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!

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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…

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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.

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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.

October 14, 2025October 14, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Davitha Tiller

In this instalment of the series, head of social and integrated communication at Havas shares her experience of becoming a single mother in a city away from her family, and how building a daily rhythm with her son has helped her grow in her life and career.

In this instalment of Motherland in Adland – the series founded by NERD’s Milana Karaica in partnership with LBB – we hear from Davitha Tiller, head of social and integrated communication at Havas.

Davitha shares her experience of becoming a single mother while leading in one of the industry’s most demanding sectors – with no family nearby, no fallback, and a young son relying on her. What followed was a journey of emotional extremes: fear, liberation, exhaustion, growth. And, ultimately, pride.

From the challenges of raising a child alone in New York City to the structural support of working under strong female leadership, Davitha’s story is one of extraordinary resilience – and a powerful reminder that motherhood, in all its forms, can shape more empathetic, grounded leaders.

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IT WASN’T THE PLAN, BUT IT’S MY PATH.

I will never forget my first official day as a single working mom.

I was standing in the kitchen of the apartment my 11-month-old son and I had just moved into following my difficult separation from his father. After a long day of meetings, pitching and thinking; I had put him to bed, and now it was time to make myself dinner. But before I could so much as reach for a pan, a wave of emotion hit me – an overwhelming cocktail of debilitating fear and exhilarating relief.

There was the fear of the road ahead. The relentless logistics. The loneliness. The unknown. And at the same time, there was this liberating sense of reclaiming control – of knowing that, for better or worse, I was back in the driver’s seat of my own life.

How am I going to do all of this?

The sleepless nights. The childcare arrangements. The all-day meetings. The after-work mom mode. The after-mom-mode work mode. The co-parenting conflicts. The tiredness. The confronting reality of knowing that you’re staring at your greatest support system in the mirror.

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And yet – alongside all that – came the longing to be the best mom I could possibly be. To stay healthy, strong and active. To nurture friendships. To make new mom friends. To help my son make his first friends. To sign him up for extracurriculars. To travel the world for work and for fun. To eventually, maybe, date again.

Being an expat single mom in a place like New York City, with no family nearby and a sole custody parenting arrangement, while working a demanding leadership job in our fast-paced industry, is its own level of hard. And being a stubborn Taurean who doesn’t easily accept help certainly didn’t… well, help.

The non-stop nature of it all was terrifying. And, honestly, some days it still is. But even in the darkest moments, I held onto one belief: that eventually, it would get easier. And it did.

To my own surprise, I wouldn’t change a thing about my journey.

Because what I’ve learned is this: just like writing, or riding a bike, once you get the hang of single working mom life, it becomes second nature. And in doing so, it reveals a level of vulnerability and resilience you might never have known you had.

I’ve always been a creature of habit, someone who believes that structure is the antidote to chaos. So I approached life with my son like a military mission – building a daily rhythm so reliable, both he and I could follow it with our eyes closed. That structure became my lifeline. It still carries us through.

And through it all – just as research so often shows about children raised by single mothers – my son has become the most loving, flexible, perceptive, and emotionally intelligent little man. He lights up my life every single day, and together, we make a pretty great team.

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And speaking of teams; I am immensely grateful to work for an agency with a strong female leader at the global helm, where offering people the flexibility and support to navigate their personal circumstances isn’t an exception – but the cultural norm.

Over the years, I’ve come to wear my “single mom” title not as a burden, but as a badge of honour.

It wasn’t the plan, but it is my path. It has made me who I am.
And today, I can finally say it:
I’m proud of her.

October 9, 2025October 9, 2025

LUCAS BORRAS AND CARLOTA SANTAMARIA – MOVING ACROSS THE GLOBE TO MAKE MOVIES

Life as an artist can oftentimes be a life of moving to where the work is or travelling to new places to be inspired, living a nomad existence, always seeking out the next project. On the 4th and 5th of October World Day of Migrants and Refugees was celebrated and we wanted to take this opportunity to speak with NERD Productions talent Lucas Borras and Carlota Santamaria originally from Spain have lived all over the globe swapping the towering skyscrapers of NYC and now finds himself in tinsel town living amongst the stars. The pair will be moving forward as a collaborative force known as Chosen Family and we cannot wait to share more with you in the near future.

