England and Chelsea footballer, Raheem Sterling, and industry icon and music video director, Carly Cussen, recently launched their own creative production agency - Playmaker Films.
Sterling and Cussen have a track record of working together to create entertaining and quality video products for brands and Playmaker Films was born from the passion and excitement that were a hallmark of the projects they collaborated on.
Playmaker Films will specialise in producing branded content, advertising and music videos, delivering the impact and emotional resonance of world-class entertainment to brands and their customers.
The agency’s core approach will be ‘entertainment first’ inspired by Cussen’s and Sterling’s work, both behind the camera and on the pitch, over the last two decades.
To learn more, we caught up with Carly to discuss the duos unconventional but organic creative relationship.
Carly Cussen
How was your company born and where are you based?
I’ve worked with a lot of stars and names, and while they were all great to work with, Raheem was the one who surprised me the most. His humour and the ability to laugh at himself was something that I didn’t expect from a Premier League footballer.
We clicked instantly when working on Raheem’s fashion brand, Sixteen Ninety Two. And we kept bumping into each other on the same sets and projects. Raheem started asking questions about what I was doing, and I soon realised that it was something he was passionate about, and had a real understanding of. So then we started thinking about how we could work together more, and that’s when Playmaker was born.
We’re based over in Kings Cross - drop in for a coffee. Or something stronger if you really want! We know some good spots nearby.
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
I wouldn’t say it will challenge our growth, but a challenge for us is that a lot of brands are perhaps playing it too safe. Where’s the entertainment? The best-branded content is indistinguishable from real entertainment. That’s at the core of everything that we are making. But we need brands to be willing to come on that journey with us.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
Well, we’ve only just started! We’ve already worked with Clarks, Gillette, Sony BMG and Universal. ‘The Back To School’ campaign we just launched with Clarks is hilarious. I’m so proud that this came out under the Playmaker Films banner.
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
The reaction we’ve got from the launch has shown us that we’re onto a good thing here. We want to continually make entertaining content for the biggest brands. Those brands that have ambition, personality and character. It’s about entertainment. If the content you are creating isn’t entertaining then what’s the point? Nobody is going to take any notice of you.
Can you explain your team’s creative process? What makes it unique?
Playmaker Films is made up of people who have strong roots and connections within music and culture - that’s where our strength lies. Making content that is timely, entertaining and on-point. Basically great storytelling.
Because of this, everyone is bringing something to the creative table. We’ve got a proper melting pot going on.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
By working with brands that want to push the boundaries, have fun and put themselves out there.
I think as well the fact that Raheem is getting properly involved, and putting himself forward to be laughed at (see the reaction to the Clarks video. It went viral!) is really motivating, and shows that he is taking this seriously.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
Luckily we are a post-pandemic business but from experience, it was a weird time. Was even weirder for Raheem, playing football in empty stadiums and spending a lot of time in “bubbles”.
In a strange way, the aftermath of COVID brought our current Playmaker team together. I think a lot of people reflected a lot on their career situation during lockdown and had a bit of a reset. Maybe that little pause in the creative industries caused them to flourish afterwards.
For me, it meant being able to team up with some creatives I’ve wanted to work with for years.
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
Some of my favourite campaigns of recent times have been from Mother. Things like the quirky, visually poppy IKEA sleep and KFC campaigns. I’ve had the privilege of working with them on partnership activity recently, which has been lots of fun.
The way the industry has pivoted towards social media content has also thrown up loads of amazing thinking from small agencies: the ‘Ghost Stores’ thing for Fenty last year by Barbarian was stunning.
It's not just agencies though, some brilliant stuff is coming from in-house teams now. The whole campaign Warner did around the Barbie movie was breathtaking, and Heinz has been doing brilliant unexpected tactical things for years.
In terms of industry heroes, I love Dave Trott’s brutal simplicity of thought, I love Rory Sutherland’s way of looking at old things in fresh ways.
I don’t know if Daniel Kahnemann counts as ‘industry’ but getting to grips with his work has been really important for understanding audiences and how they think, what they react to – how I can better apply thinking from the entertainment world, to marketing.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
Be brave! Work with brands that want to “do different” and that push you as much as you push them. The work you produce will be infinitely better, and word will get out.
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
Recently we’ve been fortunate enough to get a lot of attention around our brand launch and the Clarks Back to School campaign, and we’ve been busy working on various projects that came out of those things.
In the future, we’ll be pitching for projects and expanding into new categories. Retained clients are always the most fruitful relationships I think.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
I hope to see more brave and creative work that actually entertains and talks to audiences.
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
Anything by Dave Trott is great. He’s got brilliant insights into creativity, captured in a really captivating way. Richard Shotton has written some brilliant reference books on behavioural economics and how to apply them in marketing.
