Future-Proof Your Production Career

Introduction to Advertising & Artificial Intelligence

Stop ignoring the future of commercial production and start leading it.
This high-impact lesson cuts through the hype and shows you how AI is reshaping creative development, workflows, and client expectations.

You’ll learn how to:

• Apply a tool-agnostic AI workflow for rapid ideation & visual concepting
  
• Run a powerful AI Discovery Meeting with clients.
  
• Guide teams toward the most innovative and safest use of emerging tech.
  
• Adopt the AI mindset that amplifies (not replaces) human creativity.
  

Walk away with a framework that stays relevant no matter how fast the technology evolves.

Instructor: Elliot Feld — Founding Partner, Manual Override (AI-first agency)

Elliot is a commercial director and producer known for creating high-end branded content across multiple platforms.

Virtual Production Fundamentals

(LED Volume / ICVFX)

Step into the future of filmmaking with a clear, producer-friendly roadmap to Virtual Production.

You’ll learn how to:

• Understand the LED Volume & ICVFX workflow.
  
• Budget and schedule Virtual Production responsibly.
  
• Replace costly location moves & weather issues with predictable, controlled environments.
  
• Communicate about new roles, such as the Virtual Production Supervisor.
  
• Align clients & creative teams in real time.
  

Turn post-production headaches into pre-production wins and elevate the way you produce forever.

Instructor: Evan Blacker — Director of Operations, 2D House Inc.

Evan Blacker is a production and operations leader with extensive experience across commercial production, virtual production, and studio operations.

The Art of Freelancing

Unlock the playbook to building a thriving, sustainable freelance career as an agency producer.

You’ll learn how to:

• Set up your business with the proper structure (Sole Prop, LLC, S-Corp).
  
• Price your work confidently: day rates, flat fees, retainers.
  
• Build the financial systems every freelancer needs.
  
• Become the producer that clients request by name.
  

Stop chasing jobs. Start creating the network and reputation that makes the work come to you.

Instructor: Clare Dietrich — Freelance Producer & Production Consultant

With more than two decades of experience across client-side and agency settings, Clare, better known as Cash, combines wide-ranging expertise to lead integrated production.

What Creatives Need From Producers

If you’ve ever wondered what makes a producer truly indispensable to a creative team, this is the Accelerator that tells you.

Learn the five core traits creatives value most: Trust. Clarity. Curiosity. Proactivity. Taste.

You’ll learn to:

• Become the ally, not the gatekeeper.
• Translate creative ambition into executable reality.
• Use communication to inspire confidence.
• De-escalate conflict before it happens.
• Protect the creative spark while still delivering on deadlines.
  

Stop just managing deliverables. Start becoming the partner creatives fight to keep on their projects.

Instructor: Neil Walker Wells Chief Creative Officer, not so secret and Stephanie Walker Wells President, Head of Production,  not so secret

Neil is a world-travelling, non-conformist creative chameleon always on the lookout for a crazy idea and a smart way to make it. Stephanie is president and co-founder of not so secret - a creative advertising and production company uniquely positioned to concept and produce brand content.

Working With Production Consultants

Throughout this lesson, we'll cover

• The evolution of the consultant role.
• When and how they get involved.
• Strategies for managing the often-stressful negotiation process.
• The step-by-step workflow from pre-bid through project wrap. 

You'll learn how to prepare bulletproof documentation, handle common objections, keep your cool under pressure, and build productive long-term relationships with consultants—even the difficult ones.

Become the producer who protects the creative vision and the budget with confidence.

Instructor: Clare Dietrich — Freelance Producer & Production Consultant

With more than two decades of experience across client-side and agency settings, Clare, better known as Cash, combines wide-ranging expertise to lead integrated production.

Experiential Marketing Production

Become an Experiential Production Pro!

Stop being intimidated when creative asks for the next big pop-up or brand activation. This lesson is your ultimate guide to mastering the high-stakes, high-reward world of live event production. You'll move beyond traditional methods and learn the non-negotiable steps to take a big idea from a rough concept to a flawlessly executed, unforgettable experience.

In this lesson, you will learn to:

• Determine the Strategic Why: Immediately scope the project by asking the right questions about goals (sales, data, buzz) to ensure feasibility.
• Master the Five Research Pillars: Systematically investigate Location, Permitting, Specialists, realistic Timelines, and Budget Ballparking.
• Manage Expectations Like an Expert: Turn potential challenges (like tight timelines or high costs) into solutions by presenting the "critical path" and providing strategic options and contingency plans.
• Build the Dream Team: Identify and coordinate the essential specialists—from Lead Experiential Producers and Fabrication Houses to Day-of Managers and Brand Ambassadors.

With this framework, you’ll gain the confidence and knowledge to successfully navigate any experiential request and become a trusted strategic partner for your creative team and clients in no time!

Instructor: Kevin Saffer & Cynthia Heyd - Executive producers, The Deli Production Agency

Kevin and Cynthia have decades of production experience in commercial film production working both on the agency side and the production company side of the business

How to Understand a Production Company Shoot Bid

This is the essential financial blueprint every agency producer needs to understand.

You’ll learn how to read, understand and interpret:

• Top Sheet estimate
• Director & Location expenses
• Crew requirements, 
• Equipment and art department costs
• Talent, casting costs
• Insurance costing
  

Know the right questions to ask and gain the confidence to negotiate like a pro.
Become the producer who never gets blindsided on a budget call again.

Instructor: Kevin Saffer & Cynthia Heyd - Executive producers, The Deli Production Agency

Kevin and Cynthia have decades of production experience in commercial film production working both on the agency side and the production company side of the business