Moving can be a hard and difficult process like leaving a piece of yourself behind, places can root us down, remind us of people and memories. Another consideration is uprooting family, having to look for new schools and fit in with new cultures and customs. We caught up with both of them to discuss how migrating impacted his work and whether it inspired or changed his approach to making art.

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How did you both originally meet?

Like all great stories, in prior days of online dating, we met dancing in Barcelona and from that point onwards we just clicked together.

What was your first creative collaboration?

“The first time we collaborated was on a TV show called Anecdotari—a project that marked the beginning of our creative partnership. It went on to win both the Gold LAUS Award and the European Design Award. I led as Director and Animation Director, while Carlota brought her vision as Design Director and Illustrator. It was a project rooted in shared values, distinct perspectives, and a deep creative trust.” – Lucas

Was home sickness something that ever impacted you when you first moved away from home?

“We’ve always had each other’s back which always helps, naturally most of our family still live over in Spain but what’s helped since moving to LA is there’s a strong spanish speaking community in our area. We’ve made friendships through work collaborations, but as well through exploring the “californian” culture and taking our children to school and it’s important that we’ve built connections outside of the film and advertising space as well.” – Carlota

How does living on the West Coast differ from living on the East Coast?

“New York moves at a very different pace, you’re at what feels like the center of the universe, the hustle and bustle of a sprawling metropolis. When we moved back in 2009 it was very easy to build up connections especially in the creative space. You were always within walking distance of agencies and creative studios. LA on the other hand is more spread out and vast, unless you drive a car it can be harder to get from A to B. So you learn to find your people where you’re based which in a lot of ways helps with the community feel.“

Our surroundings often provide us with inspiration, when was the last time the LA sunshine helped form an idea?

“It’s so true, our surroundings provide us with so much inspiration, moving to LA in many ways felt like going home to Spain, the sunshine beaches and the open air provided us with a sense of clarity that was almost impossible to achieve living in New York City. We have more time to relax and collaboration feels less strained. I think in LA we have mastered work and life balance better than what was possible living in New York.“

Take a look at some of the prime examples of Chosen Family’s colourful work.

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Click here to see to see colourful and inspiring Erno Laszlo film.

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Click here to see Quantic

Could you tell us a bit more about your creative relationship and how that’s evolved over the years into Chosen Family?

“After 18 years of living—and creating—together, we’ve developed a rhythm that allows us to balance the personal and professional with honesty and flow. Our different points of view consistently push the work to new places, and we’ve found that what might feel like friction at first often becomes fuel for something better. Over the years, our dynamic has matured into one of synchronicity and clarity, especially when navigating complexity or high-stakes moments.

We’re both deeply curious and wired for what’s next. We thrive on experimentation, openness, and momentum. If we had to name our shared ethos, it would be this: Live without fear, and create like you mean it. That mindset permeates everything we do—how we collaborate, how we take risks, and how we bring ideas to life.” – Lucas & Carlota

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How do you deal with prejudice in and out of the workplace?

With empathy.

What’s the most valuable piece of advice you would give to someone who is also looking to migrate for work opportunities?

If possible, go spend some time in the place you’re considering. Live it. Walk its streets. Connect with the studios, agencies, and people you admire. Get a real feel for the energy. See if it matches what you imagined—if it truly feels like somewhere you want to be.

To see more of Chosen Family’s work click here

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September 30, 2025October 10, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Jennifer Mejia-Ponce

Senior producer at Area 23 New York Jennifer Mejia-Ponce talks about being a queer Filipina mother in the US, the challenges of navigating a global pandemic and being a new parent, and more

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.

In this edition of Motherland in Adland, we hear from Jennifer Mejia-Ponce – a seasoned senior producer whose nearly 30-year career spans broadcast, live events, and experiential campaigns for brands like Netflix, Canon, and Nike. As a queer Filipina mother, Jennifer brings a powerful, intersectional voice to the conversation – one shaped by decades of hustle, reinvention, and resilience.

