Some creative studios follow trends. Wild Studio sets them. Founded at the height of global uncertainty, this nimble, London-based production team has carved a name for itself by crafting bold, story-driven content that blends design, animation, and documentary-style filmmaking, all with a personal, hands-on approach.
In this exclusive Company Spotlight, we sit down with co-founders Ed Emsley and Dan Symons to explore how Wild’s small but mighty team delivers premium branded content with agility, authenticity, and deep creative care. From producing animations for The Beatles to documentary work in the Middle East, Wild is proving that scale isn’t everything, but craft and collaboration are.
How was your company born and where are you based?
Founders Dan and Ed started Wild, having collaborated for a number of years on branded content projects for clients like Audi, Boeing and Salesforce. Prior to their meeting, Dan worked in Sydney at post houses on TVCs and other above-the-line content.
Ed started his career at The Telegraph as a creative filmmaker, pitching and producing ideas for brands in response to briefs. He then moved to The Guardian and did the same, with a producer twist, line producing production companies and other creatives as well as overseeing budgets and timelines.
We started Wild because we believed with our joint skillset, Dan - animation, design, Ed - documentary and branded content storytelling, that we could offer premium content and a really competitive cost as an agile and multi-skilled team.
That was back in 2020, and five years later, we are still here and producing authentic stories with a focus on craft. We’ve had plenty of great opportunities to work in a variety of fields and expand our offering, from 270-degree installations to great influencer collaborations, and our nimble model has allowed us to adapt to the ever-changing media landscape throughout.
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
Trying to develop lasting relationships with large creative agencies as a production partner. Pipeline is always key, as is cash flow, and we are always looking to develop ongoing relationships with partners beyond a single project approach. We like to think we are great listeners and find the perfect team for each brief, so when clients do return to us, they know they are in safe hands. It’s all about establishing trust.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
Working with Universal Music Group, we produced animations for The Beatles in their release of ‘Revolver’ as a deluxe edition album. These were bespoke loop animations that played on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube that used some never-seen-before Beatles’ archive artwork to create accompanying moving imagery that would add to the experience for music fans around the world. Tracks included ‘Yellow Submarine’, ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’.
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
We are currently working on a series of documentaries featuring a well-known presenter as they travel around a vibrant Middle Eastern destination, learning more about the place’s heritage and culture, its openness for uniquely creative entrepreneurs and its wellness scene. It was shot gorgeously by DOP Ben Halford on location across 5 days. We also partnered on this with a local production company, LuckyLion Films.
Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?
We always push creativity as far as we can, from initial ideation with a client through to delivery, as we know impressing our clients is the key to developing a lasting working relationship. We use our multi-skilled expertise to manage jobs better as we are experts at each stage of the process, which makes us capable of efficiencies other companies can’t offer and the extra budget we put into creating higher quality work. We enjoy getting involved super early, even pre-pitch or in the pitch alongside an agency, to help sense check or troubleshoot creative ideas and offer realities around scheduling and budgeting.
Being a specialist team of two, we can do most of the work in-house, but we do get specialists involved to help flesh ideas out depending on the brief’s particular needs and requirements. In animation, this might be calling on the expertise of 3D and texture specialists or illustrators, and in film, this might be local, regional partners or directors that have clear knowledge of a specific industry or style of shooting.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
We enjoy attending events, like the upcoming mad//fest, which we will be at for the second year running. It’s great hearing and learning from industry leaders across production, agencies and brands in order to keep informed and up-to-date on where things are headed.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
Deeply, as we founded Wild in 2020. Starting a company just before the pandemic and confronting all the economic headwinds since has made us more focused on what adds value and outcome-oriented. Large office spaces in expensive locations, designer furniture, and other trappings of the pre-pandemic production house were discarded in favour of investment in the latest remote working and production tech and kit.
It also meant developing a global network of expert artists we can draw on when the right project lands. We didn't scale up our full-time employee count, and chose instead to tap into the massive creative freelance community in the UK that is unrivalled. I really believe the UK has some of the absolute best creative minds, and a lot of these are freelancers. It’s these relationships that make Wild a small but mighty company -punching well above its weight in terms of creative output.
