Face to Face with... Michael Adamo

Having spent over nine years at Passion Pictures as executive producer and head of new business, Michael Adamo recently launched his own London-based production venture, Fieldtrip. Focusing on, but not limited to, mixed-media projects and boasting a dynamic roster of talent including againstallodds, D.A.D.D.Y, Marc Reisbig, Art & Graft and Martin Jalfen, the company has formed a reciprocal partnership with innovative US-based 1stAveMachine. Here, former science student Adamo tells us about the exciting new setup, how he got into the industry, his plans for Fieldtrip and where he would take his team on the ultimate bonding exercise.

Why was now the right time to launch?

I was in search of a new challenge, really.  I was fortunate to have been at Passion Pictures for over nine years where I got to work on many amazing projects. It was time to apply my experience to something new; something I could create from the ground up and with a group of directors and artists that I could handpick.

What was the inspiration behind the name/logo/theme of the new venture?

I was looking for a name with lots of positive associations.  For me a field trip was always a special day.  It was a break from routine, a new adventure, something unexpected and fun.  In a way, each new project is like a field trip. It comes with a new group of people, new challenges and new opportunities.  It’s a little (or big) adventure in and of itself.

The identity and branding was done by Stassja Mrozinski and the website by the amazing guys at Fabrik.  They were all introduced to me by 1stAve director, Tim Brown, who gets credit for the icons that have become so central to the theme.

Mixed media on new platforms, just ideas so to speak, is where advertisers need to be at right now and you seem to have that forward-thinking mentality. How important is it for companies like Fieldtrip to stay ahead of the curve and keep innovating?

I think it’s ‘make or break’ for a production company.  We won’t remain relevant or interesting to our clients unless we’re innovating; combining new forms of media, experimenting with new techniques and trying out new platforms.  I’m particularly excited about the group of directors I’ve assembled because they all have a history of innovation and experimentation.  There’s virtually no technique they haven’t tried nor new media they won’t dive into.  It’s also in the DNA of our partner, 1stAvenueMachine, who continually pushes the boundaries.

And your roster is pretty dynamic which is promising. Do you think it’s better to have a varied cohort with mixed skills in different disciplines or a running theme through the talent all pulling in the same direction?

Good question.  I think it’s important to have a distinctive voice.  If you’re entrusting your brand and a large sum of money to a production company you want a specialist.  You want the guys who do that thing you’re after better than anyone else.  Our roster is all about mixed-media.  Do we do pure animation? Yes, absolutely.  Do we do straight live action?  Of course.  But where it gets really interesting is where the two techniques converge; or multiple techniques converge for that matter.  For example, where drawn animation meets miniature sets meets CG, as in the againstallodds film for Mello Yello.  Or where strong art direction, comedic performances and flourishes of animation combine to great effect, as in D.A.D.D.Y.’s Daily Million film. 

And what sort of jobs will you be trying to crack? Anything you can tell us about yet?

Well of course we’re sworn to confidentiality with any new work, but the good news is all of our guys have work just completed or nearing completion in other territories.  So for example, Martin Jalfen has some great new work coming out for 7Up soon and a music video for Benjamin Biolay.  againstallodds have just directed an epic title sequence for the Gothenburg Film Festival and 1stAvenue Machine has some super cool films for IBM about to break.

You started out as a lifeguard at Cesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. How did you get into production for the ad world and was it planned?

Funny – I used to try to hide that little detail of my past but decided I should probably just own it. I took a pretty circuitous path to my present occupation—definitely not planned.  I studied sciences in university and then briefly flirted with architecture, but it was the unbridled creativity of animation that lured me into the field.  I was fortunate to be accepted into the graduate film school at NYU and to start my career in NY at a time when animation was really thriving.  I was doing a mix of work then, both original content and advertising.  Over time though, it has been the world of advertising that has generated the most interesting and abundant opportunities.

And did you ever actually save any lives? What’s your most interesting memory from the poolside job?

Sadly not, despite all the training.  Mostly I helped peel hungover guests off the plastic rafts from which they had become glued – 120° Fahrenheit is not sunbathing weather.  My most interesting memory is being asked to join the contingent of roaming ‘gladiators’ and ‘Cleopatra’ who posed for photos with hotel guests.  Cleopatra was hot, so I wanted in.  Alas, I was deemed too puny to be a gladiator.

And you’re partnering with 1stAveMachine, but what does that actually mean? Tell us a bit about the partnership and how you’ll work together…

1stAve is a large and multifaceted group.  It became clear very quickly that they could not be presented as a single talent on a roster.  They are in fact 14 very diverse talents.  We struck upon the idea of a reciprocal partnership instead, where we would provide each other a home-away-from-home in our respective markets, including dedicated space, staff and production capability.  We’ll be sending directors and artists between our studios depending on where they need to be for a production and combining our marketing efforts and strategy.  The partnership has given Fieldtrip a huge head start in the US market, where we benefit from their great network of sales reps.

What’s the best piece(s) of experimental or mixed-media advertising or branded content you’ve seen recently?

Well it’s not undiscovered, the most experimental or the most novel combination of techniques, but the first ad that springs to mind is the Three mobile Pony ad.  It’s nicely done and I defy anyone not to smile or remember the film.  It’s one of those films that when you see it you say: “Damn, wish we’d made that.”

If you could take your directors/producers on an actual field trip as a bonding exercise, where would you go and why?

Very good question.  Maybe I’d recreate something from my childhood. We’d load them up on a yellow American school bus with sack lunches in hand and take them out to some desolate Nevada ghost town to watch tumble weeds blow through the main streets and avoid scorpion stings.  Or, maybe we could go to the Nevada Test Site, where my high school physics class went on a field trip.  We could stand in front of the Sedan Crater and marvel at the massive hole in the earth left by nuclear scientists exploring the use of nuclear weapons for mining.  On the way home we could see who glows the most.  Hang on, what was that I said about positive associations?