A LADbible creative on working with his hero Ian Wright

Born and raised in North and East London, Parry Stewart has always been inspired by sports, people and individuality. Though he was encouraged to train as an accountant, he graduated from D&AD’s Shift programme that helps underrepresented creatives get their foot into the door of the creative industry in 2019, and has since worked as a Creative at the BBC, advertising company Brand Advance and media brand LADbible. Here, Stewart tells us about the bucket list items he’s ticked off since launching his creative career.

It’s mainly ideation and creating decks around my ideas, and answering briefs from clients. I work on a lot of entertainment stuff and recently did some work for Warner Bros. Entertainment for their horror film The Nun II (2023). For me it was ticking something off the bucket list because I’ve always been such a fan of their movies like Mortal Combat and Batman. I got to go down to their studio to shoot the campaign, which was really sick. They have this mini museum there. I’ve also done some cool stuff for KFC.

I created this football show called Extratime and started doing that on YouTube. I’ve always been pretty resourceful. My friend is a primary school teacher so I used to shoot it in the primary school, and then I convinced my other friends to present it for me. I've got a few friends who are influencers and are in the football market, so I used to message them and say, “Come do the show for me”. I’d make them do challenges and stuff on it, and I was both behind the camera and presenting. I didn’t know anything about cameras, so I pretty much just learned how to use one on YouTube. I also learned how to edit and how to do lighting on YouTube.

I always wanted to get into the creative industry but I didn't really know how because I didn't feel like that information was out there. I did the AAT accounting course because I thought I could become an accountant. Where I’m from, you’re taught the only way to make money is from traditional professionals like being a doctor or a lawyer, or an accountant.

I was doing D&AD Shift, and I had all this content that I had made during the tasks we were set to show people at the Shift showcase (an evening where D&AD Shift graduates show their work to industry professionals). I was speaking to X at BBC, and showing her the work at the showcase and she offered me a job on the spot on the same day as the showcase. Then that job got postponed as well because of Covid for a few months. At that time Chris Callahan, who I met through D&AD hit me up from a company called Brand Advance. He told me I could work with him until the BBC job started and that was the perfect first creative job for me. You can’t work with Chris and not be inspired. He’s probably one of the only people I’ve met that is actually everything he says he is.

I didn’t know what D&AD Shift was, but a friend of mine sent me a link to the programme saying “You have to do this”. So I applied, and it was one of the most eye opening experiences of my life. Even the concept of someone’s job being just to make ads was mind-blowing to me. Where I’m from, you don’t know about this stuff until someone tells you about it. One of the trainers on Shift who spoke to me directly was Ian Wharton. He was the easiest person for me to understand because he speaks in the exact same way I receive information. I’m pretty logical, and he imparts information like a surgeon. I think as with anything else, what you get out of Shift is what you put into it. There are no guarantees in life so you have to still work hard and put yourself out there, it’s not like you’ll automatically get a job because you’ve done the programme.

The thing that I'm probably most proud of is something I did at the BBC, which was a campaign with (English TV personality and former footballer) Ian Wright. He did a documentary on his childhood, and I did the trailer and the social activations for that. Ian Wright has always been one of my heroes, and I got to direct him on a shoot. They always say never meet your heroes, but it was everything and more than I could have dreamed of; even just meeting him and speaking to him was a highlight.

I would say two things: put yourself out there, and grow a thick skin for when you do that. Being creative is emotional because you're pouring out the inner workings of your brain, so it doesn't really get more personal than that. Putting creative work out there is a bit like having a baby and showing everyone your baby and giving someone the opportunity to say your baby's ugly. When I first started making stuff, I didn’t even want my friends to see it, but now, because of how many people have seen my work and commented on it, I have that thick skin.

Get in touch with Parry Stewart on LinkedIn. 

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D&AD Shift is a free, industry-led night school programme for new creatives. If you are over 18 and don't have a degree-level qualification, Shift is for you.