Ella Nuortila on Finding Your Production Tribe
Ella Nuortila is an executive producer at 1stAveMachine. With a background in film and documentaries, she has led dozens of award-winning projects from music videos and commercials to live events, social campaigns and animation films, including Hilton’s internet-breaking ‘The Ad You Stay In’ with over 35 million views and Eminem’s ‘Somebody Save Me’ music video that won a Clio award and was nominated at the VMAs.
Ella sat down with LBB to discuss early lessons in production, producing Eminem music videos, and why you never ever buy cheap hard drives…
LBB> What first attracted you to production – and has it been an industry you’ve always worked in or did you come to it from another area?
Ella> I was born and raised in Finland, a small country that doesn’t have a big film or media industry, so growing up I didn’t know what a producer was. I studied literature, film and TV and thought I wanted to work as a publisher or a journalist.
However, at school we had to produce short documentaries and little TV news segments, and I realised what I enjoyed the most was putting together the perfect team for each project. Rather than focusing on one specific technical aspect of the project, I liked focusing on the big picture and getting the most out of my team and the resources at hand.
That’s how I learned what a producer is, and most importantly that it’s something I enjoy.
LBB> What was your first role in the production world and how did this experience influence how you think about production and how you grew your career?
Ella> I’m not sure if this has changed, but they didn’t teach us about commercial production in film school, so in the early days of my career I didn’t know anything about advertising. I had various internships in film production companies, reading scripts, writing coverage and working as a production assistant. I took pretty much any job I could get, hoping someone would pay me or help me move forward.
I was also in a unique situation because I needed someone to sponsor my visa. My first jobs in film quickly taught me none of this was going to happen and through a few lucky coincidences I stumbled upon commercial production where for me the opposite was true. In commercial sets the crew was paid with more than just a credit on the film, and it was an environment where I was able to learn a lot of hard production skills due to the fast cycle from prep to wrap.
LBB> How did you learn to be a producer?
Ella> Initially I learned by watching how other people do it and trying to make my own version of it. Ultimately I learned by just doing it, again and again.
LBB> Looking back to the beginning of your career, can you tell us about a production you were involved in where you really had to dig deep and that really helped you to grow as a producer?
Ella> In my early 20s I produced a short film with my friends and we lost one full day of footage due to a hard drive crash. We had worked SO hard to shoot the film and had no money for a reshoot. I wasn’t willing to have all of the fruits of everyone's labour go to waste, so I raised money through crowdfunding to finance a reshoot.
By the time we were ready to shoot again, the location of our film got demolished! Because the film happened in just one location, there was no way to leverage the existing footage without having the same location again. I refused to give up and managed to use the funds to reshoot the entire film. Just thinking back on all the twists and turns makes me feel dizzy.
That’s when I learned one of the most important lessons in filmmaking which is to never save money on hard drives. Also that ultimately as a producer everyone relies on you to problem solve through whatever comes your way and it’s a responsibility I never took lightly.
LBB> A good producer should be able to produce for any medium, from film to events to digital experience. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why/why not?
Ella> A good producer should be able to produce in any medium because the fundamental building blocks of producing are always the same. Build the right team and approach with the resources you have, so you can deliver whatever it is that you are producing.
However, being able to do something is not the same as being good at something and I am a big believer in expertise and hold specialists in high regard.
LBB> What’s your favourite thing about production and why?
Ella> People. Where else do you have such a large group of people come together by each bringing their own passion, skill and hard work to make something creative. It’s fun and exciting and as a producer you get to learn about each person’s specialty, and your job is to make sure they have what they need in order to do their part properly and with the right amount of support.
In the process of learning about what everyone does and needs, we learn about each other as people and I love how we all come to do this thing from completely different backgrounds and life experiences.
LBB> How has production changed since you started your career?
Ella> Social deliverables have become more important than the TVC, social native content is now a genre of advertising, AI has become a viable tool in filmmaking and after the pandemic we started living in Zoom, making ‘remote’ an acceptable approach for many things that used to always happen in person.
LBB> And what has stayed the same?
Ella> That good work is still good work because of the human emotions it evokes through great storytelling.
LBB> What do you think is the key to being an effective producer – and is it something that’s innate or something that can be learned?