From TV studios to Bayfront builds and virtual broadcast meetings with a baby on her lap, Jennifer reflects on the evolution of her identity as both a producer and a parent. She speaks candidly about the tension between ambition and presence, and the added layers of navigating parenthood as a non-biological mum in today’s political landscape.

Jennifer’s story speaks of adaptation, strength, and reframed success in both the projects she’s delivered and in the values she’s passing on to the next generation. Read on to hear her story.

—

Wouldn’t it be grand if I could just put some prompts into ChatGPT and boom, here is my story. But of course that wouldn’t be authentic, would it? How do I talk about myself and my experiences and show everyone reading the private side of myself.

Opening up brings up feelings of not being enough, of ‘Am I worthy to read about’, self doubt and roadblocks of not feeling like I fit anywhere. I didn’t see many Asian Pacific Islanders/queer folk in the industry when I started my career. I missed the cultural connection that would make me feel like there were others like me. The industry is vast and can sometimes feed loneliness, especially after moving into remote work.

I’ve been a producer for almost three decades. Graduating from film school in the late 90’s, I worked for eight years in television with studios such as ABC and MTV. I was sadly making more than my single mom who then had served 20 years in the New York City hospital system.

Speaking of, I come from a culture where being in the medical field is almost a given – I could have been a nurse, like many of my fellow Filipinos, but I went into a job that to this day, my mom still doesn’t quite understand. It wasn’t typical. But when they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my response was always manifold – an accountant, carpenter, photographer. So in a way, it makes sense I’m a producer today – we’re seen as the multitaskers, budget-sorcerers, and fire chiefs of the industry. The planner and mother of the group.
Long story short, when I graduated, I had dreams of working in film. With stars in my eyes, I imagined I’d be the next Discovery Channel Jacques Cousteau. But ‘The Deep Blue’ documentary made me rethink the idea. I ended up in television, but felt like I was young, naive and too nice for the environment.

I fell into experiential/live production and it was a 16-year-long ride of freelancing. Starting a staffing agency, creating Christmas at Macy’s for seven years, building production kits, training manuals and large installations in the middle of Miami Bayfront or FYSEE event spaces for Netflix in LA. I was also a bartender, security at a nightclub, tour manager, stage manager. I must have done 1000 interviews. Producing and being a workaholic was my life.

Time grew, experience grew and I realised I could take my experience and grow with it. I was building structures that were said to be impossible with my own hands and loving the adventure. I showed my wife that her tech knowledge was a great fit for production, and we worked together for years so we could produce our wedding and eventually raise enough money to start a family. We had a goal – more than just climbing some invisible work ladder. We were aiming for it all.

The adventure hit full stop when covid happened, coincidentally also when our baby was about to be born. The work I was building was gone. Travelling the country changed to travelling to the living room. The money we set aside was collapsing. Hustling and working three jobs at a time all came to a halt. I had just started feeling comfortable in my suit and tie I wore to events, but events were no longer.

When the world came out of lockdown with masks and virtual events. I had to re-start; contemplating about travelling 80% of the year for production jobs or not seeing the child we planned to have.

I call myself blessed after eight months of struggling with fear of how to care for our growing family. I said yes to a full time job being a virtual and senior producer in broadcast/advertising. One of the best work perks was that I was able to hold my baby during conference calls. I felt like a fish out of water, but being able to smell my baby was what calmed me. Broadcast was familiar but far from what I recalled – I reminded myself of the hustle to learn every facet of experiential with no guide book; this new role was no exception.

At 48, our daughter was born and I buckled down at my new job. Life was fulfilling its destiny after marrying my wife five years earlier when marriage became legal in the US.

Now it’s 2025. Feeling older than my peers, where in most businesses you would be looked at to exit or move up positions. I am also now navigating a not-so-baby four-year-old with emotions that I need to understand, through experiences I myself wasn’t allowed to feel as a child. I am the gentle parent who is trying to keep the gentleness, even though I was plopped in front of a TV growing up and constantly told to keep quiet.

Nothing can prepare you for having a kid and a full-time job at the same time – not even working months on a production and 72 hours straight of no sleep. It’s a completely different type of exhaustion. Now, you’re living for a small human who needs you literally at every step of life – priorities shift.

