Independent Production Advisory · Hamburg

Everyone in the room
has an agenda.
We don't.

Independent production advisory for brands and agencies — without the conflicts built into the system.

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The Problem

The industry is faster, more complex, and more exposed than ever.

Up to 25%

Agency markup routinely added to production costs — often without client knowledge or contractual transparency.

TrinityP3 / ANA

"Dysfunctional and conflicted"

The ANA's own words for the agency–production relationship. Brands and agencies are under mounting pressure to move faster with fewer resources.

ANA, 2017

€32bn

Germany's advertising market — the second-largest in Europe. The volume and complexity of production has never been greater.

Statista, 2023

The biggest structural issue

The Brand–Agency–Production Company triangle has built-in conflicts of interest. Agencies earn from the production companies they recommend. Production companies protect the relationships that feed them. Brands are the only party with no one independently in their corner — until now.

What We Do

Four pillars. One partner.

01

Production Controlling

Cost intelligence and real-time visibility across every production.

Budget development & management

Cost reporting & variance analysis

Vendor & supplier negotiation

Buyout management

The SHIFT Platform

02

Strategic Advisory

Shaping how brands and agencies commission and plan content at scale.

Production strategy

Roster & director advisory

Sustainable production

Risk assessment

International structures

03

Organisational Design & Studio Builds

Building the production capability organisations need — from scratch or from inside.

In-house department design

Agency production builds

VFX · Post · AI studio builds

04

AI Integration & Transformation

Practical AI adoption in production — with governance, training, and real results.

AI readiness audit

Tool selection & workflow integration

Training & upskilling

Ethics & governance

The SHIFT Platform

Your production, visible in real time.

Our proprietary AI-driven client portal. Every production, every budget, every milestone — one place.

Real-time budget dashboards

Actuals vs. estimates, updated live throughout production.

Milestone & approval tracking

Every gate, every sign-off, visible to every stakeholder.

AI cost alert & anomaly detection

Flags overruns before they become problems.

Buyout & rights management

Automated compliance tracking across markets and media.

Bid review & comparison

AI-summarised bids weighted against your priorities.

Multi-project portfolio view

All active productions in one dashboard — at a glance.

Who We Work With

Brands and agencies. Nothing else.

Brands

Direct advisory — brands working without an agency layer

Independent cost oversight for agency-managed productions

Insourcing brands building an internal production function

Global brands defining a European production strategy

Agencies

Network agencies building production functions from scratch

Mid-sized agencies fixing underperforming production departments

Small agencies creating a production function from zero

Tendering agencies building credentials that win pitches

We do not work with production companies as advisory clients. Our independence depends on it.

The Team

Built by people who have done this work.

Between us, we have been inside productions — not just advising on them. That is the difference.

Justin Stiebel

Co-Founder · Production Controlling & Advisory

Production controlling and advisory specialist with deep market knowledge across German and European TVC, content, and campaign production. Has built and managed production budgets across formats from small social campaigns to large-scale international shoots. Specialist in the German market — its rates, its production companies, its directors, and its dynamics.

justin@shift-media.org

Cornelius Roenz

Co-Founder · Strategy & Organisational Design

Production leader with extensive experience building and running production functions at agency and brand level across Europe. Has designed and implemented production departments, led organisational transformation, and advised on international production structures. Specialist in sustainable production strategy, emerging content formats, and the structural challenges facing agencies as the market shifts.

cornelius@shift-media.org

Strategy without conflict of interest.

If you're a brand or agency that wants independent production expertise, let's talk.

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