Credit where credit is due
As I have moved up the ranks as a creative director, interviewing potential hires has become something I do more and more. It’s a task I find difficult at the best of times but especially so in one particular circumstance. In the recent past two people have come in to interview and have each shown and talked about work I created as their own. It’s shocking when it happens and then one has to quickly think about how to react. On both occasions I decided, without letting on, to ask both candidates about what led them to conceive the idea. One quickly explained that the idea wasn’t hers, she had simply joined the project in its third season as a contributing art director. No problem at all. The other claimed to have come up with it despite having not been present for the project’s inception, having not worked at any of the companies involved and having no story as to what had inspired it. It was strange. I called him out and he left embarrassed and without a job offer.
Why does credit matter?
Clearly most people don’t flat out lie to get a job, but sometimes people are vague about their contributions to projects and that’s one of the factors that makes credit in our business so tricky. Giving and receiving credit for work is essential because creative reputations are based upon it. A good reputation leads to better assignments, promotion, better compensation, awards and then to bigger and better jobs with better assignments etc etc.
In the agency world where any good piece of work needs a great many people’s involvement, it’s hard to manage who gets credit and what credit they get. It’s hard because different people bring different skills and experiences to projects and they aren’t all valued equally. It’s hard because unlike the entertainment business, our business has no standard practices. Coming up with the initial idea is key, but so is honing it, selling it, crafting it, producing it and distributing it. Every step is necessary and people must work together. An environment where people are competing for credit is problematic yet some healthy competition also leads creatives to work hard and take chances.
In an effort to solve for this, my good friend Jae Goodman instituted an interesting credit policy at CAA marketing. He credited no individuals, rather the only credit on work was that of the company, CAA Marketing. He had a great team and won Grand Prix after Grand Prix so it would be hard to fault. But our business is transient, and my concern is what happens when people leave? Might they not be at a disadvantage when seeking a new job if their name isn’t credited on that famous work?
For a few years Mark and I have been trying another approach. We credit everyone who touches a project at all. Why not? What harm can it do? A “we” mentality encourages people to get involved and allows many to benefit from a successful project when one comes along while everyone also shares the downside risk which limits any one person taking too much heat for a miss. But my recent interviewing experiences have given me pause. Is it fair to people who had huge roles on a project?
So what’s the solution?
As a Chief Creative I wrestle with when I can be possessive about work so I try to be careful to say if an idea wasn’t mine and I just helped sell it or helped teams get it made, and at Episode Four we encourage our teams to do the same.
Don’t be shy about getting credit, in fact get your name on every project you work on, but be honest with yourself and others about what exactly you did. It’s very hard to regain your reputation or respect if you are perceived to be taking credit for someone else’s work and it’s an easy and tempting mistake to make in an industry where credits are vague and where the benefits of a hit can be enormously valuable.
One last thought:
A lot of creatives grumble about their clients taking credit for work they did. That’s a completely different scenario. We have no problem with a client taking credit in fact we feel they deserve it. A client’s brief is the starting point for almost all work, their funds pay for the project and they are the only person who really goes out on a limb for any creative project, potentially even putting their job at risk, which is rarely something we need worry about. A good client is a good collaborator and someone we at Episode Four are delighted to share credit with.
