terrified of).

Let yourself go to bed at 9pm
I feel like I’m a kid. But god, it’s helped.

The end is in sight but soon my new messy reality will be parenting two children, requiring more adjustments and a different type of exhaustion.

This journey has taught me that leadership isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about adapting, prioritizing, and embracing imperfection. If you’re pregnant, parenting, or simply juggling life’s demands as a leader, your resilience to Keep Calm and Keep Showing Up is your greatest strength. So rest when you need it, learn to say no, lean on your people, and show up as the real you (even when that you is exhausted and with ankles so swollen you can barely fit into Birkenstocks), knowing that this authenticity is probably the most inspiring leadership of all.

November 4, 2025November 27, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Marisa Posadinu

In this instalment of the series, senior support advisor at NABS shares her own positive experience of returning to work after maternity leave – and the insight she’s gained from supporting hundreds of other parents across adland.

In this instalment of Motherland in Adland – the series founded by NERD’s Milana Karaica in partnership with LBB – we hear from Marisa Posadinu, senior support advisor at NABS.

Marisa’s perspective is uniquely dual: both as a working mum herself, and as someone who supports countless parents across the industry. She knows just how tough the juggle can be – and how rare genuine support still is. From her own positive experience at NABS to the difficult stories she hears every day, Marisa shares what true flexibility looks like – and what the industry must do to make it the norm.

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I know how tough it can be to be a mum in this industry. That’s because I have the privilege of helping parents across adland in my role as a senior support advisor at NABS. I hear first-hand about the obstacles stopping mums from progressing; about the challenges affecting parents’ mental wellness and ability to thrive at work and at home (because when you have a child, work and home life are more meshed than ever).

Before I write about those challenges and my thoughts on what we can all do to support working mums, I’m going to share my own experience. It’s an experience I’m lucky to have, and I share it because I want everybody to know that it is possible, even simple, to offer working mums the help they need to do well.

NABS is a really fantastic place to become a mum. I had my daughter in 2022, two years after joining the team. I had an inkling that I’d be in safe hands, because there are so many working parents at NABS; come into the office on any day and you’re sure to have a conversation with someone about nursery, school, the holiday juggle… I knew that I’d be met with flexibility and understanding, and I have been.

I communicated with my manager sporadically during my mat leave and this increased in the final few months. I had 10 KIT days, which I used to get up to speed with any changes and get myself back in to ‘work headspace’. I chose to do this: there was no pressure to use my KIT days at all.

When I eventually came back after 13 months, onboarding was great, thanks to empathy and awareness that sleep was still an issue. I was assigned a work buddy who I could turn to with day-to-day questions and had regular 121s with my manager to discuss my transition back into work.

Although I wanted to come back full-time – extortionate childcare costs have placed financial pressure on me and my partner – it soon became apparent that I needed more flexibility. I changed to condensed hours, working my full-time hours across Tuesday to Friday, and two years on I’m still benefiting from this pattern. It allows me to be better organised and focussed while having an extra day with my daughter. And when sick days and doctor’s appointments happen, I can take them with no judgement.

I’m lucky. I know from hearing hundreds of stories that this isn’t the case for all of us.
Mums calling NABS tell me that the juggle isn’t just real, it’s overwhelming. A lack of flexibility and long hours make the demands of the industry unmanageable; many mums will log on after bedtime, exhausted and struggling to keep up. Burnout, stress and anxiety are common as a result, with people calling NABS for urgent emotional support.

It’s even more difficult for parents of children with SEND, who need even more flexibility at work to navigate the system and fight for additional support.
I also hear of mothers being discriminated against by managers, allocating projects, clients and promotional opportunities to those who are ‘unencumbered’ by childcare responsibilities.

Add in the rising costs of childcare to this difficult mix, and it’s no surprise that many mums are looking for roles outside of the industry.

This is a terrible shame, and it can be – and should be – avoided. Mums have so much to contribute to adland, so we all need to work together to keep them with us.

So what do we all need to do?

As an industry, we could create a standardised parental policy, raising the bar to reduce the disparity between organisations and making sure that parents get the support they need across the board.

Support networks, mentorship, coaching and training should all be created and encouraged – and also point parents towards NABS’ resources including our advice line and group workshops.

Managers are key, as we discovered in All Ears, NABS’ community consultation. Equip your managers to have more open and supportive conversations with their teams – our Managers’ Mindsets workshops are a brilliant way to develop these skills.

Flexibility helps to remove stress, support mental wellness and furthers creativity and productivity as a result. Remote working, flexible hours and job sharing are just three solutions here. It’s about output, not presenteeism.

Many people become even more motivated about our careers once we have children. By putting the right structures in place, we can enable them to thrive. Let’s celebrate parenthood as an asset, not a hindrance.

