The IPA Appoints Eliot Liss as Head of Production

The IPA has today (10 March 2022) appointed Eliot Liss as its new head of production to provide production and business affairs advice and support to agencies, and to help shape policy and best practice in production. Liss succeeds industry stalwart Kim Knowlton in this role who retires after a long and much revered industry career.

Liss brings 20 years of production experience to the IPA, having spent time in a number of industry production roles at M&C Saatchi, WCRS, Engine and AMV.BBDO, among others. His wealth of knowledge spans celebrity, sports, automotive, international and luxury retail campaigns, 2D & 3D animation, VFX, stills, digital content and working with directors and crew in house. He also brings with him an in-depth understanding of technical, legal, regulatory and contractual production frameworks. 

As part of his IPA role he will oversee the IPA Production Policy and Business Affairs Groups comprised of IPA agency heads, and will focus on addressing the following core areas:

Regrouping post-Covid and refocussing on creativity

Pushing forward on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) and sustainability in production, to help achieve a better, fairer future.

Raising the profile and practice of production as a discipline in order to attract, develop and reward the next generation of producers.

Says Liss: "I am a passionate advocate of all aspects of advertising, marketing and media agency AV production in the UK, having enjoyed working with so many great people in this area, across the agency, brand-side and freelance sectors. Now my mission is to make our amazing corner of the industry even better and work closely with agencies, clients and suppliers to raise the values and profile of production.”

Says Paul Bainsfair, director general, IPA: “Unsurprisingly, being at the forefront, the production side of our business was hit hard by the pandemic. Hats off to all involved for adapting to the evolving rules and restrictions so quickly and for finding new and innovative ways to produce impressive results in spite of this. As we look forward to brighter times, we are delighted to have Eliot on board to help support and advise our agencies on the core issues affecting production.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the indefatigable Kim Knowlton for her five years with us at the IPA during which our agencies have found her counsel invaluable. We wish her a very happy and much deserved retirement.”