'Communication is paramount in any creative partnership’: a day in the life Joshua Blum and Han West

Joshua Blum: There isn't a typical day, really, but I usually carve out personal time in the morning, as many of the people I work with are on West Coast time. Sometimes, I work from home until around 11 AM before heading to the office, and my office workday often extends until 7 or 8 PM.

When I do come into the office, I start by figuring out my priorities. At this point, Han and the production team handle the day-to-day operations of our commercials effectively, which alleviates a lot of the burden on my end. But, I still like to have daily check-ins with Han to review jobs and bid. Every day Han or I also talk to our Head of Sales (and commercial division co-founder) Jonathan Schwartz regarding leads and big picture strategy. Beyond that, my focus is on our producing projects, which includes the musical The Harder They Come, a tv series we are working on with Lionsgate, and several feature films.

JB: Everybody assumes we make commercials just to fund our producing projects, but I really love commercials. We work with great people, we get to work with the latest technologies, and a lot of the content is fun and creative. I especially love how fast it all happens. A feature film can take you 10 years to develop. As a multi-genre company, we are also exercising different business muscles. When we make commercials, we never forget we are a service client working on behalf of a client. On the entertainment side, there are also critical commercial and financial considerations, but my priority has always been about protecting the artists and the work being made. That tends to pay off on the business side.

JB: Scaling up, scaling down, and then scaling back up again is a constant challenge. There was a time when the industry was steady, and you knew exactly what you needed. However, Covid really changed things. The lack of work during the pandemic forced us to scale down, and now we've had to scale back up again. Reestablishing a new culture in a post-COVID environment has been both exciting and challenging. The COVID era and shifts in the industry have redefined how we work, and it’s been an exciting opportunity to reshape the company for this new landscape.

HW: The biggest challenge I face on a daily basis is time. There is a lot of my work that requires I put my head down and focus: I don’t skim scripts, treatments, or budgets, I read them line-by-line. I wish I was faster at it but to provide good feedback or to help draft the architecture of approach, it’s just the way I have to do it. But that’s only half of my job.

JB: I’m really proud of every project, but if one stands out, it’s. The “United States of Poetry" USOP kicked off everything, and to this day, USOP represents the best example of one of our missions, to bring new and unheard voices to new audiences. One of the great things about this company is that we have the flexibility to work only on projects we truly care about and believe in. I can honestly say I’m proud of all our projects, but it’s unbelievable that USOP even happened – and that it launched everything back in 1995.

HW: There is not any project I’ve worked on that I would single out as one that I’m ‘most proud of.’ Anything that gets made in this medium is a small miracle, and I’ve hit the same levels of euphoria and sense of accomplishment on tiny commercials and big feature films alike.

JB: It’s amazing how few problems and differences we have. There may be times when there might be a project that Han is more into than I am into or vice versa, but we always respect each other’s taste and support each other even if it’s the other person’s labor of love. There is nothing that Han has shown me that I haven’t respected. The division of labor is also pretty clear-cut. There are depths of production, I don’t pretend to understand that Han is a master of. And he speaks the language of a new generation of clients and creatives, so I have very happily found my lane and I stay there.

HW: Josh and I have very different tastes, strengths, and weaknesses, but that’s what makes working together so rewarding. Any success we’ve had in the last three years of working together is largely a result of this dynamic. Josh has an uncanny ability to work with limited cues and information and accurately foresee potential issues, whether it’s a blindspot in a script or something unsettled in a relationship with a director or client.

Sometimes I don’t see what he’s seeing, but I’ve learned to really value and trust his instincts because he’s right nine times out of ten. Communication is also paramount in any creative and business partnership and this is also an area where Josh excels – he is one of the most responsive people I’ve ever worked with and this encourages a healthy tempo of dialogue that helps avoid misunderstandings and misdirections.

JB: People need to start embracing long-form storytelling again. The pandemic and the strikes pushed people to TikTok-style videos. There seems to be a whole generation, older people too, who only consume content on their phones. We need to get people back in the habit of going to movie theaters and even watching TV with friends and family. It’s not just the loss of the content, but also the loss of the collective cultural experience.

HW: For a long time, we were overproducing, and in many cases, we weren't being very discerning about what we were creating. I hate to say it but this has collectively devalued the medium of motion picture, both in commercials and features. As a result, it’s become rare for commercials to truly cut through the zeitgeist in the way they once did, and without a lot of marketing dollars, the same is true of most feature films. My mantra this year is to focus on doing fewer things but doing them better and with an emphasis on quality and precision.

JB: The patience and resilience required. It can take forever to get a project off the ground and when you do it can instantly be dismissed by gatekeepers and critics. If you are in the business long enough, you are going to get your ass kicked, and it hurts, but you get back up, because what else are you going to do?

JB: I’m old school. I use as few tools as possible. My preferred mode of communication is meeting in person, if that can’t be arranged, then I actually use my phone to call people. In general, however, I try to keep my life as unmediated and unautomated as possible.

HW: It's a cliche – but it's my phone (I read, make calls, etc). It’s the lifeblood in communication and the smartphone is the ultimate communication tool… “If my phone’s dead, I’m dead”.

JB: Obviously we like great creative work for big brands, but for me the most important thing is working with agencies and clients we like and respect. My best experiences have been more about the people and less about the brand or product.

HW: I have a great idea for a diaper commercial after having three kids. If Pampers or Huggies want to triple sales through a great piece of marketing, then give me a call!

JB: Relax, don't lose so much sleep. You might not believe it now, but it's going to work out.

HW: Have more faith that the work will pay off and pay less attention to the moments when you don't feel compensated. Think less about the scoreboard and more about just putting one foot in front of the other—you'll probably get where you're trying to go faster.

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