October 31, 2025October 31, 2025

A VERY NERDY HALLOWEEN FT – ORCA & ARCADE

Halloween is here and for all you horror freaks out there, turn the lights off, sit back and relax or cower behind a cushion in fear because we’ll be taking a deep dive into these spooky films by NERDY Orca & Arcade director teams.

Arcade provides endless Halloween spookiness with their latest animation for Apple bringing a playful and wicked sense of energy to the table. We’ve also been informed no vampires were harmed during the making of the film!

Arace Apple - NERD Blog - A VERY NERDY HALLOWEEN FT - ORCA & ARCADE

Click here to view Apple Halloween

Click here to see more of Arcade

Ed and Nelly over at Orca have done a few projects over the years for the scariest holiday of the year. Including their delightful deranged ‘Halloween’ short that creates a sense of dread and unease in what can be described as an existential chase sequence.The animation style is reminiscent of prime Cartoon Network if it fused with the unsettling body horror of John Carpenter’s The Thing which is to say it’s pretty messed up…

Orca Halloween GIF - NERD Blog - A VERY NERDY HALLOWEEN FT - ORCA & ARCADE

Halloween 2023 available here

Here’s what Orca had to say about the film – “We wanted to create something for halloween and thought about those nightmares you have when you’re running from something and you can’t seem to get away – that was the starting point. For the imagery itself we didn’t take influence from anything in particular, we just started drawing and came up with this monster which we found quite funny/ terrifying. We then filmed video reference for the animation as this is always really useful for timing and capturing acting decisions that you might not think about when drawing. For the background we wanted to continue on this dream/nightmare train of thought and created a barren desolate place where you would always be able to see the monster chasing you.”

Another ghoulishly horrifying project Orca worked on was for a show within a show for the fifth season of the BBC and HBO show “Strike”. The animation is inspired by point and click video games. Perfectly blends Orca’s trademark style with the themes and atmosphere of the programme.

Orca Strike - NERD Blog - A VERY NERDY HALLOWEEN FT - ORCA & ARCADE

Strike available here

Orca discuss the creative process working on Strike – “At the beginning, the main point of reference was the artwork of Jan Pieńkowski, however as we developed the look further (with production designer Hugo Cuellar) we moved away from pure silhouettes as we wanted to show the character’s expression and all the details of the heart character. The use of shadows, silhouetted shapes against a marbled sky carried through though, which we think works really well. For the video game sections, we looked at video chat games such as Club Penguin and then wondered how they would look with a more gothic twist. It was also important for the plot that we referenced a real section of Highgate Cemetery, which proved a really rich source of inspiration when it came to the types of architecture and foliage we included in the background art.

Working with the client, (Bronte films, the production company that makes the Strike series), was really fun and super collaborative.”

Ed and Nelly shared the films that scared and influenced them.
Ed: “I was particularly scarred by Nightmare on Elm Street, which I saw when I was 14. It really stuck with me and I definitely had that in mind when we created our first Halloween microshort.”

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Nelly – “The Exorcist is one that really disturbed when I was young (and still does) – it’s so scary, but also grotesque and incredibly uncomfortable to watch. It must have influenced something on a subconscious level!”

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Click here to see more of Orca’s

And to find out more about NERD Productions click here.

October 16, 2025November 27, 2025

Bringing UK Drill to the Cinematic World of Dune

When you think of UK Drill you don’t often think of the sand dunes of Arrakis but with visionary director Lewis Andrews new music video for Baza he brought the cinematic scope of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation to the music genre.

What inspired you to make this project?

I was first inspired to create Baza when I saw this frame from the Dune 2 movie.

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I wanted to take the UK Drill scene, merge it with the Dune universe, and try to create something quite unexpected. I was kind of obsessed with the franchise for a while as it had such an impact on me in the theatre. BAZA was a way of soothing a creative itch.

One of the things that makes the Dune movies so special is Hans Zimmer’s music and sound composition. I was inspired by the delicate and haunting duduk sounds in Zimmer’s ‘Herald of The Change’. I produced a rough beat using some samples from the original score and it blended together really nicely with a basic drill beat that I arranged in a Final Cut Pro timeline. It was this demo that gave me enough belief that the project could be something really cool. I called my friend and music artist Richard Akam and put the wheels in motion for a Dune X Drill Scene video.

How did the music take shape?

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to create every element of the project from scratch. Inspired by Hans Zimmer’s ‘Herald of The Change’ duduk composition, I sampled the duduk section of the track and merged it with a rough UK-drill style beat. I asked Richard Akam to write some lyrics to the demo beat. He is extremely gifted, always able to write something very easily and nail the vibe each time. The demo beat wasn’t good enough, and was just a tool we could use to shoot the video and get the lip sync tied in. I knew I wanted to also produce the beat for this project.

