Shutterstock Studios rose above a record-breaking field of almost 13,000 entries to receive 15 awards in the 2023 Telly Awards.
Now in its 44th season, the 2023 Telly Awards took on a new mission: To showcase those who use their creativity to break through homogeneity and stand out in the oversaturated media landscape.
As such, they’ve expanded their areas of recognition to reflect the best trends in today’s creative world, including acknowledgments for new categories like Long and Short Form Documentary, Use of Motion Capture, Pro Bono, and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Shutterstock Studios, Shutterstock’s in-house hub for creativity and custom content production—including photography, video, animation, virtual production, and 3D—has delivered an estimated 50,000 unique assets for global brands, agencies, and media partners worldwide in the past year.
Shutterstock Studios via Lenovo.
Working with big brands like Allergan, Lenovo, Carvana, Bayer, and more, Shutterstock Studios’ global production and creative services demonstrate a commitment to crafting truly compelling stories that draw attention to some of the world’s most pressing issues.
Mark Infante, Executive Producer at Shutterstock Studios, spoke with us to shed light on the creative direction behind their award-winning content and discussed how Studios unlocks creative possibilities to bring any brand’s creative vision to life.
Shutterstock: How did you choose which projects you would submit to the Telly Awards?
Mark Infante: In November, during award season, we assembled our Studios team to evaluate the projects completed that year and decide which ones we’d like to submit.
My choices were based on the quality of work and the projects that showcased brands stepping outside their usual work to do something bigger with a greater reach.
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Allergan’s Forces of Beauty campaign was an excellent example of a brand recognizing that it can make a difference well beyond its bottom line and that it could change some essential things in the industry.
The second we heard about their project, we were excited to participate and submit it for a Telly award.
Shutterstock: How did Studios meet the Telly judges’ criteria, and what factors helped you beat the competition?
Infante: This year, the Telly Awards structured submissions into categories that would help them discover best-in-class work, whether it was a well-executed project or a fresh, innovative, and creative idea.
We live in a world where people don’t want to be slapped over the head with branding or advertising, so that was a common thread with all the projects we chose to submit.
All of our submissions focused less on sales and more on making a difference in our world.
Take the Allergan project. They discovered that the beauty industry was based on Eurocentric ideals and that this notion limited a lot of the stock imagery available. They worked with Shutterstock Studios to create a library that brings together people from all walks of life, from women of color to those with disabilities.
Building this collection and giving it back to the industry to increase representation made this project more than just an ad campaign, and that stuck out.
Shutterstock: Were you surprised to win so many Telly Awards?
Infante: Yes and no. This is a very competitive industry, and there are production companies and agencies that are much older than the Studios team. They get much bigger budget projects. It’s a pleasant surprise for us to win in that environment.
On the other hand, I’m not surprised because our team puts their best foot forward to act as an extension of the brands we partner with and deliver great content.
We’re three years old and have come a long way. Years ago, I talked about where we were at Studios and what kind of opportunities we were getting.
We forecasted where we could be in the future, and it was not here. We always knew we wanted to get here, but I think we made it a little sooner than we predicted, so winning felt great.
It’s been nice to see that we’re growing and moving along, but I’m even more inspired to keep going.
Shutterstock: Of all your award-winning projects, which did you enjoy most, and what was your biggest takeaway?
Infante: The project I had the most fun on was Carvana because it’s rare that I get super close to campaigns as an executive producer.
With Carvana, we spent a whole season of IndyCar with race car driver Jimmie Johnson to shoot these seven-episode documentary-style videos, which I came up doing and love. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Shutterstock Studios via Carvana.
My biggest takeaway would be how well our team rose to the challenge of filming at a nationally-broadcasted race. Over the course of 15+ shoot days, there were media scrums with schedules timed down to the minute, overhead jet flyovers during the national anthem, and more.
In production, you want to control as much as possible, and as one piece of a massive machine, we could control almost nothing. There were a lot of variables that meant we had to work quickly and be on our toes, so to see it do well, and even win some awards for it, was a great achievement.
Shutterstock: What does it mean to you for the Shutterstock and the Studios team to be recognized?
Infante: It means a lot, and it goes back to what I was saying about being new and having to go out and fight for meaningful opportunities to produce the campaigns that brands care about most.
I started here at the beginning of Studios, and the projects coming in were very different than the ones we’re getting now. That has a lot to do with us executing those smaller projects, building trust with clients, and continuing to do a good job.
Many of us like to work with our heads down and focus on creating, but moments like this are when we really get to look up and appreciate just how far we have come.
Want to learn more about Shutterstock Studios’ work on their Telly award-winning campaigns? Read through their compelling case studies below:
See our full list of Telly Award wins:
- Forces of Beauty (Allergan)
- Gold Telly Winner in Branded Content – Corporate Image
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – D&I
- Bronze Telly Winner in Branded Content – Art Direction
- Bronze Telly Winner in Branded Content – Beauty, Fashion, and Lifestyle
- Tech@Heart Episode 1: FC Internazionale Milano (Lenovo)
- Gold Telly Winner in Branded Content – Directing
- Tech@Heart Episode 2: Blue Sky Innovations (Lenovo)
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – Editing
- Reinventing the Wheel (Carvana)
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – Automotive
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – Editing
- Bronze Telly Winner in Branded Content – Directing
- Bronze Telly Winner in Branded Content – Sports
- The EYE-SIGHT Project (Bayer)
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – Directing
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – Budget Under $100,000
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – Science & Technology
- Silver Telly Winner in Branded Content – Campaign: Social Impact
- Bronze Telly Winner in Branded Content – Documentary: Short Form (Under 40 minutes)
Want to see what Shutterstock Studios can offer for your next creative campaign? Click the button below to explore their website and read through their compelling case studies.
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