Italian production company, EyeCandy, specialises in table-top productions within fashion and food. It may be a specialist house but it shares the same challenges as all other production companies. The company that promises to “keep it fun”, has released a film called Ann Idea, a humorous short for other industry professionals that makes fun of behind-the-scenes in the commercial creative world.
“Infused with humour, Ann Idea invites viewers to immerse themselves in the various situations depicted, showcasing the birth, evolution, and sometimes the demise of creative ideas,” EyeCandy stated.
“Ideas come to life in unexpected moments or after days of intensive study. They embark on a challenging journey toward the final result – sometimes resilient, winning awards, and other times succumbing under the ‘enemy’ fire. In all cases, witnessing the passion with which creatives defend and fight for their ideas has been inspiring. Ann Idea is our ironic and somewhat raw, yet always passionate, look into the magical world of creativity,” added Greg Ferro, founder and director of EyeCandy.
Publicist and festival strategist, Niccolo Montanari, interviewed Ferro for The Stable. Because The Stable thought that at the end of another year of glorious ups and disappointing downs, you readers would appreciate someone else’s determination to make creativity thrive.
Niccolo Montanari: Can you share the inspiration behind Ann Idea and how it reflects EyeCandy’s approach to the creative process in video production?
EyeCandy: Ann Idea is inspired by years of working closely with creative agencies internationally. The thing is, we have witnessed wonderful ideas turn into poor executions. We have seen the excellent work of brilliant creatives succumb to the pressures of marketing and budget constraints. But it’s not in our nature to complain; we love our work and how dynamic it is. That’s why we have decided to create Ann Idea, a film that ironically showcases the beauty of creativity. This film fully represents who we are and our experiences. We highlight a series of common challenges in our work and we show how we are able to overcome them with a touch of irony.
NM: Ann Idea is described as an ironic and raw look into the world of creativity. Could you elaborate on the specific challenges and triumphs showcased in the film that resonate with the creative community?
EC: The biggest challenge we are currently facing is undoubtedly The Budget! Up until a few years ago, one could comfortably create and then think about how to bring films to life. Today, the modern Creative, just like the modern Director, must immediately consider creating an idea that aligns with the budget to produce it. Yet, even in this instance, we don’t necessarily see all of this as something totally negative. On the contrary, we believe it serves as a stimulus to work better and push the boundaries of creativity in search of new solutions. Our approach is to stay creative in production.
NM: Collaboration has been a key element of EyeCandy’s journey. Can you share an example from the creation of Ann Idea that highlights the positive impact of collaboration on the final product?
EC: The scenes you see in Ann Idea are all real; there is no CGI. Almost all of them are shot with a single layer, without the use of layer overlays. However, these scenes are technically very complex. To make it all possible, the creative part of the team collaborated from the outset with the team responsible for real SFX on set, the fantastic Bites team from Warsaw. Only through a continuous exchange of ideas were we able to achieve exactly the goal we wanted. It was all very stimulating, which is reflected in our work, namely we assist creative agencies from the early stages of script creation to help them develop an organic project, where live action and tabletop integrate seamlessly.
