Fabian Barz, Chief of Production at INNOCEAN Europe, walks us through the agency’s dual-team structure and offers candid insights on balancing creative ambition with real-world production demands, the growing (and sometimes overhyped) role of AI, and why adaptability is everything.
Can you give us an overview of your production team’s structure?
Our production team is organized into two main sections: the classical agency production department and the content production team.
Our classical production team consists of:
5 Classical Producers
1 Editor
2 Motion Graphic Designers / Animators
Our content production team includes:
2 Senior Content Creators
2 Junior Content Creators
1 Content Producer
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?
In Germany, we have a saying: “eierlegende Wollmilchsau”, which literally means a pig that produces wool, milk, and eggs all at once. That’s exactly what we need to be — like a Swiss Army knife: capable of mastering all kinds of production tasks. From producing a classical large-scale campaign, to pulling off a quick PR stunt, creating an activation idea, or delivering a TikTok video in under two hours.
We produce a lot in-house, as it’s an efficient way to get things done quickly and cost-effectively. But in-house production is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We still believe that big campaigns achieve greater creative excellence when executed through a proper triple-bid process.
What are the biggest challenges you face when balancing creative vision with production logistics, and how do you overcome them?
The biggest challenge agency production departments currently face is the belief that everything can be produced with AI — quickly and on a small budget. AI is a powerful tool — arguably the biggest game changer since the invention of musical instruments to accompany human song. However, when it comes to creating commercials, AI still has limitations.
Apart from legal concerns, AI still cannot meet the production standards we’re used to from traditionally shot commercials. The results of AI-based production — especially in automotive advertising — are still far from what creatives and clients expect.
Yes, we’re all fascinated by what AI can already create: Wes Anderson–inspired vignettes or trailers for the latest Halo game, for instance. But AI still can’t generate 60 seconds of believable driving footage that holds up against real-world shooting.
Let me explain: even if you feed a CAD file into an AI film tool, it won’t guarantee you 30 seconds of driving footage with 100% accurate car depictions in every shot. We still need human finesse to polish these scenes. And when it comes to the physical behavior of a car or realistic camera movement — AI still has got a lot of limitations.
But don’t worry — I’m sure AI will be able to tackle this challenge sooner than we think.
Can you share with us a recent project you’re proud of?
Last year, together with our partners at Stink, we produced a campaign for the German office of Reporters Without Borders. The creative idea was so compelling and the execution so well-crafted that the project was awarded with the Grand Prix for Good in Cannes — among a lot of other recognitions.