Now, I am a senior producer who slowed down her career to be home with the toddler, and a mama who’s had to navigate feelings of not being ‘the biological mom’. The mom who had to get court papers – to be my child’s legal mom if something was to happen. You’d think loving it would be enough, but our political climate is not supportive of queer lives.

Each day weighs differently in my head. Family versus work? Am I getting too old for this? Which comes first, the toddler who asks me to put my phone down, or the meeting? Do I say to my child ‘Wait five minutes’, so I can send my pressing emails about timelines, budgets and client must-haves? Do I feel all the guilt of missed playdates? Do I start missing school events to not be up ‘till midnight working through what I didn’t do during the day?

I sometimes miss the set builds and events where I was king with my walkie talkie and creating experiences that made people smile. But now I get to be home when my child gets out of school or needs a hug. I finally fit in with so many other moms, who, too, juggle work and parenthood. I found my community in some way, even if it’s through a screen! I’ve found a space where I can produce award-winning work – one that matters in the real world.

I’ve always said, producing is being asked to make unicorns fly. One, unicorns don’t fly. Two, unicorns aren’t real. But being both a producer and mother in today’s world is even harder – we shift, we reset and find the ways to survive and to learn from the struggles. We fight to be stronger, to be better and to secure balance like we do on any production set. I’m looking forward to the future where my kid learns to see the world, hopefully knowing her mom could do pretty much anything with a good mindset.

I can’t say I’m at all perfect, or that I don’t struggle daily with my direction. But, the best part of this industry is that it’s an open door. Like an AI prompt, I just need to figure out the key words to get me where I’m supposed to be.

September 23, 2025October 10, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Georgina Leigh-Pemberton

In this next instalment of ‘Motherland in Adland’, managing director of Turner Duckworth London tells LBB about the lessons she learned about the industry through motherhood, and why no parent should have to “miss a sports day or a school play” because of work.

From her own experience, Georgina tells an all-too-well story of broken promises and settling for a lower-than-deserved role due to her pregnancy. Overworking herself due to the invisible pressure of the industry, and riddled with parental guilt, Georgina inevitably had to address the burnout and left her workplace with nowhere else to go to.

She calls it a “painful but valuable lesson” — one she believes no mothers in the industry should have to learn due to the downfalls of their employers. Read on to find out more about Georgina’s story.

—

My first personal experience of this came when a previous employer took me out to dinner after strongly implying that I was in line for a senior role — until, after declining a martini and, when pressed, confiding in the CFO that I was pregnant, the opportunity quietly disappeared.

When I returned to work in a different role after my first child was six months old, I was determined to prove that being a great MD and a wonderful mother was possible. I put myself under immense pressure to succeed — and in doing so, I set myself up for failure.

Every day, I left home before my daughter woke up and returned just in time to put her to bed. My company never explicitly pressured me to stay late, but I was acutely aware of the unspoken expectations. Exhausted, overwhelmed, and guilty, I left after six months, without another job to go to. It was a painful but valuable lesson, one I carry with me to this day: no one should choose between being present for their family and excelling in their career.

I’m incredibly fortunate to now work for a company that fosters a culture of genuine support for working parents. It’s not just about returning to work — it’s about ensuring ongoing flexibility and understanding throughout our careers.

No one should have to miss a sports day or a school play because of a presentation — these moments matter.

I know many in this industry are not as lucky. Parenthood is too often viewed as an inconvenient disruption rather than a natural part of life. This mindset has to change. Flexible working is part of the solution, but we need to go further and offer more adaptable hours, greater autonomy over office days, and a culture that values productivity over presenteeism.

While I’m encouraged to see attitudes shifting away from the expectation that working late into the night is just ‘part of the job,’ the change isn’t happening fast enough. And it’s not just parents who deserve better balance — no one’s time should be treated as less valuable simply because they don’t have children.

Everyone has responsibilities, relationships, and lives outside of work that deserve respect. Until we address the culture of systemic overwork across the board, creating a genuinely supportive environment for working parents will always be an uphill battle.

