VCCP Group has announced the launch of a global content creation studio named Girl&Bear. Girl&Bear becomes the new home to makers from across the VCCP network and will deliver world-class content creation, global production services and a bespoke technology solution.
Spanning the full range of content production, the studio’s capabilities will include film, audio, design, print, photographic and digital production and brings together 250 makers with VCCP’s expertise and focus on craft. Alongside the makers within the studio, Girl&Bear will continue to work with production partners to ensure access to the best talent in the industry.
L-R: Anthony Austin, Claire Young and Dan Montalbano
Challenging the modern production dilemma of choosing between beautifully crafted creative, or efficient delivery of assets at scale, Girl&Bear will deliver craft without compromise. Their proprietary software, ‘The Pathway’ will enable technology and a human approach to work seamlessly together enabling cutting-edge content creation, adaptation and transcreation or, increasingly, more personalised content delivered through the clever use of data. The system is designed to guide clients through the increasingly complicated world of multi-format, multi-language and dynamic creative production and enable the delivery of crafted work at scale and pace, across all channels. Bringing cutting-edge technology and automation into the production process in the right way, at the right moments will ensure Girl & Bear’s makers around the world can work more efficiently as well as give clients a seamless delivery experience.
Girl&Bear will service VCCP’s global network, offering clients borderless content production across eight markets including London, where it is headquartered, Madrid, Prague, San Francisco, New York, Singapore, Sydney and Shanghai. Girl&Bear will also offer cost-efficient production at scale in every region of the world through offshore solutions which will be run out of the Czech Republic, South Africa and Asia Pacific.
Brought together by a team of passionate makers, Girl&Bear will be led by Managing Director, Claire Young, Executive Head of Production, Anthony Austin and Global Head of Operations, Dan Montalbano. Young has over 20 years of production experience working at some of the industry’s most well respected creative agencies including Mother, exposure, JWT, and has led production for VCCP London for the last six years. Montalbano has led global operations for the VCCP Group for the last two years and brings both client-side and top-tier London agency experience from brands including National Geographic, Barclays and agencies Razorfish and AKQA.
The team is joined by new hire Austin, who brings a wealth of experience in building production studios within creative agencies, firstly at Mother London, before going on to found Black Sheep Studios at BBH, where he subsequently took the BBH London ECD role.
The Girl&Bear senior leadership team will report into VCCP London’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Peake and VCCP’s Group Chief Creative Officer, Darren Bailes.
Girl&Bear launches with a large portfolio of clients including Domino’s, O2 and White Claw. Recent celebrated campaigns include Domin-oh-hoo-hoo for Domino’s and The O2 in Fortnite Creative for O2.
Founding Partner and Group CEO at VCCP, Adrian Coleman said: “Content creation and production is something we have always offered to our clients and as the making arm of VCCP, Girl&Bear now elevates our production offering globally, bringing further cohesion to our Group, and a challenger proposition to other networks. All brought to the market by an extremely talented leadership team who all bring different skills to the table, working towards one common goal to bring fresh thinking and new ideas to how we make.”
MD at Girl&Bear, Claire Young, added: “For us ‘how’ we make things is just as important as ‘what’ we make for clients. I’ve always wanted to reimagine production and creating Girl&Bear has enabled us to supercharge our making offering and evolve the industry model. We know that creativity is a business multiplier and we believe that great production doesn’t need to be a choice between pace, scale and craft – we’re in the business of ‘and’. World class integration is something that VCCP is famous for, and with Girl&Bear we are now in an even stronger position than ever to deliver on that promise.”
Anthony Austin, Executive Head of Production at Girl&Bear noted, “VCCP has always produced beautifully crafted work. With Girl&Bear we will build on this legacy, while bringing a fresh approach to production through new ways of making, new technologies, new formats and always seeking out the best and most exciting talent. Girl&Bear empowers our makers to have a louder voice within the advertising ecosystem. They are an energetic, highly-skilled and passionate bunch, and I’m excited to be joining the team.”
Talking about Girl&Bear’s mission, Young continued: “As the challenger content studio we also wanted to address other areas of production we felt weren’t working, and change them for the better. Our ambition is to put our people and the planet right at the heart of our business, and we’ve created what we call our ‘Be Nice’ policy which outlines our guiding principles. We’re committed to sustainable practices in all that we do and we’re excited to be working with Greenshoot and AdGreen to ensure all production is made in the most sustainable way possible.”
Girl&Bear are also working with VCCP Group towards achieving B-Corp status.
Committed to uncovering, supporting and attracting new and diverse talent both in front of and behind the lens, Girl&Bear are working with partners Free The Bid, BRiM, Justrunners, Brixton Finishing School and SCA to help create a diverse and inclusive workforce. In November they will host the Shiny Awards, which champions underrepresented directors.
