023: Mark Pakulski, Freelance, Currently with Nike Global Brand

After working for agencies, Marc Pakulski went freelance and now works with Nike. But before his 15 years of Art Production experience, he used to work with Prince! Tune in for an enlightening chat on what it takes to work in this industry and what working brand-side means.

Key Takeaways

[:31] Heather introduces Marc and asks her guest to talk about who he is, where he is from, how he found his way into art production and what important skills he learned along the way, but first: how did Marc end up working on Prince’s music videos?!

[7:08] Marc touches on how Nike keeps their image relevant through up-and-coming artists as well as influencers, but the combination of motion and stills has been the driving change in the industry as he has seen it.

[11:20] Marc has an interest in new points of view and tries to keep current on unique styles and trends in photography, but a huge part of how a photographer is chosen is creative partnership.

[15:43] Reps and agents are Marc’s primary source for finding photographers but he does build his own list of people to draw from. All of those resources do involve some visit on Instagram.

[17:45] Providing more information about themselves and their other work is important for photographers to do because it offers additional insight on how that artist’s vision and perspective could steer the whole project, and Marc does share that information with the creative teams.

[22:39] The estimating process brand-side at Nike takes a long time because most of the details need to be worked out internally and all of the teams are involved.

[25:17] For more conceptual work, Marc will ask for treatments in order to get a more tangible feel for how the photographer’s vision will translate, and the treatments are shared with the creative team.

[28:28] Triple-bidding is not systematic but it is sometimes done for scope or budget reasons.

[31:25] The creative teams at Nike do offer their own suggestions of people they want to work with that they have found through reps, agents, Instagram, online publications, etc. And creatives in general love discovering new artists.

[40:38] Heather asks Marc a few personal questions, thanks him for coming on the podcast, and invites listeners to tune in for the next episode.

Thanks for listening.

In an industry where the rules are always changing, it’s helpful to hear from those on the front line. Heather Elder is the visionary behind NotesFromARep’sJournal.com; visit her website for industry updates, stunning photography and video, and the artists behind the work.

Mentioned in this episode

Nike

Prince

Fallon

Olson

More about your host

Heather Elder’s Bio

Heather Elder’s Blog

Heather Elder on Instagram

Heather Elder on Twitter

Heather Elder on LinkedIn

Heather Elder on Facebook

More about today’s guest

Marc Pakulski on LinkedIn

Marc Pakulski on Twitter