Ashley is a strategic producer and creative partner with extensive experience across production and post. Over the course of her career, she has led multidisciplinary teams and complex productions for global brands — guiding projects from early concept through final delivery with clarity, rigor, and a deep respect for craft. Throughout her career, Ashley has partnered with industry-leading directors, agencies & brands to produce global campaigns, immersive experiences, and brand-driven stories. She’s held positions at Hornet, Tendril and Soft Citizen, earning recognition from the Cannes Lions, ADCCs, AICP, and Shots Awards. Her sweet spot is bridging strategy and execution — balancing creative ambition with thoughtful oversight.
How many years have you been a judge?
1-3
What are your responsibilities in your current role and what do you love most about your job?
As the Managing Partner of the studio, I oversee all aspects of operations & production. I build the framework & guide our team through execution of client work.
What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?
I started out as an intern at an edit shop, which eventually led to an assistant editor position. The time I spent as an intern has stuck with me all these years, and shaped how I approach every day in this business. For all of the time I spent memorizing coffee orders, running around the city picking up lunches & dry cleaning orders, figuring out how to work a patch bay in the tape room (yes, I’m that old) to digitize footage, and creating custom CD labels for reels, I was quietly observing how senior leadership worked, hearing how the employees really felt vs. what they would say out loud, how editors successfully worked a room of agency creatives and clients, and ultimately how to run a studio. I learned that hard work pays off, and that you can learn the skills you need to actually do the tasks, but that grit, personality & a good attitude are what really matter.
What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?
As we build SAGA, we are seeing a variety of creative project opportunities. Clients are coming to us for anything ranging from a 5-second dynamic CG shot that needs to seamlessly integrate with live action footage, to a highly sophisticated 2-minute CG product film, to concepting a visual brand library for a brand. We are having a lot of fun working on a wide range of projects, and flexing our creative muscles to adapt in different sandboxes.
Tell us about a moment of recognition that had an effect on you – whether personal or official? What does recognition mean to you and why is it important in our industry?
Many years ago a couple friends of mine who worked at an ad agency sent me a script for a bit of a goofy style approach to a case study video that they wanted to make. At the time, most award show case study videos were very serious, and focused on the metrics that made a campaign successful. My friends wanted to flip the script and submit their ‘Agency of the Year’ contender case study video to showcase how they successfully made an 8th grader’s birthday party stand out in a cluttered market. I brought the script to my boss and said “we have to do this, it’s going to be hilarious”. To this day I’m not sure if my boss understood the ridiculousness of the script, or was being great at client services, but they allowed us to chip in and invest in making this video come to life. It was a labor of love, and ended up winning a Bronze Lion and a Gold Pencil for the parody. It became a classic joke within the ad industry, widely cited as the ultimate self-aware take on how agencies craft case study videos. This was when I realized the importance of not taking yourself too seriously in this business, and how sometimes that approach can resonate with the industry at large, and maybe even win you an award that can boost your career.
What excites you about judging for the Telly Awards?
Seeing all the work!
