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Finding Forever with two of the industry’s most respected creative content studios | #CompanySpotlight

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London-based FutureDeluxe (known for its experimental and innovative approaches to design, technology and moving image on such projects as Google Morphing Clay) recently came together with Canada-based Tendril (the design, animation and technology specialists behind groundbreaking brand expressions like Microsoft Future Vision) to co-invest in a new organisation called Forever: a global design offering that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The two companies will continue to work independently and contribute their unique creative voices to the marketplace under their respective banners, but will aggregate curated teams to scale fluently as new opportunities arise.

Forever is the result of both companies' belief in a need to design a new future-focused platform for growth that would allow the most creative minds to work together to achieve results that would not have been otherwise possible. The collective will have a focus on industry leading design, moving image and emerging technology. The goal is to foster an ecosystem of passionate studios and attract a community of like-minded clients.

To learn more, we spoke to James Callahan, CEO & Co-Founder at FutureDeluxe and now Forever.

How was your company born and where are you based?

FutureDeluxe started life in Brighton 2012, when I teamed up with Andrew Jones, who is now FutureDeluxe’s Chief Creative Officer. Somewhat unusually for creative studio founders, we didn’t have backgrounds in production, but had both worked as creatives in ad agencies (Andrew at AKQA, me at Mother).

We wanted to use this hands-on adland experience as a launchpad to build a creative studio that would intrinsically understand how the output needs to be more than a piece of art - it needs to sell too.

Since these humble beginnings over a decade ago, we’ve expanded globally with offices in London, LA, NYC, Sydney. More recently, we teamed up with a studio in Canada - Tendril - that we really respect.

Together, we’re developing a new design powerhouse called Forever that aims to reimagine the future of design, moving image and creative technology on a global scale. Through this new partnership, we now also have a presence in Canada and Brazil.

We launched Forever in early 2023 because we could see lots of potential in the market. And it was becoming increasingly clear that there’s a healthier way to grow a business than gobbling up smaller acquisitions. Instead, we wanted to invest in a model that prioritises collaboration, with scope for more studios to join as and when we need to expand capabilities.

We’ve always admired Tendril. Not only do they work with a client list that’s up there with ours, they also reflect our people-first culture. We both share a mission of being kind while creating the best design work.

Thanks to Forever, we have some of the most talented design people in the world and are now even better placed to do more interesting work with the most exciting brands.

What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?

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Probably the biggest challenge we’ve faced is getting the right talent through the door. We only employ the best people out there, and – by their very nature – they come in short supply. Our Creative Directors have extremely high standards so we have to hire people who are the experts in their fields.

We’re not only looking for strong design talent, but also strong cultural alignment… people who fit our “No Dickhead” policy. These people exist, but can be hard to find.

Which was the first huge success that you can remember?

One of our most seminal projects was a music video for Thom Yorke & Modeselektor that, 10 years ago, combined live action and CG in a pioneering way. It really pushed the boundaries of Cinema 4D and put our name on the map.

It’s the project that instilled utter confidence and self-belief when we started selling our work to brands and agencies.

What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?

Without doubt, it’s the launch of Forever, which is a golden opportunity to expand our capabilities. Because of Forever’s partnership-based business model, there’s scope to bring the world’s best studios into the collective, and so build upon our ambitions for expanding in the US market, which is currently where most of our business is.

Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?

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A key part of the puzzle is ‘Iteration’. Rather than working in a linear ‘sign-off and move to the next stage’ way, we work in cycles. This means we are free to go back and reappraise. But R&D is another crucial part of our creative process. In fact, it’s a massive focus across the entire business.

We incorporate a period of R&D in every project’s schedule to ensure we have a chance to look at the brief in a multitude of ways and really explore all possibilities. This R&D-focused approach allows us to blow out the brief, rather than be constrained by it.

And it means we’re better placed to create timeless experiences and content like the BBC Two idents which, despite being made a good few years ago, still look fresh today. In fact, this project was another milestone moment in the company’s development because it gave us a chance to show the world a wider use case for abstract CG content, while proving that CG could appeal to everyone from grandchildren to grandparents.

How does your team remain inspired and motivated?

Again, it comes down to our internal R&D and Future Play initiatives – these are the fuel that drives the FutureDeluxe engine. These initiatives, which cover both client briefs and personal passion projects, help us attract the best talent while keeping everyone ignited and inspired.

By incorporating exploration projects into the initiatives, we can apply our hunger for innovation to a wide variety of areas so that team members get to experience the breadth of work that comes from freelancing, but with the benefits of job security.

