Production Lead - Courageous

Job Description

The Job

WarnerMedia seeks a Production Lead for the Courageous Department.

The Production Lead at Courageous will join an established, thriving operation, liaising with many individuals and teams within the WarnerMedia Ad Sales organization, including sales and marketing, as well as a Who's Who of blue-chip brand clients and agency partners. Courageous produces bold and relevant work that resonates with the discerning CNN audience; a network available to more than 2 billion people in more than 200 countries and territories, spanning TV, Web, OTT, Social Media , Mobile and Smart Devices and events as well as out-of-home. There is more growth to come for Courageous in 2021 and beyond, and the Production Lead will play a critical role: overseeing the production of ground-breaking, revenue-driving, purpose-driven branded content campaigns; maintaining our pretty-much perfect record of on-time and on-budget productions; and helping WarnerMedia push the boundaries of what's possible in today's evolving world of marketing and media.

The Daily
• Manage, mentor and add to an ever-growing team of 40+ talented fulltime and freelance Production professionals including Supervising Producers, Post Production Supervisors, Line Producers, Editors, Assistants, Cinematographers and Coordinators.
• Oversee Design Operations including directly managing a Design Producer and Design Project Manager. Cultivate deep collaboration and holistic integration between video and design creative and production teams. Manage all design support for the WarnerMedia Ad Products team.
• Lead and incrementally improve production workflow, location safety protocols, remote production efforts, equipment, post-production and media management strategy.
• Collaborate daily with Courageous PreSale team to ensure team is scoping and pricing every creative concept that is shared with sales, marketing and advertisers/agencies in a compatible way between budget, creative, timelines and production assumptions. Personally scope and price highly complicated, never-been-done-before, high profile projects and ''unique'' assets or elements.
• Assign and efficiently steward in-house staff to all projects. Manage workload, capacity, workflow and process and oversee the hiring and onboarding of all new temporary production employees as needed.
• Run point on all talent needs: develop talent strategy, outreach to talent reps, negotiate deals and fees, lead contract process, etc.
• Run point on all experiential / events including scoping, pricing, execution details, managing any 3rd parties and ensuring overall production excellence.
• Track overall success and progress of each project; determine if and when creative, production, finance or legal issues need to be escalated; supervise and problem-solve with post-sale team as needed (including Courageous, Activation, Sales and clients/agency partners).
• Directly manage production finance elements including overseeing regular cost reporting on all project budgets; handling the distribution and reconciliation of petty cash; coding and actualizing payroll costs; and providing updated estimated final costs to Finance and Operations partners on all production projects. Provide executive analysis and reporting as needed.
• Deliver daily with a client-focused attitude and a confident, enthusiastic, diplomatic approach - providing valuable solutions for brand clients, complex programs and high-profile WarnerMedia initiatives.
• Participate as a member of and leader within the Courageous management team, which includes Chief Creative Office, VP Creative, Head of Activation and Head of Design & Development. Contribute to Courageous business strategy and long-term planning.
• This role reports to the Chief Creative Officer of Courageous with a dotted line to the SVP, Head of News Marketing Solutions and Courageous Studios. This role would also be part of the broader Marketing Solutions Leadership Team.

The Essentials
• 12+ years' experience with digital, TV, and/or film production and/or publishing, ideally also including 5+ years' experience producing branded content and/or advertising campaigns in demanding client environments. Experience in multimedia production is a plus.
• Thorough understanding on industry costs, day rates and legal parameters – with a specialty / deep expertise in high quality video, global production
• Significant experiential/events and talent experience and expertise
• Experience managing a large team of creative/production professionals
• Ability to handle a fast-paced environment and make quick decisions while simultaneously supervising multiple productions
• Familiar with current technology and best practices workflow for field and post productions
• Possesses a network of high-quality talent and vendors
• Understanding of how to prioritize and respond accordingly
• Highly organized and detail-oriented with excellent written and verbal communication skills – client presentation experience is a plus
• Showbiz Budgeting required, familiarity with Farmerswife Scheduling a plus
• Passionate about brand storytelling and innovations in digital marketing and communications.
• A deliberate and authentic focus on team culture, retention and DEI.
• BA/BS degree preferred.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rv1ekj-3-137-218-230-42 in your application.