ADC Q&A with Jon Kamen
Posted on
2007-Dec-5
at
12:41
Chairing the ADC Hybrid Award Jury for the 87th Annual Awards is Jon Kamen, chairman and chief executive officer @radical.media, a multi-disciplinary producer of television programs, feature films, branded content and theater. Originally a commercial production company, @radical.media has evolved into a premier producer of sponsored entertainment, award-winning commercials, and a multi-disciplinary integrated media company. The ADC Hybrid Award focuses on innovation and honors the year's latest ingenious ways that brands are being communicated to the public. Jon, a long standing ADC member for many years, is a former Vice President of the ADC Board. We caught up with Jon to get his take on the ADC Hybrid Award, "innovative bones," his appreciation of time spent outside the office, his inability to pick a favorite "child," and the absence of musical talent. Interviewed by Regan Murphy.
ADC: As a kid, what did you think you'd do when you grew up?
JK: Well...I was hoping to be a photographer.
ADC: What were the critical/pivotal decisions of your career?
JK: When I was offered 25 bucks more a week to work in television.
ADC: How does @radical's expansion mirror these decisions?
JK: Obviously, a company working in all levels in all media, including advertising television and print. Not to mention our design and digital capabilities. I guess one can say I am always open for change.
ADC: @radical now has offices in London, Paris, Berlin and Sydney. Is anything different among these offices - do you work differently?
JK: The talent is cross-pollinated throughout all the offices and while each office is managed independently, we truly work together as a team.
ADC: @radical works in an expanding portfolio of media disciplines. If you had to limit yourself to one, which would you choose?
JK: That's a really tricky question. I love all my children the same.
ADC: As an innovator, you often push the envelope - how does that influence you as the ADC Hybrid jury chair?
JK: It clearly prepares me as the Hybrid chair. We have experienced and practiced so many of these disciplines that it will be included in the judging process.
ADC: The ADC Hybrid Award is for innovation - what does this mean to you?
JK: We better be innovative on how we judge the category and the perspectives we put on the work...will become much more critical for us as a jury and also for the industry...helping to define and shape it.
ADC: You are a veteran of pro bono efforts, serving on several industry and university boards, donating time and talent to various causes. Does innovation figure into these projects?
JK: I love being able to contribute to both the public sector as well as an educational curriculum. Nothing makes me happier than to devote to all these various programs. Giving is perhaps the most rewarding thing to do in one's life. And innovation is all about not being afraid... So many of the unusual projects we have worked on in the past several years required all of our resources and all of our collective knowledge as to how to succeed. Whether it's working on a pro bono campaign for an organization like ONE or Conservation International, or just sorting out the issues facing a school or institution, sometimes it requires every innovative bone in your body. That's what it took to put Humpty Dumpty together again...
ADC: Among your varied projects as a producer you have overseen: Concert for George, a tribute to the late George Harrison, Jay-Z's Fade to Black and Some Kind of Monster, a documentary about the trials and tribulations of the heavy metal group Metallica. Is your personal taste in music a driver of these choices?
JK: Not at all. Each of these projects came to us in various ways. Music is part my DNA, even though I can't play a single note on the kazoo. My late brother, Michael Kamen, was a great composer and a huge influence in my life.
ADC: The Fog of War presented the story of America through the eyes of the former Secretary
of Defense, Robert McNamara. If you produced another film about another influential figure who would it be?
JK: I love to focus on a film on someone who has brought us joy and peace to the world.
ADC: What are your top 3 favorites?
Places you've been:
JK: Any place we don't have an office.
TV shows:
JK: Too varied to pick the top three. Love what's going with Iconoclasts. (I would be a fool for not promoting that). Certainly proud of what we started with Mad Men.
Places you want to go:
JK: Any place we don't have an office.
Books:
JK: Clapton's autobiography is an interesting realization.
Bill Clinton Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World
Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, to remind me of what not to eat anymore as I gobble it down.
Sporting events to watch:
JK: The Yankees when they were good.
An occasional round of tennis.
The Yankees when they were hitting the balls.
ADC: You are always looking ahead, plans for New Years yet?
JK: A little bubbly on the beach and then back to work. We're beginning to seriously roll out a bunch of our web/broadband initiatives in the New Year.
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