Varun Katyal, Ex- Senior Creative Director at Ogilvy, launches content production startup ‘Clapboard,’ with an aim to package advertising services as a SAAS offering. Clapboard is a digital platform that automates the content production process, giving brands and agencies access to top talent. It uses AI to engineer the skills of an agency producer and offers a transparent, quick, and democratic way to produce content.
The platform includes an app, cost benchmarking tool, and an aggregator of directors, cinematographers, actors, and more. It allows brands and agencies to assemble film crews with just a few clicks and generates transparent quotations. Clapboard also creates a level playing field for talent not associated with large production houses or not on the radar of big agencies. Additionally, creators can use the platform to showcase their portfolio and pitch for upcoming projects.
Speaking about what pushed him to take the plunge, Varun explained that agencies create disruptive ideas for their clients, but as an industry, advertising has failed to reinvent its own act.
“I wholeheartedly believe advertising is transitioning into a new era of work where we need to rethink how our workforces are built and networked. We need to lean into a hybrid approach which enables access to talent with the right skill set at the right time. Using established and emerging technologies we can transform the agency offering,” he explains.
He said lack of transparency in film production and inflated production cost plague the creative industry. This is where technologies like blockchain can serve as the perfect antidote to the kickback culture that exists in film procurement. It is time the industry invested in tools to check for transparency and also make it democratic for the new talent in the industry.
“We set out to codify our experience and knowledge as creative directors and producers to create an automated process that better served the talent and the marketers. After a trip down the rabbit hole of technology, sharing the initial proof of concept with some clients and talents and countless hours of coding, the platform is ready. Next, there are a host of other services that will be rolled out in the coming months,” he adds.
