Scaling production and post

01

The situation

Hayden5 was a team of eight with a mandate to grow: expand its capabilities and build the structure to take on more work, including complex agency productions, without losing the speed and quality its clients relied on.

02

The build

Over four years, first as Executive Producer and then as Head of Production & Post, I grew the team from 8 to 35 at its peak and built the guides, processes and workflows across production and post. The remit spanned line producers, production operations and technical operations.

Every type of work got a fitting production approach, with clear ownership of bidding, staffing, budgets, client communication and delivery. Production and post bids were reviewed for profitability, talent and vendor agreements were strengthened for digital and OTT usage, and insurance and production risk were handled up front. The role also included leading director searches, shaping concepts, treatments and pitches, and partnering with the CEO on positioning and talent relationships.

03

The outcome

Hayden5 gained a repeatable way to deliver a varied workload at scale. The workflows held margins while each team member carried more, and gave the company the capacity to take on productions for brands like Apple Music, Google Pixel, Sony, Toyota and Converse, and for agencies like Edelman, GMR and Momentum, while keeping production, technical and creative decisions connected.