Washington Square Films’ founder and EVP of Production discuss what it means to be a multi-genre production company.
Washington Square Films (WSF) is a multi-genre production company immersed in the worlds of marketing, series and feature entertainment, and live theatre. Heading the company is founder Joshua Blum, a producer who made his mark on the entertainment and advertising industries by specializing in discovering first-time talent, leading him to work with global clients like Pepsi, Ford, Apple, and Coke.
Alongside him is WSF’s EVP of Production Han West who has built a career providing architecture for storytellers, working on feature films, commercials, and diverse content from virtual reality to the experiential. As part of our Day in the Life series, I caught up with Joshua and Han to discuss their collaborative roles at WSF and what lies in store for the future of the production industry.
Could you walk me through a typical day in your roles?
Han West: Every day is different, but here’s one version: I drop my kids off early between 8:00 and 8:30 AM. I’m the first one in the office and my mornings are dedicated to calls with European clients – everything from new projects to reviewing cuts and general check-ins – all before lunch.
Midday, we have various internal staff meetings, which is a great opportunity to check in with the team and for everyone to align. If it’s a lighter week in terms of production, I focus on things I’ve been meaning to catch up on, such as reading scripts, watching film cuts, and reconnecting with people I haven’t spoken to in a while. If it’s a heavier week for production, I try to stay available to support producers with any challenges they might be facing.
In the afternoons, I focus on in-person meetings and check-ins, reserving the last few hours of the workday to tackle more detailed tasks like budgets, treatments, and providing notes and feedback. I leave the office by 5:30 PM to pick up my kids, and after putting them to bed around 8:00 PM, I use the end of my day to catch up with folks on the West Coast.
What does it mean to be a multi-genre production company?
A little stoicism can really help keep the train on the tracks
HW: You embrace more entropy but you also earn more perspective. Being multidisciplinary provides a unique understanding of the ecosystems that surround creative projects and gives you a wider range of choices to pull from in terms of people and approach for the projects you’re working on. There are many similar characteristics between producing feature films and producing commercials, but there are some very clear differences as well, especially with whose vision you’re serving and the venues and ways in which you vocalize and address your opinions and concerns as a producer.
If I’m being honest, I also think being prepared to give up one or the other makes you a bit bolder (for the positive) in each discipline: “If I mess up this commercial and am banished from the industry, I can always go back to making movies!” And vice versa. This balance also helps me avoid becoming too emotionally entangled in the process; when working with passionate creative people, a little stoicism can really help keep the train on the tracks. Our physical office reflects our multidisciplinary identity, conjuring what Josh calls the “clubhouse” effect at WSF, where our doors are always open to people from different walks of creative life to meet and work. And that makes it an exciting place to be and work.
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