September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

A UNIQUE VOICE JOINS NERD PRODUCTIONS WITH AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER SAKARI LERKKANEN

NERD Productions is proud to announce the signing of visionary filmmaker Sakari Lerkkanen. A champion of crafting stories that are full to the brim with imagination and style that evokes emotion. Over the years Sakari has built up an extremely impressive body of work ranging from commercials, films and music videos. Collaborating with the likes of Campari, Elizabeth Arden, Sony, Bacardi, Flashscore, Petr Cech, and Cecilia Brækhus.

Sakari’s flagship TVC for Elizabeth Arden is a prime example of what he can bring to the table blending breathtaking visuals with kinetic camera work, which comes together to not only capture the brand but tells a compelling visual story.

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Click here to download Elizabeth Arden

“NERD Productions is all about giving a platform for passionate and creative people to tell stories and to allow them to collaborate with like-minded individuals. From our very first meeting I knew Sakari was someone who I wanted to work with and introduce to the other talent. He shared the same principles and desire to tell memorable stories as the rest of the NERD family and to top it all off he’s a genuinely lovely person who is motivated by collaboration. We cannot wait to share more of Sakari’s cinematic universe with you all in the near future”. – Milana Karaica, Founder & Producer of NERD Productions.
Sakari’s love of cinema shines through in all of his projects, this is on full display for the Campari ‘Ode to Cinema’ campaign which feels like a love-letter to 50s Noir, stylish 60s spy thrillers and hard boiled 90s crime dramas. The project is a celebration of Campari’s relationship to the silver screen appearing in multiple icon films over the years such as Casino Royale and La Grande Bellezza.

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Click here to download Ode To Cinema films

In addition to his commercial success, many of Lerkkanen’s award-winning films are self-penned or co-created with talented writers, reinforcing his passion for storytelling. His distinctive vision and dedication to his craft make him a highly sought-after director for both narrative projects and high-end advertising campaigns.

“I’m always seeking new ways to evolve and connect with great collaborators. With Milana and her team, there was an instant click. We’re both drawn to global stories told through a culturally distinct lens and share a commitment to authenticity and storytelling. Delighted to be joining forces.” – Sakari Lerkkanen

To see more of Sakari’s body of work click here.

September 9, 2025September 16, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Charlotte Coughlan

In this week’s installment of the series, Leo Burnett managing partner Charlotte Coughlan shares her journey from a disappointing maternity leave, to helping champion initiatives such as Parentland.

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.

In this installment of Motherland in Adland, the series started by NERD’s founder Milana Karaica in celebration of women’s month, we hear from Charlotte Coughlan, managing partner at Leo Burnett. As a mother of two, Charlotte has experienced the lack of representation and support for working mums in advertising firsthand.

Her own maternity leave left her feeling disconnected and underestimated which fueled her commitment to fostering a culture where parents can thrive without compromise. Under the leadership of CEO Carly Avener, Charlotte champions initiatives like Parentland, ensuring working parents at Leo Burnett feel seen, supported, and empowered to succeed both at home and in their careers.

Charlotte shares her perspective on why representation matters, how flexibility should be a given – not a privilege – and why true equity in the industry means encouraging both parents to take leave.

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I’m a working mother of two in the zany, exhausting, but rewarding world of advertising. Unfortunately, growing up in this industry, I had few role models who were mothers to look up to. My personal experience with maternity leave was disappointing – little communication, little support, and an assumption on my behalf that motherhood meant I wasn’t ambitious anymore. I therefore know firsthand how important it is to provide dialogue throughout the entire motherhood journey, from pregnancy through to returning to work and crucially, for maintaining a career. Just because we’re mothers, doesn’t mean we’re not ambitious anymore.

What’s key to creating a better environment for working mums is representation. We’re fortunate at Leo Burnett to have Carly Avener as our CEO. She sets the tone for our culture and agenda, making sure working parents feel included and can thrive both professionally and at home. Her leadership as a single mum is an example of how top-down support can truly impact a company’s approach to work-life balance.

When a culture is right, all working parents feel empowered to work flexibly. It’s not about being in the office five days a week; it’s about being trusted to excel in what we do, all within a structure that allows us to dart home if we get the dreaded call from nursery or need to volunteer at the school disco.

