What’s actually happening inside creative studios right now?
I work with hundreds of creative studios and production companies across 40+ countries — motion design, VFX, live action, experiential, music, and sound. And toward the end of every year, founders ask me the same question:
“You work across the industry… what are you seeing right now?”
This episode is my answer.
Not pulled from headlines.
Not scraped from LinkedIn posts.
Not theory.
This is pattern recognition drawn from real conversations inside Forum®, private working sessions, founder dinners, sales calls, boardrooms, and years of building and advising studios at the highest level.
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This isn’t a downturn. It’s a reconfiguration.
In 2025, something surprising happened:
• Studios were busy
• Revenue went up
• Payrolls shrank
Smaller teams.
Higher leverage.
Clearer positioning.
At the same time, the anxious middle of the industry is being pulled into a race to the bottom — faster than ever.
Ryan Summers and I call this shift The Great Bifurcation.
In this episode of The Fabulist™, I break down the Seven Laws of Thriving Studios — the patterns separating studios that are gaining authority from those losing relevance.
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The Seven Laws Covered in This Episode
1. From Servicing Projects → Solving Problems
2. From Order Taker → Expert
3. From Outsider → Insider (Experts Travel)
4. From Hoping to Win → Pitching to Win
5. From Selling Inputs → Selling Outputs
6. From One of Many → The One & Only (a → the™)
7. From Attention → Trust
We also cover:
• Why AI doesn’t replace expertise — it amplifies it
• Why pitching (done well) is still the highest-ROI activity for top studios
• Why trust will be the rarest asset in the next creative era
• Why founders are shrinking teams while increasing revenue
• How insiders think differently than vendors
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Referenced Conversations & Contributors
This episode draws from real conversations and sessions with founders and leaders including:
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About Me
I’m Joel Pilger — former studio founder (20 years at Impossible Pictures), advisor to the world’s top creative studios, host of The Fabulist™ podcast, curator of Fuse private dinners, and founder of Forum™, the private peer community where studio owners master the art of the business.
Most of the conversations you hear on this podcast continue inside Forum — where founders stop being order takers and start leading as experts.
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If this episode made you uncomfortable… good.
That usually means one of these Laws is already at work in your business.
👉 Learn more about Forum™ and how studio founders are navigating this shift together at joelpilger.com
We’re challenging each other—and the industry. Joel sits down with Vagrants co-founders Dustin Devlin and Winston Macdonald (Boston-based creative/production studio) and Tim Bradley, founder of Pennant Video Co., to unpack how today’s best studios are evolving beyond “project vendors” into true strategic partners.
From Boston’s “old guard” union shop era to today’s gray area where studios look a little like agencies (and brands build in-house teams), this conversation gets real about identity, positioning, and why the business of running a studio is the most interesting project you’ll ever take on. Tim breaks down Pennant’s mid-funnel Video Marketing Trifecta (Differentiation, Demonstration, Validation) and how productizing strategy turns scattered content needs into measurable results. The group also talks lifestyle companies, saying no to the wrong work, collaborating across sister companies, and the power of generosity over zero-sum thinking.
If you’re a founder navigating agency relationships, brand-direct work, or that “are we a studio or an agency?” identity crisis—this one’s for you.
What You’ll Learn
Guests
Chapter Markers
Notable Quotes
Links & Resources
Credits
Call to Action
If you’re serious about running a resilient studio that unleashes your best creative work, apply to join Forum at joelpilger.com. Many of these conversations continue there.
Running a standout studio isn’t about selling hours—it’s about protecting the craft, picking the right clients, and staying scrappy (in smarter ways). Joel sits down with Barton Damer, founder/founding artist of Already Been Chewed (ABC), the Texas-based studio channeling skate culture into high-end 3D, VFX, and product campaigns for world-class brands. They get real about evolving from freelancer to leader, building a brand-direct engine, setting non-negotiables with clients, pricing expertise (not days), and why AI is making the best human work more valuable than ever.
You’ll learn
Timestamps
Key quotes
About Barton
Barton Damer is the founder and founding artist of Already Been Chewed, a Wylie/Dallas studio known for skate-culture roots, photoreal craft, and brand-direct campaigns in 3D, VFX, and product visualization. Over 15+ years, ABC has partnered with top global brands while staying lean, family-friendly, and obsessively focused on story and execution.
Mentions
Nike, Vans, New Balance, Lucasfilm, Disney, Tiffany, Google, Street League, Camp Mograph, FORUM & Fuse dinners.
Links & Next Steps
What happens when a studio anniversary party turns into one of the motion design industry’s most loved gatherings?
In this episode of The Fabulist, I talk with Cory Livengood (Creative Director & Founder, Dash Studio) and Meryn Hayes (Executive Producer, Dash Studio) about the evolution of Dash Bash—a Raleigh-born festival that’s become a biannual hub for creativity, collaboration, and community.
Originally launched to celebrate Dash Studio’s 5th anniversary, Dash Bash has since grown into something much bigger. Cory and Meryn share the origin story, the highs and lows of producing an event of this scale, and why gatherings like these matter more than ever for the future of our industry.
You’ll hear:
Whether you’re a studio founder, freelancer, or creative hungry for connection, this conversation offers practical takeaways and a reminder that we’re stronger—and more inspired—together.
🎧 Listen in—and mark your calendar: the next Dash Bash is coming in 2027.
In this episode of The Fabulist, Joel Pilger sits down with three powerhouse studio founders—Shawna Schultz (Mass FX Media & 38th and Post), Katwo Puertollano (rezonate), and Samantha Louise (Versus)—to explore what happens after you’ve built a successful studio.
What do seasoned founders build once the studio is humming? How does leadership evolve from momentum to meaning? And how do these founders define success on their own terms?
This conversation dives into the second act of creative entrepreneurship—from launching new ventures to leading quietly behind the scenes—and offers a rare glimpse at how these visionary women are redefining purpose, growth, and legacy.
What does it take to create a truly transformational experience—not just an event? In this special episode, Joel Pilger sits down with Paradiso co-founders Hector Ayuso and Marko Pfann to unpack the heart, hustle, and human connection behind this one-of-a-kind gathering in Mérida, Mexico.
Born from a dream—and a desire to break all the traditional “conference” rules—Paradiso set out to eliminate the divide between speaker and audience, to prioritize intimacy over scale, and to create the kind of creative connection that changes lives.
Together, Hector and Marko reflect on the inspiration behind Paradiso, the challenges they overcame to make it happen, and why staying small and intentional is the key to its magic. From school trip nostalgia to raw artistic expression, this episode captures the spirit of a creative community redefining what’s possible when we gather.
And yes… next year is already in motion.
🎟️ Explore Paradiso 2026:
https://paradisofest.com/
📣 View the 2026 Announcement on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DH3erFeu778/