Ex-adam&eveDDB’s Michael McConville launches new creative company free.studio in Melbourne

Free Creative Studio – the new creative company founded by former adam&eveDDB alumnus, Michael McConville – has opened its first physical location in Melbourne, bringing together a growing membership of talented creatives to its innovative, free-thinking creative model.

Welcoming some of the creative industry’s best minds, the business has streamlined a wide array of diverse capabilities – that would have only been the domain of a multi-agency offering in the past – into one simplified operation, all without passing on any hard costs that typically come bundled up in retainers and head hours.

“Our business is a complete re-engineering of what a creative company can be,” says McConville. “We’ve designed a new model that puts the focus back on real problem-solving, where the right talent, tools, and teamwork come together to solve today’s business challenges, without wasting time or money.

“free.studio started with a really genuine proposition: to be a place where good ideas go to be set free. A modern creative business can’t just be a brief-response-repeat operation. It’s limiting and leaves real creativity unrealised. That’s why we’ve created something that removes many of those unintended barriers to great work.

“We don’t on-charge hard-costs. We don’t do retainers. We don’t have multi-layered departments that need funding and complex management. We don’t have internal meetings that aren’t about real projects. We just put super-talented specialists on projects and get to work solving as many great problems as we can”.

With a new cohort joining the creative membership since it formally opened just over a month ago, the studio’s range of services has already multiplied several times over.

Industry leaders have joined from a wider range of capability than any typical agency, including creative PR practice director Lucy Saarelaht, climate and social-justice creative Matt Bray, experience design lead Brendan Moore, marketing director, journalist and SAAS leader Michael Davis, marketing consultant Magnus Nilsson, marketing director; fashion, retail and content, Nicky Rowsell, digital product, AI and impact director, Matt Bachle, leadership, culture and inclusion expert Sean Badley, journalist and editor Zoe Radas, digital strategy director and not-for-profit director Jack Biss, writer and partnerships director Anthony Cabraal, creative recruitment leader Steph Graham and former DDB Australia Chief Creative Officer Ben Welsh and creative partner Tony Banks along with former ECD at McCann and HERO Pat Baron. This talent stretches all across Australia with UK, NZ and Singapore-based talent soon to be announced.

“The creative industry is rapidly evolving” says Saarelaht. “Instead of just adapting, we’re getting involved in shaping a new model that gives talented people a home and clients a real partnership focused on impactful work. It’s simply different by design, to help clients and creators do things they’re truly proud of.”

“At free.studio, we know that transformative ideas can spark from anywhere” McConville continues, “whether it’s a client’s vision, the ingenuity of our creative community, or anything in between. The best work happens when all ideas are given the space, trust, and expertise to grow. By nurturing creativity from all directions – not just our own – we’re building something bigger than any one brief: impactful work, surprising solutions, and ventures that genuinely matter.”

Picture 1 (L-R): Tom Noble, Steph Graham, Tony Banks, Brendan Moore, Matt Bray, Lucy Saarelaht, Nicky Rowsell, Magnus Nillson, Sean Badley, Michael McConville

Picture 2: Michael McConville

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