Episode 14
What Makes a Great Producer (ft. Route Eleven)
Sam Sferrazza is the founder and producer behind Route Eleven, a Toronto production company known for music videos, commercials, and branded content for artists, brands, and agencies alike. Route Eleven has produced more than 35 music videos for artists including Grimes, Janelle Monáe, and Avril Lavigne, which means Sam has spent a lot of time doing the hardest part of the job: getting talented, opinionated creative people to pull in the same direction and still deliver something the client loves.
In this early episode of Creatives Grab Coffee, Sam sits down with Dario and Kyrill for a candid conversation about what the producer role actually demands. They dig into the qualities that separate a good producer from a great one, how to select the right director for a given project, the reality of selling creativity and keeping clients happy when egos are on the line, and how Route Eleven managed to keep producing through the restrictions of 2020 when so many productions stalled.
Key Takeaways
- Great producers share the same core qualities. No matter the type of content, the fundamentals of strong producing carry over, so the skills you build on one kind of project transfer to the next.
- Managing creative people is the job. Music videos live or die on how well a producer wrangles directors, artists, and crew, and keeps a room full of strong opinions moving toward one finished piece.
- Match the director to the project. Different projects call for different creative voices, so a big part of producing well is choosing the right director for each specific need.
- Selling creativity means keeping clients happy. Sometimes that requires altering or sacrificing a creative choice to serve the client, and a great producer knows when that trade is worth making.
- Learn to manage egos. People get attached to their work, so the producer is often the one who has to make the tough call about when a creative decision has to change.
- Resilience is a producer quality too. Route Eleven kept producing through the 2020 restrictions when many companies could not, a reminder that adaptability keeps you in business.
What Makes a Great Producer
During the conversation, Sam and the hosts kept circling back to one idea: the qualities that make a great producer do not really change with the format. Whether it is a music video, a commercial, or branded content, the job underneath is the same. You are the person holding the many moving parts of a production together, from the first planning call to final delivery, and you are the one everyone looks to when something goes sideways. Those traits are exactly what a client is really buying when they choose a production company, and they are the same ones that come up again when we get into pitching as a producer in a later episode.
Pushing Through 2020
2020 tested every production company, so we asked Sam whether Route Eleven kept shooting once the new restrictions landed. He shared that the company managed to push through the pandemic while a lot of other shops stalled or shut down entirely. That kind of resilience, finding a way to keep delivering when the usual way of working disappears, is its own producer quality, and it is a thread that runs through much of what the industry had to figure out in those years, including how to keep producing remotely.
Music Videos, Directors, and Creative People
Sam walked us through what makes music video production its own particular challenge. So much of it comes down to managing creative people and working shoulder to shoulder with directors, each of whom brings a strong point of view. A big part of Sam’s job is matching the right director to the right project, since a concept that suits one filmmaker’s style might fall flat with another. Getting that pairing right, and then keeping the collaboration productive, is where a lot of leadership and creativity meet on set.
Selling Creativity and Keeping Clients Happy
The last big thread was the business of selling creativity, and how much of it depends on keeping the client happy. Sam was honest that this sometimes means sacrifices, even altering a creative decision the team is proud of, because the work ultimately has to serve the client and the brief. Egos make that hard: people get attached to their work and resist the necessary compromises, and a great producer has to know when a tough call is worth making. It is the same tension that shows up whenever you are pricing and selling creative work, and it is why so much of the craft is really about the client experience and deepening those relationships over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sam Sferrazza?
Sam Sferrazza is the founder and producer of Route Eleven, a Toronto production company that makes music videos, commercials, and branded content for artists, brands, and agencies.
What is Route Eleven?
Route Eleven is a Toronto-based production company specializing in music videos, commercials, photography, and branded content. The team has produced more than 35 music videos for artists including Grimes, Janelle Monáe, and Avril Lavigne. Site: routeeleven.com.
What qualities make a great producer?
In this episode Sam makes the case that the core qualities carry across content types: managing creative people and directors, matching the right director to each project, keeping clients happy, staying calm enough to make tough decisions, and adapting when circumstances change.
How did Route Eleven handle 2020?
Route Eleven kept producing through the pandemic restrictions of 2020, continuing to deliver work at a time when many other companies had to pause or shut down.
What makes producing music videos different?
Music videos hinge on managing creative people and working closely with directors, and on selecting the right director for each project’s specific needs, which is a large part of what a music video producer does.
The Hosts
Dario Nouri and Kyrill Lazarov are the co-founders of Lapse Productions, a Toronto video production company, and the hosts of Creatives Grab Coffee, a weekly show about the business of video production.
About
Creatives Grab Coffee is a podcast about the business behind video production: sales, strategy, pricing, team building, and everything that happens off camera. New episodes every week on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Lapse Productions is a Toronto-based video production company serving tech, finance, healthcare, and manufacturing clients with corporate, promotional, event, and testimonial video. New to commissioning video? Start with our guide to the types of corporate video.
Route Eleven is a Toronto production company specializing in music videos, commercials, photography, and branded content for artists, brands, and agencies. The team has produced more than 35 music videos for artists including Grimes, Janelle Monáe, and Avril Lavigne. Learn more at routeeleven.com.
