CICLOPE Stories: Meet The Maker
Nico Pérez Veiga, founder of Primo, is an internationally sought after commercial director. At last year’s CICLOPE Latino, he added to his long list of major industry awards by winning Director of the Year, with Primo named Production Company of the Year.
We spoke to Nico about the industry’s direction of travel and how new directing talent can stand out, among other things, which can be read in the full interview at the link below.
Where is advertising work moving in your view?
We’re in an era where advertising is competing with streaming and social platforms, so it should be moving more into branded content rather than classic, product oriented ads. It’s really, really hard to stand out now, this is the toughest moment in the 20 years I’ve been doing this. And the only way to stand out is to produce more innovative, more cinematic, and more entertaining work.
What are the main skills a young director should develop to succeed in the industry?
I think it’s about being very precise when it comes to rewriting a script for an agency. Grabbing the soul and the heart of the idea and elevating it, not changing it entirely. Directors must also be great sellers, because agencies and clients now make them present treatments verbally.
They also have to be hard working professionals. They need to be very obsessive and precise about every part of the process. The acting, the cinematography, the framing, the sound, the edit and they need to be across every detail – the performance, production design, cinematography, sound and music. [When signing new talent] I’m trying to find directors that have a universal language that is timeless.
