"Stay ever curious": a day in the life Eri Panasci

I wake up around 6:45 am, usually to my toddler’s face staring at me over the edge of the bed. I try not to look at my phone immediately, and instead give him my undivided attention for a while, and cuddle him while he still allows it. We like to play the Rolling Stones during breakfast, dance around a bit, and I generally try to gameify getting him ready and out the door as much as possible – lightly tricking him into doing my bidding whilst thinking it was all his idea… it’s the producer in me. I’ll then get some steps in by walking him to school (and picking up no less than 10 sticks and rocks on the way, because I have birthed a fellow “magpie” of a human, who can’t help but pick up anything remotely curious looking or shiny).

Then, most days, I’ll trot down the hill to the train station and head into the Jelly studio in Tribeca. We live about an hour North of the city in a popular hiking hotspot, so I’ll stare out the window at the mountains and Hudson River for the first 20 minutes or so of the train ride and then I switch to catching up on industry news, emails, and morning Slack messages.

I studied Business, specifically ‘International Management & Marketing’ at Boston University, all the while wistfully looking across the street at the ‘College of Communications’ building without the guts to officially change my major to ‘Advertising.’ Instead, I tailored my curriculum and work experience toward Advertising as much as possible, landing at a brilliant boutique agency there called AMP Agency, in an internship which transitioned into a full-time Account Manager position before I even graduated.

I then followed a whim and moved to San Francisco, where I landed at McCann, before moving back to NY a few years later and making the transition to the Production side of the business, to align myself more with my personal passion of collaborating with and empowering creatives.

It’s hard to name just one, but generally speaking, once a project is awarded and gets going, the original creative intent that was pitched in the treatment will inevitably need to bend to and work alongside the broader client objectives, which can often meld the creative approach.

My job is to help preserve the creative integrity of a project, whilst simultaneously working to meet the business objectives of the client, in as equal measure as possible. It’s an active game of strategy; you’re listening, you’re preemptively putting checks and balances into place, you’re reacting on behalf of both the client and your talent in real time, you’re helping to “translate” intentions between all parties, onboard the different opinions and then take a look at it all from a few hundred feet out to determine a path of action. But, when you get it right, man is it rewarding.

As a female in this role, and part of a female-managed company, I do feel that some inherent aspects of empathy, emotional intelligence, keen listening skills, and communication style do give me a distinct advantage in this arena.

You’re a neutral party, a mediator of sorts, acting on behalf of multiple “clients” at one time – all of whose best interests you need to keep in mind. The agency or brand client, the creative talent who have signed on to bring the brand story to life, and the team of creative specialists supporting them – these are all of my “clients” to whom I have an obligation to. So every decision you’re making needs to have the well-being of all parties in mind, and cannot just override the needs of one or more parties because it’s the path of least resistance.

Remembering to be human, above all. It’s so essential to keep any one individual from being demonized or made a scapegoat, which can be the natural inclination when frictions arise. But, you have to remember that everyone is fighting their own battle – your clients are inevitably reporting to their own bosses, who in turn are reporting to their board, who are in turn responsible to their stakeholders – your director is acting on behalf of their creative integrity and the interest of their team of specialists – and we as a production company are working under an agreed scope or work for each project. At times, these interests are somewhat at odds, so it’s hugely important to make sure everyone understands the real motivations behind the other sides’ feedback or requests.

It’s hard to pick just one baby, but one standout was the ‘Lost in the Middle’ campaign we did with Anomaly NY and the New York Life Foundation. With a background in more traditional media, I love a full spectrum project that includes the whole myriad of content types: long format animation, social activations, OOH, print (in this specific project’s case, a graphic novel!), live events… and the unique challenge that producing those multiple work streams presents.

Oh yea! I didn’t fully understand what my British partner meant by “pub culture” before living in London myself. It’s just… one of a kind. Is it a bar? Not entirely. A social club? Kinda sorta. A brunch spot? Sure. A child-friendly destination? Heck yes. So, when we were facing the prospect of moving back to the States and leaving some of our most beloved neighbourhood pubs behind, we knew we’d have to magic up our own solution. And so The Starker’s Arms was born.

She’s a little beaut, executed as faithfully as possible to the traditional British pub template as we could achieve, down to the optics behind the bar, the Scampi chips on the wall, and the authentic British-style ale we have brewed up the road in Glenham, and the pull-tap we installed behind the bar.

In a business that is largely conducted over digital devices, it’s so essential to get hands-on sometimes, to have your own passion projects, to try and fail a bit, to work at something until you physically ache, and ideally, to create a physical manifestation of an idea that you can then look back at and think “how the hell did I do that?” Plus… I just love hosting, entertaining, throwing a spontaneous party… all without leaving my own home, which an in-house pub is highly conducive to.

During the pandemic, we all started to look around at our own four walls, out of necessity, and think about how we could create more beautiful, serene, productive enclaves for ourselves in a place that was previously reserved for eating, sleeping, and lounging. And with this shift to remote working, our ways of working also shifted. We’re able to listen to the rhythms of our own creative instincts a bit more and dictate with a higher degree of autonomy how and when we are working, and I think that’s truly brilliant, because we hit our individual peaks of clarity and productivity at different times in the day.

I do think there’s positive momentum… but we have a considerable way to go. What I absolutely love is that the “traditional” routes into the industry are being blurred and broadened at such a rapid pace. Not only are there part-time crash courses and certificate programs aplenty across a wide variety of specialties now, so that an expensive 4 year degree program isn’t a mandatory requisite, but there are also SO many more open source, free creative cloud tools and resources online now, and this breaks down the previous paywall around some of the fundamental tools that are required to play on a level field.

I’m also pumped on the drive and creativity of the “digital native” youth who are fearless in their content creation, embracing creativity of a timely concept over perfection of execution, relying on humor and candor to land a message, and the speed with which they are churning out new content – often catching the attention of global brands and spurring whole new micro-trends as a result. The definition of “craft” is rapidly being redefined and broadened and its brilliant to see that, as a result, there’s more non-traditional and accessible paths into becoming a creative content maker to be reckoned with.

Trust. If you’re vetting a creative partner enough at the forefront, you’ve got to have the ability to hand the reigns over to them during the actual creative process itself, for the best result. We each bring our own niche set of specialist skills to a production, and I think that having the ability to trust the creative integrity of each team member’s input is so hugely important. This is not to say we shouldn’t be questioning things, but allowing space for a bit of uncontrolled, unplanned creative weirdness is the thing that sets apart a good execution from a legendary one.

Figma, Canva, and Slate. And does Spotify count? I’m nothing without a good playlist in the background.

I think it’s perhaps my growing up in the 80s and the unquestionable power over me that Tony the Tiger had that makes fast moving consumer goods brands the holy grail to me – your cereals, your waffles, your grocery store aisle products. I love that this specific sector of products really does carry the challenge of communicating effectively to both a parent/household buyer and child audience at the same time – because you find me a single, solitary parent who, if their child is in the middle of the grocery store having a total meltdown if you’re going to refuse them the cereal laden with multiple unpronounceable ingredients, doesn’t cave at least some of the time… it’s just a dynamic I find fascinating.

There is no one “right” path to entry into our industry. And, once you’re in it, you better stay ever-curious. Our industry and our creative tools are rapidly and continuously evolving, and as long as you remain open and eager to continue learning, to putting in the time, to observing those before you and taking bits of the bests along with you, and to cultivating a good working reputation, you’re going to be just fine.