Q&A with The Big RD

By Gareth Graham (old) Sales Team Leader

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Ryan

We took some time out to chat to Ryan, an independent producer, to find out a bit more about what he does.

Q: You have been on an incredible journey at The Big RD – tell us how it started.

A: In 2009, I saw that there was a growing demand for reactive storytelling online. We set up a dedicated agency to facilitate that growing need and I believe we were one of the first to do so. I’ve always had a passion for incredible storytelling and knew I wanted to set up a company that could focus on that. RD was born!

Q: Has your business model changed since then? If so, how and why did that change come about?

A: We always planned to build an agency that offered a complete, end-to-end solution. Many creative businesses are ultimately made up of people who pass information back and forth. RD is a team of makers, not middlemen.

When we started (and even now), it felt like a lot of the world of production was made up of collectives of freelancers. That’s not a problem when it comes to producing a single job, but it isn’t great for consistency of service. We have broken the mould on this by hiring full-time creatives on permanent contracts along with investing millions back into building studios, buying equipment and developing innovative workflows utilising the latest technology. I have always taken a long-term view of what our agency can and will be, and those investments have led to us opening offices around the world and expanding our facilities.

Q: What does the future hold for you at The Big RD?

A: We have extremely ambitious plans ahead of us. We are producing original content alongside the commercial productions we have become known for globally. We have recently doubled our floor space in London and believe that we will be growing our permanent team in the second half of 2021. We have also opened an office in Brooklyn and we are hiring there.

I believe that demand for incredible creative production agencies will continue to grow, especially for businesses like ours which are able to handle content creation at scale for large organisations.

Above all, I want to create a place where great storytellers can flourish. We want to produce work that moves people.

Q: If you were to give someone setting up a business within the creative industry one piece of advice, what would that be?

A: Many creative businesses fail due to a lack of focus on the financial realities of running a creative business. Ensure someone in your team is competent in that field before setting up your own agency.

Back to Behind the Scenes: Issue Two

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