MC&V wins Canva & Canteen work as AI roster expands

MC&V has won new client work from Canva and Canteen, adding two Australian brands to the AI-focused production company's client list.

It has also added three AI directors to its creative roster: Jodie Heenan, Josef "Seppi" Scholler and Jagger Waters. The expansion comes as MC&V responds to demand from brands and organisations seeking AI-led production support and advice on commercial workflows.

The new mandates build on earlier relationships between Canva, Canteen and MC&V founders Marie-Céline Merret Wirström and Vinne Schifferstein Vidal, who had previously worked with both organisations. That prior connection adds weight to the wins for a business founded only earlier this year.

MC&V is positioning itself around workflow design, creative direction and production systems for AI-native and hybrid work. It says it has more than two years' experience delivering AI campaigns for brands including Adidas, Uniqlo, KFC and Afterpay.

The client additions come as agencies and brands move beyond early experimentation with generative AI and start testing how those tools fit into mainstream commercial production. In that shift, practical questions around approvals, intellectual property, ownership, governance and production feasibility are becoming harder to avoid.

For many marketers and producers, access to AI software is no longer the main issue. The challenge is increasingly how to turn those tools into repeatable workflows that meet brand, agency and legal requirements while still producing work to commercial standards.

That shift is also reshaping the talent market. Companies working in AI-led production are looking not only for image-makers or technical specialists, but for people who can combine creative direction with the operational demands of campaign delivery.

For MC&V, the three new signings reflect that approach. Heenan is an Australian-based AI artist with a background in design, motion and visual effects. She has commercial experience as creative director of her own company, working with brands including Cadbury and Twinings, and has held senior academic leadership roles at Australian universities.

Scholler is known for a cinematic visual style and for directing hybrid productions and AI-driven world-building work. His work combines emotional, authentic scenery with generative workflows.

Waters brings a multidisciplinary background spanning film, audio, live events and digital storytelling. She is described as an early adopter of AI-driven video production, with more than a decade of experience as a creator, writer and producer.

On the client wins, MC&V pointed to a market in which technical access is becoming less of a differentiator than experience using AI in professional brand settings.

"We're excited to be partnering with the teams at Canva and Canteen again, two organisations we've really enjoyed working with and have enormous respect for creatively and culturally," said Vinne Schifferstein Vidal, co-founder of MC&V. "Right now, almost everyone has access to the same AI tools, but what's becoming more valuable is knowing how to turn those tools into work that holds up creatively and commercially. The tools have progressed incredibly quickly, but direction, craft and experience with brand production still matter enormously. That's the thinking behind MC&V. We're building around people who understand storytelling, production and how to deliver work properly for brands and agencies."

Workflow focus

MC&V's argument is that AI production is moving into a phase where process matters as much as output. Rather than treating AI as a stand-alone creative experiment, brands are asking how it can fit within established systems for review, delivery and risk management.

That trend is particularly relevant for larger advertisers and culturally focused organisations, which often need external partners to navigate both creative expectations and internal controls. The growth of hybrid production models, in which AI tools sit alongside more traditional production methods, has added another layer of complexity.

MC&V says its production model was built specifically for AI-native and hybrid work. The roster expansion appears designed to broaden the range of disciplines it can offer as the market develops.

Marie-Céline Merret Wirström said production planning is changing as clients focus more closely on execution. "Production is becoming less about departments and more about how you design the workflow around the idea and bring the best talent around the brief," she said. "Clients are asking different questions now. Not just what AI can do, but how it fits into their process, their approvals and how it scales. That's where production thinking becomes critical."