Case Study: Studio Buck’s Metamorphosis

A few years back, Ryan Honey from Studio Buck spoke at Klik Animation Festival, and his talk was incredibly meaningful and transformative for me.

As he told it, Buck was a successful studio, doing well financially, but not really being as creative and ground-breaking as they wanted to be. They had a good reputation and a solid base of commercial clients, but felt like the work was a bit safe, a bit repetitive, a bit stale.

They were approached and asked to do a promo for a non-profit, and they agreed. Because the client wasn’t paying their normal rate, the client agreed to allow the studio to have creative control of the project. They took the creative challenge and ran with it, and this was the result:

Good Books – Metamorphosis from Buck on Vimeo.

Because Good Books is a non-profit, they were able to get a lot of exposure for the spot, and promoted it widely. It won a lot of awards (as we can see in the thumbnail), and Buck started to get calls from a whole new type of client. They started to hear from people who loved that spot, and wanted more of it.

I love everything about this approach and this result. It’s a brilliant approach to creative burnout, and a strikingly effective way to connect with the clients and the projects that are closer to your vision.

Firstly, what a creative and technical tour-de-force. Brilliantly conceived and impeccably executed, every frame of this spot is extraordinary. It might be tempting, if there’s no money involved, to bury the work; devote less time to it than to paid projects, keep your best people working on your core business, and drag your feet a little. Buck obviously did the opposite; they gave this spot everything they had, and celebrated every moment of it.

Secondly, it’s an incredibly clever strategic approach. Swapping creative control for money is a time-honored tradition, but many clients (even non-profits) don’t love it. But it’s also the most powerful and persuasive way to get these kinds of projects realized.

Finally, non-profits do have some advantages when it comes to distribution and visibility, because the work isn’t commercial as such. They are often able to secure slightly preferential rates for traditional media distribution, and many non-profits are experts at leveraging visibility out of social channels. It’s a great way to get your work seen.

Today, Studio Buck dedicates a percentage of their time to non-profit work every year, because they value the opportunity to learn and creatively challenge themselves.

My takeaways from the lessons of Buck and from my own experience with non-profits:

Sometimes it is not only necessary, but desirable, to sacrifice paid work in order to explore creatively. But if you choose to give discounted work to a non-profit, here’s how to make the most of it:

• Choose a good non-profit. Do your homework, because you want to be able to promote the brand and your work with pride.
• Keep creative control. Many non-profits are (understandably) very sensitive about their brand, and want to exercise a lot of control. But if your job is solely to execute their direction, they need to pay for the work.
• Look to the back end. Make sure your non-profit has a robust plan for distribution. Don’t give away work if it’s not going to be seen.
• Don’t half-ass the work. Even if you are tempted to de-prioritize it because it’s unpaid, do the opposite. Make this thing a showpiece. If you don’t get money OR bragging rights out of it, you’ve wasted your time.

Ultimately, Buck found a great solution for solving their short-term need for a creative challenge, and a long-term desire for clients who were more innovative and adventurous. It’s a fantastic lesson for us all.

Also, let’s give some love to Good Books and make the world a better place.