In an industry where speed often compromises substance, Antonio McDonald is building something different at KUAMP. Leading a team that is engineered for agility while grounded in cultural authenticity, he shares how KUAMP stays sharp under pressure, bridges creative and production from day one, and delivers emotionally resonant work.
Can you give us an overview of your production team’s structure?
We operate without the typical silos, allowing for seamless collaboration across all facets of a project. This integrated approach ensures that every piece of content we produce is infused with cultural relevance and authenticity, resonating deeply with diverse audiences.
Our team thrives on adaptability and efficiency, at times working within tight budgets and timelines without compromising on quality. We pride ourselves on delivering high production value, whether it’s for television, film, digital, or mobile.
In essence, our production team’s structure is designed to be lean, brave, and built for culture, ensuring that we not only keep up but make progress in every project we undertake.
In your experience, what are the key ingredients or qualities that are essential for sustaining a high-performing production team in today’s fast-paced advertising environment?
At KUAMP, it comes down to three things: trust, agility, and cultural intuition.
We’ve built a team that’s not just skilled, but deeply aligned. Everyone on the crew, from creatives to line producers, knows how to move with speed without breaking the story. We trust each other to own our lanes, and that trust keeps us lean and sharp.
Agility is huge. The landscape shifts fast – formats, platforms, budgets, timelines. We’ve structured our studio to flex, scale, and pivot without losing creative focus. That only works because we bring strategy, creative, and production together from day one. Also, we put a big emphasis on preparation. The magic happens in production, but it only works if pre-pro is locked. That’s where we align creative vision with execution, so once we’re on set, we can move fast and still capture the nuance.
And lastly: culture. We’re not chasing trends… We drive them. A high-performing team today needs to be tapped into what people care about, how they move, and what makes them feel something. That cultural awareness keeps our work resonant and our team motivated.
That mix of precision, pace, and purpose… That’s what sustains us.
What are the biggest challenges you face when balancing creative vision with production logistics, and how do you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges is making sure big ideas don’t get watered down by budget or logistics, but also making sure we’re not overreaching and setting the team up to fail. It’s a constant dance between dreaming big and being real.
The way we handle it at KUAMP is by collapsing the gap between creative and production from the start. We don’t just hand off a deck and hope it works – we’re thinking about feasibility while we’re shaping the vision. That early alignment makes a huge difference.
Another challenge is time. Everyone wants things yesterday, but great work still takes care. So we try to protect what matters – performance, story, detail – while finding smart ways to streamline the rest. That might mean hybrid crews, nimble gear packages, or building a set once and using it twice.
At the end of the day, it’s about trust. Our clients trust us to protect the creative, and we trust our team to find ways to make it real, without losing what makes it special.
Can you share a recent project where your team had to adapt on the fly? What made it a great learning experience?
Absolutely. On the HP “First Day” shoot, we were minutes away from rolling on our shot when we found out our lead actor tested positive for COVID. Full crew on set, everything lit, client watching – total curveball.
Instead of shutting down, we pivoted. Our wardrobe stylist – who had great on-camera presence – stepped in as the lead. His assistant took over styling duties, and the whole team rallied to adjust around the new setup. We reblocked shots, tweaked the narrative on the fly, and still delivered a film that hit emotionally and visually.
It was one of those moments that reminded us what production is really about – problem-solving under pressure, leaning on trust, and knowing your crew has your back. The client never felt the chaos. And the final spot? Still landed exactly where it needed to.
It was a wild shift, but the performance was authentic, the story held, and the spot ended up winning several awards.
Thankfully we are proud of all of our work… One that really stays with us is “I’m Still a King”, a piece we created for a nonprofit partner. It featured a talented young painter who happened to have a disability, but more importantly, it centered his strength, his presence, and his power.
From day one, we knew this wasn’t just a campaign – it was a statement. We approached it with our full toolkit: intimate documentary storytelling, cinematic production, and a crew that understood the sensitivity and significance of the moment.
The result was a film that didn’t just move people – it earned real recognition, winning several awards. But what we’re most proud of is how it helped shift perception and spotlight a voice that deserved to be heard.
That’s the kind of work we love – where craft and purpose go hand in hand.
