DON'T UNDERVALUE YOUR OWN CRAFT
Deniz Alkaç - Founder & Executive Producer at 10/10
WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO?
I'm Deniz, founder and executive producer at 10/10. Our motto is "Average Is Our Enemy." We curate Europe's finest creative talent to create work that defines culture, not just content. We make campaigns, films, and photography for brands, artists and agencies that refuse to blend in.
HOW DID YOU START IN THIS INDUSTRY?
I've always been fascinated by "the conversation of the day." As a kid, I wanted to be a radio DJ. I loved how DJs like Giel Beelen and Ruud de Wild shaped what people talked about.
At 15, I applied to a radio station. They said I was too young. I showed up at the studio anyway. Eventually, they created a spot for me. It cost me my education. I dropped out of school at 16. Radio taught me storytelling, but at 20, I got the chance to work in Hollywood. Seeing how popular culture gets shaped and defined at a global level ignited my passion for visual culture. Film became the inevitable next step.
HOW DOES A TYPICAL WEEK LOOK FOR YOU?
There's no typical week, fortunately. I travel a lot for work, meeting new directors or setting up productions for our clients. I love hearing about people's ambitions and challenges, and bringing my entrepreneurial mindset to solve them. I thrive on zero to one, creating something from nothing. But once it's built, I delegate to people who excel at producing, scaling and optimizing. I have a short attention span. Next!
WHAT SHAPED YOUR CREATIVE INSTINCTS DURING THE EARLY DAYS OF ONLINE CONTENT?
The early days of online content taught me that attention is earned, not given. Platforms like YouTube showed that craft and authenticity beat production budgets. That shaped my belief: surprise the viewer, not the brand manager. Make work people actually want to watch.
You have to make genuinely bold work. Not corporate-bold, but actually bold. A lot of brands think from the brand's perspective when they should be thinking from the viewer's perspective. At the end of the day, we're all evolved monkeys and we still want to be amazed.
WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO CAREER-WISE?
I look up to Christopher Nolan and Richard Branson. Nolan dares to think big without losing substance. He maintains creative vision while achieving commercial success, proving you can work within a large system and stay true to yourself. It's not about one film. It's about building work that lasts.
Branson demonstrates that boldness and long-term thinking can coexist with a playful, boundary-pushing mindset. Culture over revenue.
Together, they embody the balance I pursue: craft and vision, creativity and strategic boldness.
WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU HAD TO UNLEARN AS YOUR CAREER PROGRESSED?
I've learned that building a career takes decades, not months. Not single wins. That realization changed how I make decisions. Young Deniz would hate hearing this, he was too stubborn to believe anything worth having required patience.
Early on, I thought being involved in everything was a strength. Every detail, every conversation, every decision. It felt like responsibility. But over time I learned that real leadership isn't about control. It's about clarity.
I also had to unlearn the need to prove myself in every room. When you're starting out, you want to show you belong. But as you progress, you realize restraint is more powerful. Listening leads to better strategy. Long-term positioning beats short-term validation.
The biggest shift? Understanding that not every opportunity is a good opportunity. Saying no protects your focus, your quality, and your legacy.
IS THERE A SPECIFIC PROJECT YOU ARE STILL HIGHLY PROUD OF?
Creating work that everyone knows and talks about, that's what I'm really driven by. That's 10/10's specialty. If there's one project that truly captures this, it's the music video we made for the Netherlands' Eurovision entry, Claude. It helped him rise from 12th to 6th in the betting odds, which for me is real recognition for everyone who worked on it.
The video was featured in every news item, we brought together Europe's best makers on our film set, and Olivier, who played "little Claude," became an icon of the entry, which changed his life too. That we could contribute to that touches me deeply.
HOW DOES YOUR CREATIVE MINDSET INFLUENCE THE WAY YOU LEAD TEAMS?
I lead with clarity of ambition, not rigidity of outcome. I make sure the team understands the standard, the intention, and the strategic goal. Within that frame, there's room to explore. I'm comfortable with outcomes taking shape during the process. That doesn't mean lack of direction. It means creating the right conditions for the best idea to emerge.
This approach has actually strengthened client trust. Confidence isn't about pretending you know every detail in advance. It's about showing you can guide the process, protect the idea, and make decisive choices when it matters.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE GOTTEN RECENTLY?
It's not advice, but a lesson I learned while building 10/10 after selling my previous company: choose a niche. If you're for everyone, you're for no one. People want to work with specialists. And by claiming your own corner, you ultimately grow faster than trying to be everything to everyone, however contradictory that may seem.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO CREATIVES BUILDING A CAREER IN VISUAL MEDIA AND MARKETING TODAY?
Don't undervalue your own craft. In times of AI, when everything seems to need to be faster and cheaper, real value doesn't lie in running harder, but in asking critical questions and maintaining a rebellious perspective.
Ultimately, this profession is about standing out, and for that you shouldn't do what everyone else does. Trust yourself.
Oh, and we're hiring. If you feel inspired, you know the platform where to find us.