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
Lots and lots! Love Park Village and Studio Birthplace’s latest work for Woolmark was expertly produced by a long-time friend of ours, Alice Windeler.
This is up for a Cannes Lion and really hope it wins.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
Think before you commit to growing. The wrong long-term investments can be very costly. Make sure you can afford your monthly outgoings and always keep a decent profit margin on jobs, because without this, you won’t survive.
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
We pitch quite a bit. We also do a lot of LinkedIn outreach, which is a bit of a volume game, but it has to be done (because everyone else is doing it!). We also belong to industry WhatsApp groups and try to keep our ear to the ground in case of any opportunities. Word of mouth is still everything, and to be honest, this has been what has kept us going to date.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
That everyone who is worried about AI realises that storytelling is everything. If creatives aren’t valued, you won’t get great creativity. There will be more AI slop that no one wants to see, plus no brand differentiation. We need to use data and AI to enable creatives to do the best work they’ve ever done, not steal their IP.
Can you share a defining moment in your company's journey that shaped its identity or direction?
Our series of documentaries for Durex and OLIVER was a pretty special collaboration. It showed our talent for brand storytelling by partnering with micro influencers and a phenomenal director by the name of Emma Scott.
How do you foster a culture of innovation and experimentation within your team?
We constantly work with different people on a project-by-project basis - harnessing their talents and styles to produce content that stands out.
As we are a remote production company, we allow people to work their own hours and don’t micromanage, hoping that people bring their best results as a response to being trusted.
What measures do you take to ensure diversity and inclusion are prioritised within your company?
We have a diverse book of creatives that we call on for any given project. From illustrators and animators to directors and art directors. Each crew or team is tailored to the project’s needs, and diversity is key to ensuring the best people are involved.
Can you describe a project that challenged your team creatively and how you overcame any obstacles?
We created a multiwall projected animation experience for Cambridge University, which unfortunately never went live. This was a serious technical challenge for our team of animators, learning how to tell and map out short stories across such a large canvas with many different aspect ratio screens, too. The sound design by Zelig Sound was awesome, and it’s such a shame it was never exhibited live.
How do you balance maintaining your company's unique creative voice while meeting the diverse needs of clients?
We use the best creative teams who bring their vision and expertise to projects. Clients listen to creatives most when they trust their vision. It’s up to us to deliver on this and to challenge clients or the brief when it’s needed.
What strategies do you employ to adapt to changes and trends in the industry while staying true to your company's values?
We test lots of different apps and products that come onto the market. We try to see if they will be able to be used within our current workflow in order to optimise efficiency or increase the quality of what we do. Some work, some don’t!
Can you share a memorable client success story that exemplifies your company's approach and impact?
When we realised that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr signed off our animations for use on The Beatles’ channels, that was a success story for us and probably would be for any music lovers!
In what ways do you invest in the professional development and growth of your team members?
Training in new software. Attending events like the APA’s Future of Advertising, Mad//fest and Cannes. As well as being super informative, events like this get us out there, speaking to new people and hopefully building relationships that in turn get us more exposure.
How do you approach sustainability and ethical practices within your company's operations and projects?
We use tools like AdGreen on projects where we collaborate with agency partners. If we aren’t using AdGreen on a specific project, we will always dynamically assess our footprint and see if there are ways to make the production less carbon-intensive.
Can you discuss a time when your company had to pivot or innovate in response to unforeseen challenges, and what lessons did you learn from that experience?
On a project for a large brand and international rugby partner, the talent commitment was dropped a few days out from the shoot. However, we and our partners thought on our toes and came up with a new creative with new talent that would have worked better than the original plan! Just goes to show there’s always a silver lining!
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
frameset.app this site is great for pulling stylistic references on camera look, composition or grading
Motionographer - great for motion/animation news
Creative Boom.
And I’d always recommend taking your inspiration search out of the world of film and animation - sometimes the best way to make something that looks fresh is to search in unexpected places.