After the shoot was done, I started to experiment with a duduk composer Armen Kostani. I sent him a chord pattern so he could freestyle something in the same tone as Zimmer’s track. I started off using longer sections of the sample and then ended up cherry picking the best stems that had the cultural tonality and flare the instrument is famous for. I wanted the beat to have an electro-bass feeling similar to Alt J’s Fitzpleasure. The beat started off with buzz kicks, but that was the wrong direction. After many months of playing around and fine tuning, I took the beat to be professionally mixed and mastered at West Point Studios by sound engineer and magician Shane Shanahan. The beat took many twists and turns, mainly due to my willingness to explore and experiment. Shane really helped bring my track to life and played a pivotal role in channelling my vision in the coolest, highest quality.

How did you capture the aesthetic of Arrakis for the shoot?

I knew I needed to find a desert. I already had some locations in mind such as the Agafay Desert in Morocco. We wanted to shoot in Morocco but had difficulty with permits so we used the trip as a scout. Eventually, when I was working on Blade Runner 2099 – a six month job for Amazon Studios primarily based in Prague, I decided to use a weekend to attack the BAZA shoot in one sweep. The Amazon production also shot in Barcelona, so I ended shooting in Bardenas Reales, the closest desert to Barcelona I could find. I hired a fantastic production company, Activa Experience. The production company organizes shoots and tourists’ experiences in Reales. I studied some of the scenes and imagery from the Dune movies and noticed that I could achieve almost the same aesthetic in a rocky desert. This is despite knowing the Dune movies are iconically known for being set in sandy dunes. This was the perfect setting for BAZA and building the Arrakis vibe.

The next thing to pin down was the costume. I searched online for Dune stillsuit outfits and found an incredible designer brand, Demobaza which nails this look. I organised a Demobaza long overcoat, boots and trousers for Richard Akam, and the look was complete. The outfit is so incredibly detailed and punched strongly enough to give Arrakis an impression with a nod to a modern, futuristic sci-fi look.

The final piece to complete was some decent cinema glass for my RED KOMODO-X. I chose an Atlas Orion Anamorphic Primes set of 40 mm, 65mm and 100mm. The combination of location, costume, and lenses completed the Arrakis look.

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Could you tell us more about how the project evolved in the post production stages?

The project then evolved heavily in production, both musically, VFX and the colour grading pipeline. When I saw the raw footage I realised there was lots of potential to expand the story and futuristic, space appeal to the video and make it something “off world”.

VFX work tends to capture an audience’s attention because it’s showing the audience something which generally cannot be achieved in camera. Even though I only shot a few things on location where I knew I wanted CG to go, it wasn’t something I vouched for with any real intent during the shoot. I shot a mix of wide and close coverage so I could manage VFX ‘from afar’ and not have to worry about perfecting realism with close-up CG. I shot some plates that would allow for the VFX to go in but without knowing the full extent of what I wanted to do. I wanted the focus to remain on the artist Richard Akam, and keep the CG to a minimum, almost like background details, as if the things happening in his world are not unusual to him in his world.

Some key visual effects I decided to focus on were, adding some planetary constellations (the impossible double eclipse), huge orange blooming moons and ‘The Black Dog’, which is the monolithic, triangular spaceship. I wanted the design of ‘The Black Dog’ to be simple, and have a hollowed-out core. Some subtle work helped to sell ‘off world’ in the video. For example, in the opening establisher that features the monolith style spaceship, simple paint outs of trees or earth-like features were replaced with CG asteroid craters.

A big part of this project was colour management within Da Vinci Resolve. Every 3D render was created in a linear colour space so that it could be transformed by CST’s in my node-based colour managed project. Once I had sorted out the correct colour space transform for the R3D footage (RED Wide Gamut, RGB, Log3G10) I found the mid grey point within the Da Vinci Wide Gamut colour space and nuanced a curve which served my clips on a macro level. I then used groups in Da Vinci to establish a look in a Group Post-Clip and then performed all of my clip level grades.

I wanted the VFX to be a big selling point of the final video. I knew that I wanted BAZA to have a heavily tinted aesthetic with deep reds, amber skies, and crushed highlights. This posed some challenges, maintaining a consistent look between the software I used to handle the post works: Cinema 4D, After Effects, Blender, Logic, and Da Vinci Resolve. 3D works were done in Cinema 4D and composed in After Effects, most of the EXR renders were conformed in Da Vinci so that I could do a full Rec. 709 round trip, and run the material through my pipeline built with node-based colour space transforms.

What is the biggest difference between directing a music video and a commercial?

A music video gives you a lot more expressive freedom, and feels closer to serving as a demonstration of an ‘artist’s work’. A commercial is usually driven in some way by a more rigid level of strategy, brand or message to sell a product directly on the back of watching it. A music video is selling a person, so they are kind of like personalised commercials for humans. They are similar in the sense that they build impressions of a product or an artist in the same way.

Do you have any dream artists you’d love to direct for?

Ye.

Lewis is currently running the BAZA Open Verse Challenge, with 4 international rappers from Nigeria, South Korea, USA, Germany, if you would like to find out more details about this click here.

To see more of Lewis’s work click here.