A typical day... we may be at a studio editing all day. Or we may be on set for a week straight. Or we’re having client meetings to walk them through our vision and how things are coming together. Being a producer is pretty much being that point person everyone comes to, looking to you as that voice of reason, that voice of comfort when things are crazy. You have to be that rock. That person who’s unfazed by things. If you’re not, then everyone else is going to freak out. No one likes surprises, especially clients. Anything that goes wrong, it’s you. Anything that goes right, it’s everyone else.

 

​

MB: What do you do in your downtime, if there is any?

​

AB: Oh, I really don’t have a lot of downtime with our client. I work with Empire State Development - part of that is the “I Love NY” campaigns - so we do a lot of work for them, and I’m the only producer on that account. But I would say, downtime wise, I’m mostly on AdAge looking for good content, who directed it, what agency shot it… I look up directors a lot. I really like looking at director reels - everyone at my last agency felt that [knowing great directors] was a strength of mine, because that directly affects what type of content you’re going to be putting out there. Even though you’re managing directors, you’re relinquishing a lot of control to them.

 

​

MB: What drew you to advertising?

​

AB: I started out as a news reporter working in my college town of Urbana-Champagne, making less than $20,000 a year, working crazy hours like the night shift… I still had my part time job at OfficeMax, so there were people like “Oh didn’t I see you on the news?” and I was actually checking them out, at *laughs* at OfficeMax, so it’s crazy.

​

A friend of mine told me about a 10 month production associate program at Draft FCB, and there were over 900 applicants, and I was one of 6 applicants selected. It was me and five girls all cramped in this one office, almost Pursuit of Happiness style. I just got so immersed in it, I started loving it. The work we were putting out, the camaraderie among teammates and coworkers, and just seeing a sentence turn into million dollar campaigns. Part of me likes production because I’m putting out content that affects how people feel.

Part of being a producer is working crazy hours. I’ve logged my share of 100 hour weeks - it’s a beast at times - so you have to be able to love what you do to do it for 100 hours a week. My thing is that I’m happy doing anything as long as it involves me being creative.

 

​

MB: What’s been your most gratifying experience?

​

AB: I would say my most gratifying experience has been doing the impossible. As a producer, I don’t think the word “impossible” exists. There’s always a solution. Whenever we’re faced with a problem or an issue, I don’t bring it to the account team and say “we need to find something to do.” I’m like, “this happened. This is how we want to address it. This is our solution. Are we all good?” and I think anyone would prefer that over panic.

 

​

MB: Your most challenging experience?

​

AB: Managing a lot of personalities. Everyone has a different objective on your team: the creatives want to make the most creative stuff; the account team wants to make sure the client is happy; the vendor just wants to make the best spot in their own eyes, ‘cause that reflects on them. So managing all those things can be pretty challenging at times.

 

​

MB: If you could change one thing about the advertising industry, what would it be?

​

AB: A lack of diversity. It’s a huge issue in the advertising industry right now - a lot of it stems from a lot of minorities not being exposed to advertising, specifically in high school and college. There’s no major in college that makes you a good producer. There isn’t one for creatives, either. Advertising is hard to understand until you’re in it and you see how the different departments all work together to create the ads you see every day.

​

I think you need more people from different backgrounds. You need different ways of looking at ideas in order to get the best out of them. You can’t take six people who are all from the same areas and all have the same life experiences and expect them to make something that resonates with the entire country. [Those from different backgrounds] may not be your best friends. They won’t look or talk or work like you, but it’s about getting over that and being comfortable with unfamiliar people.

 

​

MB: What advice would you give a young Antonio?

​

AB: I would say:

• Be a workaholic. Do whatever you can. Be the first one in, and the last one out.

• Treat every day like your first day. Don’t get complacent.

• Stay accountable for things, and be able to take responsibility when they go bad.

• Be adaptable. No agency is the same, and your agency may even evolve over time.

• Don’t hesitate to reach out to people who are more established in the industry.

• Know that this job, at times, is gonna be your entire life.

• Never feel like you’re settling. Advertising is lucrative, but it’s not like you’re a lawyer or a doctor. You need to love what you’re doing when you work all these freakin’ hours.

• If you’re creative in advertising, that’ll be your biggest asset.

 

​

MB: In a few words, what does advertising mean to you?

​

AB: Advertising is taking information, creating an idea from that and making it reality. It’s changing the way people think about and approach their lives.

 

​

MB: What are some insider tips you’ve learned over the years?

​

AB: There’s always food. *laughs* Um, no uh... Certain things are better to email because you need a paper trail for it. Certain things are better to talk about, maybe even because you shouldn’t have a paper trail for it.

​

​