By Veronica Diaferia and Sara Eolin
As the new year gets underway, the creative industry stands at a crossroads, facing both significant challenges and exciting opportunities. At Tinygiant, our women-led production company with a mission to foster healthy, dynamic workplaces, we know that the path to success in 2025 isn’t about just surviving the shifting tides, but actually reimagining how to nurture and support the next generation of talent.
Like so many other industries, the creative one has seen its fair share of change over the past few years. From pandemic-induced upheaval to the ongoing pressure of economic uncertainty, we’ve seen the vulnerabilities in our systems laid bare. Yet, in these crises, we have also witnessed incredible resilience, innovation, and growth. For us, the new year offers an opportunity to build on these lessons.
The reality is that companies, if they haven’t already, should prioritize being proactive in developing talent and creating environments where professionals can thrive and reach their full potential. Nurturing talent amidst uncertainties is not just a catchy phrase; it is about ensuring a sustainable, empathetic workplace where people feel seen, heard, and more significantly, enabled to lead.
Building Competence: The Underpinning of Success
Looking ahead to 2025, we know one of the most important ways we can support the next generation of creatives is through the sharing of knowledge. In an industry defined by change, the diverse experiences we’ve accumulated throughout our careers have become more valuable than ever.
Through our podcast, Reinventing Big, we have tried to provide a glimpse into how our minds work and share what we think make our business thrive in the hopes others see how it can apply to their business. We would like to break the myths that great creativity has to stem from stress and kindness is a weakness. Instead, we’re promoting a vision for the creative industry where collaboration, transparency, and mentorship are cornerstones of growth.
This year, we hope to continue this work, providing more tangible guidance through speaking and panel participation at conferences worldwide, sharing our experiences, our mistakes, and our successes.
Developing Talent: Genuine Careers
Saying you support talent in 2025 is about so much more than offering a place on a roster. It’s about creating genuine opportunities for emerging professionals to learn, lead, and make their mark. The traditional industry model often reinforces a cycle where only established talent gets the big opportunities, while newer voices are left on the sidelines. We’re challenging this model by providing mentorship and hands-on guidance and creating leadership opportunities for those who might otherwise not have had a seat at the table.
This new year is a time to make that commitment even stronger. We aim to create pathways for authentic leadership, empowering our collaborators with the freedom to lead. As we always say, “We don’t want to be the smartest people in the room.” Our goal is to surround ourselves with experts in their fields, ensuring our role is to enable them to perform at their highest potential.
Inclusive Hiring Practices and Remote Work Flexibility
The biggest shifts the creative industry has seen within the past few years mean accepting and embracing remote working. With many companies shifting back to physical offices, remote work is an imperative tool at Tinygiant that ensures inclusivity with wider access to diverse talent pools.
Remote work opens up creatives from areas that might have otherwise been overlooked, and it provides flexibility that ensures team members can balance their personal and professional lives in a way that’s sustainable long-term. And believe us, as mothers running our own business, we understand why prioritizing your personal life should never be seen as a hindrance to your work.
Looking ahead to 2025, we are strengthening our commitment to remote-first hiring practices, ensuring we continue to offer equal opportunities regardless of geographic location. Complementing this is our dedication to fostering a culture where everyone feels they belong. We firmly believe that true talent lies in the ideas, passion, and innovation that individuals bring to the table.
Supporting Mental Health: A Key to Sustainable Creativity
Entering the new year, we are more committed than ever to supporting the mental health of our team and the talent we work with. Creative industries can often place immense pressure on professionals to constantly deliver exceptional work. That pressure, if not managed, can lead to burnout and a decline in both mental and creative well-being.
While it might seem obvious today, companies should be actively encouraging open conversations about well-being, free from shame and guilt. In fact, we recently discussed this in an article about reframing Impostor Syndrome and the ongoing challenges that women, in particular, face in this regard. Being heard is important, and it’s about creating a culture where vulnerability is rewarded with support. We should be championing this type of environment, as it will set up the path for long-term, sustained success.
A Call to Action for the Creative Industry in 2025
We want to challenge the creative industry to rethink the way it nurtures talent. In times of such uncertainty, it is more important than ever to create environments that will foster and sustain the next generation of creatives. For Tinygiant, the new year is an opportunity to further invest in our people-our team, our collaborators, and the talent we mentor.
We invite brands, production companies, agencies, and creatives to join us in adopting a different way of working in 2025: one that is inclusive, takes care of people’s mental health, embraces working from home, and-most importantly-creates an environment where talent can flourish. At Tinygiant, we’re ready to embrace 2025 with optimism and purpose, continuing to lead the way for the next generation of creatives. We’re excited to see what the new year holds.
Veronica Diaferia Founder, Executive Producer
Bringing two decades of experience in commercial production, Veronica has led Tinygiant to become a trusted production partner with impeccable taste, and a launchpad for diverse emerging talent. Known for her hands-on approach and for her fierce attitude (hand gestures and Italian accent included), Veronica has previously worked for top shops like Moxie Pictures and Hungry Man, landing a staff job there right when she first moved to New York. She has never left since and now, mom of two boys, she calls Brooklyn home. Her personal motto ‘Mining is harder’ is a daily reminder that commercial production can and should be taken lightheartedly. Whether producing a broadcast campaign or an online snippet, Veronica rides the shifting current with curiosity, aplomb, and an always optimistic outlook. Mining is harder, you know.
Sara Eolin Partner, Executive Producer
Sara has worked in the commercial production world since… awhile ago, having producer positions at Grey Worldwide, Merkley & Partners, and Head of Production at Lowe Worldwide. Before starting at Tinygiant, she was one of the founding partners of Rocket Film, Executive Producer of Aero Film NY, and one of the founders of the Post/VFX company, Parachute, so when she says “we’ll fix it in post!” she knows what she’s talking about. She’s incredibly proud of the success of her short films she produced, “The Sandpit” and “The Girl Epidemic” that garnered awards and recognition from The Tribeca Film Fesitval, AFI Film Festival, Chicago International Social Change Film Festival, among others. She was nominated for a Webby Award but lost to the Muppets, so there’s a bit of a grudge there. Manhattan has been her home since… awhile ago, and hopefully always will be. She shares it with her amazing husband, their son, and their two ridiculous dogs.
