Brian Carmody of Smuggler, Matt Miller of AICP, Jackie Kelman Bisbee of Park Pictures, Robby Fernandez of Moxie & Teressa Iezzi of FastCo Create

At the grand finale of the AICP Conference last month in New York, Jackie Kelman Bisbee of Park Pictures, Robert Fernandez of Moxie Pictures, Brian Carmody of Smuggler, and Teressa Iezzi of Fast Company Co.Create took the stage to discuss “The Content Question: Producing Outside of the Box.” Each of these respected production companies has branched out into new areas of content creation and distribution, and Fast Company editor Teressa Iezzi, as moderator, dug into the reasons why and the consequences to their respective business models.

The panel began with specifics on how the commercial production houses have ventured into new arenas. Brian Carmody, Co-Founder of Smuggler, discussed the company’s production of the Broadway musical “Once,” which won several Tony Awards this year. Carmody explained that “Once” came to them with 80% of the songs already written, which saved producers from having to undergo a lengthy music development process. The production company brought in a writer to create the script. Carmody said Smuggler took on the project due to the creative merit they perceived in the musical.

Robert Fernandez of Moxie Pictures, whose directors have extensive credits in feature films and feature documentaries, noted that producing high profile docs for directors such as Errol Morris places them in a position to have noteworthy talent coming to Moxie when seeking representation in spots. Moxie’s most recent feature documentary is Errol Morris’ acclaimed, “Tabloid,” and they are also producing his next doc, “The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld,” slated for a 2013 release. Moxie’s documentary work also paved the way for the company’s recent entree into producing nonfiction TV series.

Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Owner and EP at Park Pictures, which launched its first feature Robot & Frank this year, noted that one of the key elements to creating a successful film is choosing a compelling script. Park Pictures’ feature won an award at Sundance and a distribution deal with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) and Samuel Goldwyn Films, quickly earning investors’ money back and enabling investors to sign on to support subsequent films out of Park Pictures’ feature division, headed by award-winning indie film producer Galt Niederhoffer.

Interestingly, when Iezzi posed the question, “What’s your assessment of how creative brand work has changed, and how has that changed the way you work?” all three of the panelists argued that they still consider their changing companies production companies in the traditional sense. The challenges of producing, they argue, are still the same no matter what medium you are working in: how to do the best work within the confines of the budget.

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