A New Year Reset for Creative Operations
As we enter 2026, one thing is clear; creative operations are no longer a back-office function. They are now a strategic capability.
Content demand continues to rise across brands, broadcasters, agencies, and digital-first studios. At the same time, budgets are under pressure and traditional operating models are struggling to keep pace. The organisations that will win this year are not those that work harder, but those that remove friction from how creative work gets done.
Over the past year, we have spent significant time working with creative leaders, production teams, and executives across the industry. A consistent theme has emerged: the next generation of creative operations must be faster, more independent, and more adaptive, without breaking what already works. This is not a nice to have - its an existential threat.
That thinking underpins the five principles below.
1. Eliminate Waiting Time to Unlock Creative Momentum
According to an Avid Customer Insights report, erditors and producers still spend up to 30 percent of their working week waiting for files, transfers, or renders. This is paid time that produces no value.
For the next generation of creative operations, waiting is not acceptable. Whether you are a brand building an in-house studio, a broadcaster under delivery pressure, or an agency managing multiple clients, momentum matters.
Modern creative operations are designed so teams can move immediately from task to task. When technology keeps pace with creative intent, output increases without increasing headcount.
Reducing waiting time is the fastest way to increase independence and capacity.
2. Replace Fragmentation with a Single Operating Environment
Across the industry, fragmentation is the silent cost driver. Files live in multiple places. (including the cupboard in the office with dozens of unlabelled hard drives!) Versions multiply. Storage and tooling sprawl quietly inflates overhead.
Research done by Movielabs suggests up to 30 percent of post-production storage spend is consumed by duplicate or unused media.
Next-generation creative operations are built around a single operating environment. This does not mean ripping out existing tools. It means orchestrating them in a way that reduces duplication, simplifies collaboration, and creates a clear source of truth. It also places the IP ownership to its rightful owner which, particularly for brands, this enables true ownership of production.
For agencies and broadcasters, it provides a path to modernisation without operational chaos.
3. Move from Ownership to Access in Infrastructure
Traditional infrastructure models no longer align with how creative work is delivered. Workstations lose around 50 percent of their value within 18 months, yet many organisations remain locked into long depreciation cycles and fixed capacity.
The new model is access over ownership.
Creative operations that scale effectively in 2026 are elastic by design. They scale up when demand spikes and scale down when it falls. This reduces waste, lowers risk, and allows teams to respond to changing workloads without delay.
For disruptors, this enables growth without heavy capital investment. For incumbents, it provides a realistic route away from legacy constraints.
4. Collapse Approval Loops into the Workflow
Approval cycles are one of the biggest hidden drains on creative velocity. Fragmented review tools and disconnected feedback processes add days to delivery schedules.
One major broadcaster recently calculated that every hour of delay in post-production equated to £2,800 in lost output potential.
Next-generation creative operations treat review and approval as part of the workflow, not an external step. Integrated collaboration and real-time feedback reduce friction, shorten delivery timelines, and improve alignment across teams.
This benefits fast-moving brands and digital studios, but it is equally critical for agencies and broadcasters managing scale and compliance.
5. Measure Creative Velocity, Not Just Cost
The most important shift for 2026 is how success is measured.
Post-production labour costs have risen by more than 21 percent since 2021, while according to Deloitte, average project budgets have fallen 18 percent . Cost control alone will not solve this imbalance.
The next generation of creative operations focuses on creative velocity:
- How quickly ideas become finished work (and monetized)
- How much output teams can deliver per week
- How often technology slows creativity down
Creative velocity is the metric that aligns independence with efficiency, and innovation with sustainability.
A Model That Works for Both Disruptors and Transformers
What has become clear in our work is that the future is not binary.
Brands want greater independence and control.
Agencies and broadcasters know they must evolve to stay relevant.
The next generation of creative operations supports both.
It allows brands to bring production closer to the business without becoming technology companies. It allows agencies and broadcasters to modernise workflows, reduce overhead, and refocus on higher-value creative and strategic work.
This is not about replacing existing models.
It is about enabling them to operate at the speed the market now demands.
Looking Ahead
2026 will reward organisations that treat creative operations as a strategic advantage, not a constraint.
Those that remove friction, increase independence, and design for velocity will produce more, move faster, and compete more effectively, regardless of where they sit in the industry.
The tools exist. The thinking is clear. The opportunity is now.