In fact, our policy of offering dedicated R&D ‘Future Play’ time to everyone on the team is talked about as a staff benefit, in the same way as holiday and healthcare.

This seam of innovation that runs through the company is not only evident in our output, but also in the way we run the business itself – it shapes the way we innovate and collaborate as a team.

How has COVID-19 affected your company?

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During the height of the pandemic we faced the same challenges as most other businesses: burnout and motivational issues.

But from a financial point of view, the pandemic has given us some of our most profitable years. We were able to pivot to remote working very quickly and started receiving briefs from clients who could no longer do live action shoots.

Nespresso is a case in point: once forced to investigate CG as a production option, they’ve never looked back. When we shared our initial tests of CG coffee cups with the client, they didn’t believe the content had been rendered. More broadly, it gave many brands and agencies more confidence in using CG as an alternative to live action and photography.

Covid hit us more from a cultural perspective. We’re a tight knit and sociable team. At the height of the pandemic, not being together physically had a big impact on the team. Post pandemic, we’re getting used to having fewer people in the office on a day-to-day basis and have nailed the use of virtual collaboration tools.

Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?

Ustwo: I’ve always admired the way they go about business. They seem to have an admirably creative and human-centric approach that has allowed them to do incredible things.

I've watched the studio grow from their very early days of being a tiny outfit in the lanes of Shoreditch, into the impressive beast they are today.

What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?

A little bit of bravery goes a long way. If you want growth, you’ve got to be willing to try new things and be flexible. This ethos explains why experimentation is one of our core values, not just in the work we create, but also in how we run the business.

But for this approach to work, everyone needs to be clear on their role and exactly what they’re accountable for, while simultaneously being assured they have the freedom to try out new ideas around how the business is run.

Then there’s ensuring you develop an attractive culture by being a people-first workplace. It’s not possible to expand until you’ve got enough talent to support the growth.

At FutureDeluxe and Forever, everyone cares deeply about the work and the company, so they’re all keen to collaborate. Defining your culture requires a significant time investment, and you have to be willing to refine the culture on a continual basis.

How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)

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It’s our work that brings in new clients. So we strive to amplify our projects through social channels, which have been a really effective driver of new business.

Instagram is great for showcasing aesthetics and growing peer reputation. But LinkedIn is turning into an incredible new business driver. 

We’re privileged in that we work with incredible brands. So, in addition to seeking new clients, we also deepen our relationships with existing clients and find new ways of working with them. It’s no secret that the retainer model is dying out.

And this puts even more onus on ensuring we become a trusted partner as a way of securing repeat business. Clients simply have to love the work we create for them… and love the process of working with us. Again, it boils down to being a strong collaborator. 

What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?

My big hope is that we embrace AI to empower new possibilities. Providing we use AI as an assistive tool, rather than a solution in its own right, it will help us achieve incredible things by speeding up processes.

But for AI in design to be a success, it’s crucial we don’t forget about the craft and the human idea. On the downside, there will be a lot of copycat imagery that uses designers’ original work as a base upon which to create similar, but substandard, content.

On the upside, AI can lead to creations like our R&D project Poiesis: a generative 24/7 AI artwork that never repeats the same image twice. It takes one of the most traditional forms of art – landscape paintings – and breathes new life into it by deciding upon new compositions and angles.

The project is a beautiful success because a human, not the AI, was ultimately in charge of setting the parameters.

Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?

In addition to design-themed coffee table books, business books have been a lifesaver in my recent transition from co-founder of a creative studio to CEO of a private equity backed business group.

I've started reading as much as I can get my hands on in order to learn more about the business behind what we do and how to best shape us for the future:

For practical business insights:

The hard thing about hard things by Ben Horowitz: All business leaders should read this. It delves into the hard, difficult, unsexy things in business that are too often forgotten or ignored and helps us navigate around them.

Never split the difference by Chris Voss: The art of negotiation, a great reference book for people at all stages in their careers.

Measure what matters by John Doerr: This book has helped us use goal-setting to focus on the important things without distraction.

For feelgood business stories:

Let my people go surfing by Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia

Shoe dog by Phil Knight

I’m currently reading No rules rules  by Reed Hastings (it’s about Netflix and the culture of reinvention) and Bruce Mau’s 24 principles for designing massive change in your life and work. Next on my list is To sell is human by Daniel H Pink, a suggestion from Kate Bates, Forever’s COO.

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