Exploring Uncharted Territory: How Jenna Edwards Traded Post Production for Production

It’s not every day that you see post production people jumping over to the production world. So, the implications of Jenna Edwards’ decision to depart Married to Giants in favour of Impossible Studios are quite exciting. After all, for the production studio’s new executive producer, the sky’s the limit, the future is filled with fresh challenges, and the seldom-explored pipeline is packed with the promise of bold, bright and brilliant work. 

“I was very fortunate to have incredible training and leadership at MtG, which connected me to gain strong agency/client relationships,” she says. “However, after working in post for 12 plus years, I realised that I wanted to be more involved in overseeing the creative process. As an EP in the post world, you’re looped into the project shortly before the shoot, but by that time, most of the major creative decisions are made. Production felt like the perfect sideways step, offering more involvement from director briefs to delivery.”

So what made Impossible Studios the perfect place to land? According to Jenna, there were several factors making it the clear choice. Originally meeting founder and fellow EP Marco D’Angelo during the pandemic, (right when he was first launching the studio) the two would quickly collaborate through ‘Creativity For Good’ - an initiative Marco started in response to the precarious times, wherein a network of creatives would create commercials as a means to help struggling businesses regain their client base. 

“After working with Marco on the offline side of these, and other projects, I realised that we worked harmoniously together,” she says. “So, when the opportunity presented itself to work and learn the production side from Marco directly, it seemed like an obvious decision.”

Building on this, Jenna adds that also influencing the decision was her appreciation for Marco’s collaborative and patient approach, as well as the fact that generally speaking, the two are quite like-minded. “I wanted to learn in an open, creative environment, and Impossible Studios is exactly that,” she notes. “Working for an aspiring company that is new yet established is a dream come true, and I’m excited to grow with the company, build our roster to be even stronger, and fill the gap between production and post.”

And since then, this last point has posed quite the business opportunity. Jenna’s experience managing a roster of editors has translated flawlessly to managing a roster of directors and photographers - a testament to the relevancy of shared experience between the two worlds. Moreover, in a time when budgets are tight, her arrival has proven to be a strong solution, enabling the nimble, agile creative that is required now more than ever before. 

On this, Jenna says, “With the current climate being what it is, everyone in our industry - big or small - has had to adapt to shrinking budgets. It's been evident for a while now, but it's invited us to all be a little more creative with how we spend the dollars available to us. One of the biggest ways to make a budget go a little further is to manage post, as well as production, and we've been doing a lot more of that in the face of these shrinking budgets. My post production background allows me to recognise the key players who generally undertake the big, full budget projects, but also the remarkably talented, hungry editors who will hustle to ensure a project runs successfully.”

The advantages don’t stop there. On a business level, this coalescence of Jenna’s network and Marco’s production team has already proven beneficial across projects. “I oversee all aspects of the post side, and when looped in on the shoot, I can flag any potential issues right away,” she says. “I can also stand in on set to answer spontaneous VFX questions, which is helpful when you do not have a VFX supervisor present. This allows our director and creative team to really focus on the shoot while I manage what comes next.”

On a personal level, Jenna has very much enjoyed getting to meet an entirely new group of artists, as well as diverse local talent - owing in part to both Marco and the studio’s massive connectivity to the local scene. 

“I love how small and connected the Toronto advertising industry is,” she adds. “I’ve been fortunate to have strong relationships within it, and I love knowing that if I ever have a question, there are tons of people who are willing to jump in to help out. There are so many incredibly talented (and humble!) people in this city, and I feel really grateful to have the opportunity to work within this tight-knit community.”

Reflecting this passion, Jenna hopes to further offerings by continuing to build the Impossible Studios squad - transforming a strong team into a powerhouse. 

“Because a production company is a specialist in production - which can make them generalists when it comes to types of commercials - each director should be a specialist in their own category, and directors shouldn’t overlap on a roster,” she says, noting that Impossible Studios already embraces this mentality quite effectively, with Tom Wilson creating fast-paced, fun camera movement spots, The Dads on comedy, Mike Rae doing dark, cool and moody with a splash of VFX, Jasmine Kuhn generating product and beauty, and Jerome Riel doing sports.

Continuing, Jenna reinforces that if Impossible Studios had a roster of directors all doing the same work, they’d be competing against each other, and people would get left behind. She says, “We want directors that are great at their style and have perfected something specific - they can always do a general spot, but a generalist can’t do what these directors have specifically spent a career learning how to perfect.”

But equally important throughout all of this is Jenna's hope to not just facilitate a stylistically diverse roster, but a genuinely diverse one - throughout all partners in production. 

“I’ve noticed a massive shift in the conversations around diversity. Firstly, it’s clear that our clients feel a responsibility to ensure that they’re casting evenly, while representing their brand and target audience. But even if that weren’t the case, I firmly believe it is essential that there are equal opportunities. Every person deserves to feel represented, and this is something that we want to reflect at Impossible.”