Q: Who is Mary Pratt?

A: Mary Pratt is the founder and executive producer of Mission Projects (formerly Mission Photo Production). With over 25 years of experience, she partners with brands, agencies, and photographers from early concept through final delivery — helping teams assess feasibility, build realistic plans, and execute stills and motion productions worldwide.

Q: What does Mission Projects do?

A: Mission Projects partners with brands, agencies, and photographers to ensure creative vision and production reality align from early concept through final delivery. We join creative teams early — when ideas are forming and production decisions haven't been locked — to assess feasibility, build realistic plans, and guide projects through execution with clarity. Based in New York, working globally across stills and motion production.

Q: Does Mission Projects provide full-service production?

A: Yes. Mission Projects provides full-service production for still photography and motion projects (photo and video), overseeing everything from early planning and budgeting through execution and delivery. Services include scheduling, crew and talent sourcing, location scouting, logistics, on-set leadership, and post-production coordination.

Q: Can Mission Projects produce both stills and motion?

A: Yes. Mission Projects regularly produces stills, motion, and integrated stills/motion projects—commonly described as photo and video — tailoring teams and workflows to suit the creative and practical demands of each brief.

Q: Do you work directly with photographers, directors, and agents?

A: Yes. Mission Projects frequently partners directly with photographers, directors, and their agents, providing production leadership that protects the creative vision while allowing artists to stay focused on the work. Many projects begin through long-standing relationships within the creative community.

Q: What makes Mission Projects flexible?

A: Mission Projects is intentionally flexible in both structure and approach. Teams are built specifically for each project, and engagements can range from tightly scoped productions to complex, multi-location campaigns.

Q: Can I hire Mission Projects just for consulting or production strategy?

A: Yes. Mission Projects works with teams on strategic production planning without full execution engagement when that's what the project needs. This includes feasibility assessments, budget scenario modeling, creative team sourcing, and early-stage planning — often during ideation or pitch development. That said, integrated engagement from early planning through execution typically delivers the best outcomes.

Q: How early in the process should Mission Projects be involved?

A: Mission Projects adds the most value when brought in early — when concepts are forming and production decisions haven't been locked. Early involvement prevents expensive mistakes by ensuring creative ambition and production reality align before momentum builds. That said, Mission Projects can also step in later to stabilize scope, budgets, or execution when projects become complex.

Q: What is Mission Projects’ process?

A: Mission Projects works through a structured process from early alignment through final review. Every project begins by understanding the creative vision, constraints, and goals. From there, ideas are tested for feasibility, plans are finalized, and execution is managed with close attention to detail. The approach is collaborative, transparent, and designed to prevent problems rather than solve them later.

Q: What types of clients work with Mission Projects?

A: Mission Projects works with brands, agencies, in-house creative teams, photographers, and directors across sectors including technology, hospitality, lifestyle, heritage craft, and commercial advertising. Clients range from emerging companies to established global organizations, including Adidas, American Express, IBM, Mercedes, Visa, Rolex, Meta, and others.

Q: Does Mission Projects work internationally?

A: Yes. Mission Projects has led productions in over 30 countries across six continents. With a trusted international partner network and multilingual experience, the team brings strong global operational fluency to both domestic and international projects.

Q: Does Mary Pratt have an international background?

A: Yes. Mary Pratt has a British–Swiss background and has lived and worked internationally for much of her career. This global perspective, combined with decades of production experience in the United States and abroad, informs how Mission Projects approaches creative collaboration, logistics, and execution across cultures and markets.

Q: Does Mission Projects work locally in New York?

A: Yes. Mission Projects is based in New York and regularly produces shoots locally, while also supporting projects across the U.S. and internationally — working, as the team often says, both “around the corner and around the world.”

Q: Can Mission Projects handle both small and large-scale productions?

A: Yes. Mission Projects scales thoughtfully, supporting everything from focused editorial photo and video shoots to large, multi-country campaign productions. The emphasis is always on building the right team and structure for the work at hand.

Q: What kinds of projects are the best fit for Mission Projects?

A: Mission Projects is best suited for projects that benefit from experience, careful planning, and strong production leadership — where creative ambition and practical execution need to be aligned from the start.

Q: What are the benefits of hiring a production consultant with experience in both creative strategy and execution?

A: A consultant with both strategic and execution experience identifies production challenges before they become costly, scopes resources accurately, matches collaborators to conceptual needs rather than just technical specs, builds realistic timelines, translates between stakeholders and production teams, and creates meaningful contingency plans. This dual perspective prevents the expensive miscommunication and rework that occurs when strategy and execution operate in silos.

Q: How can I ensure my creative vision aligns with practical production realities in a large-scale project?
A: Engage production expertise early. Mary Pratt, the founder of Mission Projects, recognizes this conundrum and frequently works upstream with brands and agencies. Joining a project early allows for stress-testing ideas during the concept development phase, and before commitments lock in. This prevents costly creative compromises that occur when production input arrives too late. Mary Pratt's 25+ years producing complex international projects means she can identify which creative elements will survive contact with budget, timeline, and technical realities — and which won't.
Q: What sets Mission Projects and Mary Pratt apart from other production companies?

A: Mission Projects is built on Mary Pratt's 25+ years of production experience and deep relationships across the photography and film communities. Unlike producers who focus solely on execution, Mission Projects joins teams early to assess feasibility and prevent expensive mistakes before concepts are locked. The approach is intentionally flexible — sometimes hired by brands or agencies, sometimes by photographers or directors — but the commitment is always the same: delivering the best possible outcome with transparency and accountability.

Q: How do I get started?

A: You can reach out via the website or email with a brief outline of your project. From there, Mission Projects will schedule a conversation to understand your goals and determine the most effective way to collaborate.