This freedom of flexibility is vital to ensuring that we’re not forced to choose between being good parents and being good professionals.

Feeling isolated and ‘the only one’ at an agency is crippling. At Leo Burnett, we’ve set up Parentland, a strong support system and network aimed at bringing parents to kids of all ages plus carers together and providing invaluable advice for navigating the realities we face. This includes expert guidance, financial advice, and even a Teams chat for solidarity and humour on the tough days. We lean on each other to better manage juggling it all. So, it’s not just our partners at home getting the brunt of our working-parent-frazzle! Personally I’m lucky with how much my partner has supported me through the journey.

One thing the industry needs to improve on, and we simply don’t see enough of, is encouraging both parents to take leave. It’s time for us to recognise that true equity can’t be achieved without shared responsibility.

If partners take leave, it helps reduce the pressure on mums and can drive long-term change, even as far as reducing the gender pay gap.

We’re so lucky to be a part of this amazing industry, one where we should ALL be able to thrive – but there’s still strides to be made. With dialogue, the right support systems, freedom of flexibility, and representation at the top, mothers in particular can soar without having to compromise.

September 2, 2025September 16, 2025

Motherland in Adland: Bethany Easton and Chinkara Singh

As part of the series ‘Motherland in Adland’, Bethany and Chinkara share their stories of motherhood in the industry full of resilience, honesty, and a need for change, with LBB

Motherhood in advertising and production is still seen as a hurdle rather than an asset – a choice that forces women into impossible trade-offs, often laced with guilt and sacrifice. While the conversation around working mothers has grown louder, real action remains slow.

This series, spearheaded by NERD’s Milana Karaica, Motherland in Adland aims to give space to the realities of balancing leadership and parenthood, beyond the clichés and lip service

Following Milana’s story, we now hear from two more women navigating this delicate, demanding balance. Freelance senior agency producer Bethany Easton reflects on the relentless push-and-pull between career passion and the emotional weight of motherhood, sharing the raw, bittersweet moments of being present yet absent at the same time. Meanwhile, Chinkara Singh, SVP, group director of creative production at Area 23, sheds light on the systemic challenges – from missed promotions to self-funded maternity leave – while celebrating the power of solidarity and advocacy for working mothers in the industry.

Bethany Easton, senior agency producer
Freelance

I am insanely lucky to have a job that I bloody love, and even luckier to have the daughter and then the son that I always dreamt of. We have the sort of genuinely happy lives that make most people want to vomit just a little, like when my kids snuggle under a blanket with their books, occasionally whispering ‘I love you’ to each other. I’m not even lying and I totally permit you to hate my smug gittish face.

But there’s something about being a working parent that forces a mum to live in a state of permanent, and painful, cognitive dissonance.

In the red corner: having an identity. I’m so happy when I’m working. I love that I’m modelling for my kids how amazing it is to be fired-up by hard work and passion, and I can afford to send them to schools where they’re safe and happy.

In the blue corner, weighing in at more than any heart can take: guilt.

There was the time I was working hard, utterly smashing it on a huge production, and through the baby monitor (which always adds a touch of horror-film quease), I heard my toddler saying to the baby “Don’t worry, baby, Mummy is just working. And do you know when she’ll stop working? Never. Even when she’s dead, she’ll be working and feeding the trees.”

There was another time, just after the youngest had learned to write, that I had to focus on an evening conference call while he brought me multiple notes along the lines of ‘WEN WIL YOU BE FINSHED’, and ‘YOU ARE HERE BUT I STILL MIS YOU’. And actually, perhaps the hardest part of that call wasn’t even the notes, but the way I felt I had to keep my eyes and smile fixed on the camera, and effectively blank my son. That hurt us both.

Nobody imagines that one day they might be the sort of mum who tries to mutter to her child that she honestly does love them, whilst briefly on mute and trying not to move her lips.

It’s exhausting to pretend that we don’t all have actual lives, in which we are charged with the safe-keeping of the tiny hearts of small humans who actually mean more to us than anything, even – whisper it – the smooth running of a shampoo commercial.

