CHICAGO– As the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) embarks on its 30th year, the organization is honoring two professionals with The Jay B. Eisenstat Award, which is presented for outstanding contributions to the commercial production industry.
The honorees are AICP legal counsel Stephen Steinbrecher of Kane Kessler, New York, who is national secretary of the AICP, and Howard Fabrick of the Century City, Calif.-based office of international law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. Fabrick serves as legal counsel to the West Coast chapter of the AICP.
This is the first year since 1996 that the coveted Eisenstat Award– named after the AICP’s first president– has been bestowed. The honor was instituted in 1990, and there were three recipients that year: pioneering New York production house executives Dick Hall, Jordan Kalfus and Barney Melsky. Other Eisenstat Award-winners have been production company and AICP mainstays Ted Goetz and the now late Benson Green in ’92; spot shop execs and AICP movers Dick Kerns, Kay Lorraine and the since deceased Frank Tuttle in ’94; industry activist Morty Dubin in ’95; and the Eastman Kodak Company in ’96.
Incorporated in 1972, the AICP held its first official annual meeting in early December of that year, when Eisenstat was elected president of the New York organization– the forerunner of the national AICP. Eisenstat understood that if the commercial production industry were to grow and prosper, a forum had to be created in which information and ideas could be exchanged, and the relationships among clients, agencies, production companies and suppliers could be strengthened. His vision became the AICP of today.
Steinbrecher and Fabrick, along with Eisenstat, recognized the need to upgrade the chaotic and unprofessional conditions existing in the industry in the ’60s. Specializing in labor and employment law, Steinbrecher has long represented trade associations (e.g., the Hotel Association of New York City) and management groups in several industries to which he serves as general counsel, labor counsel, industry advisor and consultant.
"By that time [the ’60s], I’d been in practice for a while and knew a couple of the people [in the industry]," he recalls. "My younger brother, Robert, worked for one of the production companies [Cooper Dennis], and had come to me when one of his partners was having trouble with some unions in New York."
What initially galvanized commercial producers to band together was the formation of in-house production units by advertising agencies. Steinbrecher was one of the dozen attendees at the first gathering of commercial producers, which took place over lean pastrami sandwiches in the New York offices of Myers & Eisenstat, in 1970.
"Then, there were around eighty to a hundred independent commercial production companies, and they saw [agency in-house production units] as a peril to their existence," explains Steinbrecher. To voice their objection to the idea, a contingent– including Herman Gerber (Gomes Loew), Bill Gillette (Dick Miller Films), Dick Hall (Horn Griner) and Barney Melsky (Alton Melsky)– took out an ad on the back page of Back Stage (now SHOOT), listing prominent directors who had agreed to work only through independent production houses.
The strategy was effective and the threat receded. The producers, buoyed by their success, agreed to continue meeting to discuss issues of mutual concern. During these initial meetings, Steinbrecher suggested that the producers form a trade association, which ultimately led to the formal creation of the AICP.
Labor and Midwifery
During his 30-some years of practice, Fabrick has focused upon representing members of the entertainment industry. His areas of specialty are handling the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements, interpreting the rules governing film and television production, and arbitrating disputes.
Describing his role in the AICP’s birth as that of midwife, Fabrick explains that during the late 1960s, he was director of labor relations and personnel at Columbia Pictures. At that time, he recollects, he was unaware that Columbia was involved in anything other than TV and features. One day, he got a call from Dick Kerns, who then headed EUE Screen Gems, which was based at Columbia’s ranch in Burbank, Calif.
"[Kerns] said he wanted me to come out and see his operation," recounts Fabrick. "He told me he ran the commercial division. I said, ‘What’s the commercial division?’ He said, ‘That’s the problem: No one at the studio knows what the hell we do.’ "
Fabrick then made an effort to become indoctrinated in the commercial industry– and learned, among other things, that most of the major Hollywood studios had commercial production units. "All [the units] were laboring under the same burden: They were all trying to make [spots] under the same union agreements [that governed] feature films, and it was a totally different business. Kerns convinced me of the need to try to negotiate on behalf of commercial producers [to obtain] a contract with the craft unions that was particularly crafted to the commercial industry’s needs."
In ’69, Fabrick negotiated the first supplement to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts’ (IATSE) standard motion picture/television agreement. The supplement was the first step in addressing the specific operational differences that distinguished commercial producers from their longform counterparts. This development led to the creation of a group on the West Coast called the Commercial Producers Association, in the early ’70s.
Says Fabrick, "By the time I came back to private practice in ’75, that Commercial Producers Association had become the West Coast chapter of the AICP"– a group that included such noted production house executives as Frank Tuttle, Benson Green, Pat Collins and Kerns. Two years later, a group of Chicago producers added its numbers to the fledgling organization that today has eight regional chapters and counts 300 general (production company) members and 300 associate members in its ranks.
In addition to increasing participation within the industry it serves, the AICP has grown both in stature and influence over the years. The AICP negotiates industry-related matters with the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Teamsters Union, as well as with the East and West Coast locals of IATSE.
"I think what created the organization was initially labor relations issues," opines Fabrick. For AICP to obtain recognition in "a totally separate, stand-alone commercial production agreement with the IATSE for the West Coast … was, in and of itself, a great accomplishment. The AICP is now recognized as an effective voice in governmental affairs that affect the activities of our members." These include issues such as taxation and filming on public lands.
Steinbrecher agrees that the AICP’s most valuable contribution is its role as a collective voice and an advocate for the commercial production industry. "People realized this was a growing industry that needed representation on a number of levels," states Steinbrecher. "Virtually everyone involved in the commercial process– particularly the advertisers and ad agencies– recognizes that the AICP plays a very important, formidable role in how things are handled and should be done.
"By acting on the behalf of the AICP, [its leaders are] given an ear by labor unions, governmental agencies, local politicians and members of the advertising community," continues Steinbrecher. "Years ago [when the production house industry was splintered and not organized]; I think the agencies had far less respect for commercial producers."
