Industry veterans Alex Blum and his partner, Andrea Ruskin, have launched Blum Consulting Partners, a production consulting firm created to provide brands, agencies and their creative partners with the depth of expertise and nuanced understanding of production needed to navigate the changing landscape of the advertising industry.
Blum, former chief innovation and strategy officer at Advertising Production Resources, and Ruskin, a former vice president and brand executive producer, launched the new venture motivated by their conviction that production consulting needs to evolve to meet the new set of challenges.
“When we started in production consulting, the business was still holding on to a broadcast-centric model that laddered down from TV campaigns into a limited universe of media types,” said Blum. “Now, most campaigns are integrated across platforms with a broad range of deliverables, often with competing priorities, sometimes global demands, and typically challenging timelines. The value of production consulting is now about managing a complex process with a lot of moving parts to get the best value.”
The partners have worked with Fortune 500 companies and major advertising agencies across all platforms and verticals, implementing improved production processes. Over the years, they have developed a distinctive approach of their own, which fosters collaboration between all partners and defines the culture of the new company.
The company, which officially launched in April, provides real-time solutions for challenges that arise during the production process and functions as a resource to address the root causes of recurring production and execution issues.
Both partners have strong and diverse backgrounds in production. Blum, a former owner of a multi award-winning production company and feature film producer is also a frequently called upon industry expert, contributing writer, and guest speaker. Ruskin, also a former production company owner who has spent her entire career in advertising, brings years of experience and a passion for problem solving to BCP.
“We are the first consultancy founded by production company owners,” said Ruskin.
“We understand the creative process and we know how to support it. What sets us apart is our commitment to collaboration, and the strength of our relationships,” added Blum.
BCP is based in Los Angeles with resources in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, and London.
Blum Consulting Partners www.blumconsutingpartners.com