But things are definitely shifting, and in the right direction (ish). Along with the post-pandemic total breakdown of any work-life boundaries, and being required to be available 24 hours a day, comes the opportunity to be honest about childcare needs, GP appointments, gym classes, the dentist, and all the myriad things that, but a short few years ago, we felt required to pretend didn’t even exist. Everything is changing and, with luck, will change permanently, meaning my kids will forever be astounded and confused by what they thought were my choices to make. And that hurts, too.

Chinkara Singh SVP, group director, creative production
Area 23

The last thing you want to see in an ad agency is the top of your 18-month-old son’s curls bopping down the main corridor on his way to a client meeting. He was squealing with joy that he made it away from me. Luckily, my kind creative director caught him just before an awkward career moment. The babysitter couldn’t make it, my husband was away on a shoot, and I couldn’t cancel my meetings because they were timed against an important award meeting. It was one of those ‘What do I do?’ moments.

After 25 years in this industry, I’ve faced many challenges both personal and professional. There was a time I was passed over for a promotion because I temporarily couldn’t fly. I also missed out on freelance opportunities because I had too many doctor’s appointments during my high-risk pregnancy. When my youngest was born, I had to pay for an entire year of maternity leave out of pocket to bond with my child. It wasn’t easy. But I’ve had wins too, like IPG being the first company I worked full-time for that allowed stepchildren on insurance! And being supported for speaking up when I needed to pump breastmilk on set and still watch takes.

I’ve also had to push through some incredibly difficult personal moments. I’ve gone to work after miscarriages, feeling physically and emotionally drained, because the expectation is often that we just keep going, no matter the pain we’re carrying. There should be more time for gig workers and staffers to take the time they need after such a loss. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s something many of us have had to endure in silence, because there’s often no room for grief in the fast-paced world of production.

One thing I’m particularly proud of was encouraging a mother who had just had twins. She was about to go on a shoot and had to figure out how to ship her milk back home while she was away. I helped contribute to a guide for breastfeeding mothers on set, written by Bernadette Rivero, and pointed her toward this resource. A resource that every production department should offer to working mothers. Another mother came to me for encouragement for her IVF journey because I was open with mine. That sense of solidarity in the face of challenges knowing that we’re all in this together means community.

The truth is, being open about both the struggles and successes allows us to learn from each other. When we share the highs and lows of motherhood, we create a stronger support system for all parents in this fast-paced, high-pressure industry. It’s about showing up as your whole self and helping others do the same. By being honest, we can make this industry more inclusive, supportive, and encouraging for mothers.

August 20, 2025August 20, 2025

ORCA BRINGS AN OCEAN OF CREATIVITY TO NERD PRODUCTIONS

NERD Productions are ecstatic to announce that Orca will be joining the roster, bringing with them a vast ocean of creativity and imaginative wonders. The animation studio fronted by creative couple Ed and Nelly are renowned for producing 2D, 3D, mixed-media and motion graphics. Working with huge clients and brands across the years like Netflix, HBO, Disney+, BBC, Sony, Deliveroo, and GQ. Crafting fantastical stories with rich and colourful characters that leave a lasting impression.

A power couple in every sense, united by their love of telling stories, meeting at the NFTS they would go on to collaborate and create together as a force of nature, operating and mastering the art of 2D, 3d animation, mixed media and motion graphics. Crafting innovative commercials, music videos, short films and documentaries, the pair bring their to every project they touch.

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Orca on joining NERD Productions – “We’re really delighted to be joining the roster at NERD – we’ve admired the projects being created there for a while now and are thrilled to be represented by a production company that shares our values and approach to the work. The ethos of collaboration at NERD is very much in line with ours too, so we’re incredibly excited to start making things with them.”

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“Orca have mastered the art of creating vivid and colourful worlds brimming with charisma and character with a truly whacky and imaginative brand of filmmaking. At NERD Productions we love artists who know how to take their audiences on a journey, so Orca felt like a natural fit for us and we honestly can’t wait to get started. Ed and Nelly are wonderful people who share the same passion for telling distinctive stories as us.” – Milana Karaica, Founder & Producer of NERD Productions.

Take a peek behind the scenes of Ed and Nelly’s creative process and you’ll find it’s super serious work..

Take a dive into Orca’s brilliant body of work here.