Ella> The key to being an effective producer is to never assume, to know failure is not an option, to know what you don’t know, to get ahead of problems before they become obstacles and to communicate transparently with everyone at all times. You also need to have good taste.
The rest is about being a leader and managing the available resources strategically. I think the earlier part is innate and the latter can be learned.
LBB> Which production project from across your career are you most proud of and why?
Ella> I got to EP a music video for Eminem and Jelly Roll for their song ‘Somebody Save Me’. It was such a full circle moment for me because I literally learned to speak English by translating Eminem’s lyrics from ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ when I was a child and he’s been a huge idol of mine ever since. It was a great experience and the video, directed by Emil Nava, came out beautifully.
LBB> And in terms of recent work, which projects have you found to be particularly exciting or have presented particularly interesting production challenges?
Ella> I worked on CeraVe’s latest brand campaign with Ogilvy NY. I haven’t done a lot of comedy in my career and the whole campaign was really funny and involved a lot of social deliverables that together build a bigger story.
It involved three professional athletes who were all in different parts of the country, with constantly shifting schedules which made production challenging. We were also scheduled to shoot in LA with Anthony Davis right at the time of the Palisades fire, an unprecedented challenge.
I’m proud of how each party involved came together to make sure we do what’s right and safe for everyone involved.
LBB> Producers always have the best stories. What’s the hairiest / most insane situation you’ve found yourself in and how did you work your way out of it?
Ella> That same CeraVe campaign with Anthony Davis was shot when he was still playing for the Lakers. Our spots involved Lakers uniforms, step and repeat backgrounds with the Lakers logo and were pretty much purple and yellow all around.
A week before we delivered the spots, we all woke up one Sunday morning to see that Anthony Davis had been traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Long story short, our post production team had to hire a small army of people to rework all the deliverables to reflect Mavericks brand colours. This was especially challenging because a lot of the work was shot handheld with iPhones and never assuming it would require heavy post work of any kind. We were also in a big time crunch as the campaign was just about to launch. When you look at the work now, you’d never know how the footage looked when we shot it.
LBB> What are your personal ambitions or aspirations as a producer?
Ella> I’m extremely fortunate to work for an innovative and craft-focused company like 1stAveMachine and I look forward to continuing to grow my career with the company. I get to represent some of the most multi-faceted and forward thinking directors in our industry and can’t wait to see what fun and challenging projects we get to make this year.
LBB> As a producer your brain must have a neverending to-do list. How do you switch off? What do you do to relax?
Ella> I view my career as a marathon, not a sprint. Being an EP requires creativity, taste and imagination and switching off from work-mode is part of being a good producer. I read a lot of books, watch movies and go to museums, concerts, theatre, etc.
Thinking creatively and staying focused is impossible if you never take time to do things outside of your work. Balance is not always easy, but it’s paramount. I’m also a big believer in real vacations and believe that the personal time we take only motivates us to work harder.
LBB> Producers are problem solvers. What personally fuels your curiosity and drive?
Ella> I’m fuelled by pettiness and my need for external validation! Jokes aside, I’ve always been naturally driven by wanting to ‘figure things out’. That can be a specific production-related challenge I’ve never faced before, or learning about the new labour laws in a specific state we’re filming in, to stay compliant. I’m genuinely curious about all aspects of my job. The deeper you dive into any specific thing in life, the more interesting and layered it becomes.
LBB> What advice would you give to people who are interested in becoming a producer?
Ella> Find your tribe, whether it’s in the freelance community or a production company. You're not working on the project, you are working with the people on the project.
LBB> From your experience what are the ingredients for a successful production?
Ella> Creative alignment and a locked creative allows for the best production experience. Projects where the creative changes constantly take energy and time away from elevating the work because we are busy catching up.
LBB> What’s the key to a successful production-client relationship?
Ella> The same as any successful relationship: trust.
LBB> Producers are naturally hands on – they have to be. How do you balance that in the more managerial role of an EP?
Ella> My style as an EP is to stay very hands-on during the pitch and bidding process and then step into a more managerial role during the production to allow my team to execute according to the production plan we put together during the pitch. The key is for me to be very familiar with what the plan is.
