Zen Serenity: Producer Javier Alejandro’s Approach to Pulling Off Massive Productions

Being a good producer means having a healthy mindset. You’re not someone who just solves problems; you’re someone who takes a problem and turns it into an opportunity, which is exactly what Javier has done throughout his career. He’s behind some of the biggest ads and music videos in recent memory— from Stormzy and Dua Lipa to global campaigns with Nike and Axe—and has amassed hundreds of millions, if not billions of views.

In our conversation, we talked about his mindset in production and how the skills of a producer are the same: whether you’re working with an indie budget or a massive budget.

Filmsupply: What’s essential for a producer to keep in mind when starting a new job?

Javier Alejandro:?There’s no point in going into something without showing interest. Otherwise, why is someone entrusting you as a producer if you don’t care? Before I walk into a meeting, I always research the director’s last five jobs. If you go into a meeting and you don’t get on with a person, or you don’t have any research, it can be tough. Your job is to care just as much as a director does in bringing their vision, their creative’s, and the agency’s vision to life. If you don’t care, then, oh shit, you’re on the wrong job.

In the beginning, did you always work jobs you cared about?

In general, I’ve been very lucky to be able to work on cool projects across the board. I’ve always been consistent in tapping who was doing cool projects. Even on the music videos as a runner, I’d be on projects that I was absolutely infatuated with at the same time. I’ve always been that guy. If I met someone from the label or the artist, I made sure that relationship was maintained, because they shared the same interest and love that I did.

Automatically, people saw me as someone who just cared. Sometimes you get runners who don’t want to do anything. I was just keen and motivated and would run around picking up the gaffer’s lights and moving them. It’s an all-around thing. I was usually that kid who wanted to help. It’s a mentality.

How do you win a “Best Producer” award when everything you do is behind the scenes?

It’s a very good question: How do you win "Best Producer," and why? It’s the level of work, what goes into each frame. “What has this producer done to make that video happen?” For Stormzy’s video, there were like six car stunts, an artist sitting on the bonnet of an Uber driving, a crazy amount of cast, locations, and effects. It’s the scale and the production value. UK music videos compared to US music videos, they’re nowhere near as big in terms of scale and budget. In the UK, you want people to think, “Wow, how did you guys do that? What was the money behind that?” It’s about what’s on-screen.

That seems to sum up a producer’s role nicely—getting a lot out of a little.

Yes. It’s about adaptability. Everyone goes on about IQ all the time. What about AQ? I think AQ is what makes a good producer. It’s how you adapt. Pre-COVID, I would always tell my crew, “Guys, we’re not saving lives, we’re making films.” In the current climate, things are a little different, but you still have to keep your cool. I’m not going to say that I don’t lose my shit sometimes and stress out, but I always remind myself that I need to stay level. If you start mixing loads of emotions in, that’s when you start making unruly decisions.?

It’s also about calculated risks. There have been so many calculated risks that I’ve taken, and sometimes you just have to. Take the Stormzy music video, for example. For some reason, the car company sent us the wrong-colored car. I didn’t even show it to my director because I knew it didn’t work. So what did I do? I booked an Uber. I told the driver, “Here’s a waiver, we’ll make sure everything’s fine. We’ve got a stunt driver driving your car.” It’s a risk, but the worst that can happen is you have to buy a new Toyota Prius.

Is there a correlation between how difficult a project is and how good the project is?

100 percent. We just wrapped my toughest project in Mexico. We shot on a beach. We closed down the port, closed down a beach town, closed down?a Puebla Magico, closed down Mexico City. We were in a jungle, we were in a quarry. Even the director, who’s way more experienced than me, said it was his toughest job. But, is it going to be my best job? Yes. It’s going to be crazy.?

If you have a producer who says yes to the director all the time, then inevitably it’s going to be a watered-down treatment. You have to have that battle between the producer and the director. You have to bump heads. You have to say, “Hey guys, cool, we can’t do this but we can do this.”

I always say to my directors, especially my new ones, “I’ve got a deck of cards. I can’t use the whole deck of cards. I’m only allowed to use five cards. You can have an ace and you can have a king, but at some point, you’re going to have to have a two or a three.” That’s how it works. You’ve got battles. Sometimes they want five kings, but there are not five kings in the deck. More often than not I can give the director what they want. That’s great too. But there are always restrictions.

You’ve worked with a lot of ambitious directors. What does it mean to be an ambitious producer?

Say “no” less. I try to avoid saying no. It’s my last resort. When I get involved in a project, I want it to be the best project I’ve done. This is so cliché, but you’re only as good as your last project. To get there, you have to learn to say no less, but also have a solution in place of that “no.”?

Sometimes I do say no because some requests are just preposterous. But, the more level-headed you are, the more you can think about it, and see where your director is going with it, you see how cool their ideas could be.?

That’s where I put myself, and it’s dangerous, to stop thinking like a producer and start thinking like a director. I’ll think, “What if we got this technocrane and added these extras?” Then, I’ll think, “Why did I just say that? My job just got way harder.” I’m going to have to deal with that and figure out how I’m going to find the money that we don’t have. But, on the other hand, it would be cool. I could shout about my problems, but then I see the final product and think, “Okay, that was worth the bullshit.”

Dive deeper into the acclaimed producer's process—read the full article on the Filmsupply Blog:?https://flmsp.ly/3YCOf4l