Essential to an agency’s success is a first-rate production department. That’s the shared opinion of former agency producers JD Williams and Scott Weitz, who launched The Production Department in May 2000.
Judging from the work they’ve been getting, many in the industry agree. Agencies like McCann-Erickson Detroit, Troy, Mich.; BBDO New York; and Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), San Francisco, have contracted the services of the New York-based company, which utilizes software, as well as Weitz and Williams’ considerable experience, to produce high-profile spots for a range of clients. "We’ve basically positioned ourselves as an independent agency production department," Williams explains, "so the top agencies can feel that if they need somebody to get the job done, they can contact us."
"For any-sized company, we’re a safe, stable harbor," adds Weitz. "The production process can be a crazy process, but our business is very well anchored."
The Production Company retains several freelance producers, including New York-based Noel Tirsch, who recently finished work on a RC Cola Campaign, directed by Christopher Guest of bicoastal Moxie Pictures. That campaign, which comprised the ads "Intro," "Open Mike" and "Spud," was done for The Blum Group, New York.
In addition to Weitz and Williams, the staff at The Production Department includes three assistant producers and a chief technology officer—Neil Radisch, formerly of the broadband Web site www.on2. com. "He created their compression technology," says Williams of Radisch, who is using his streaming media experience to advance The Production Department’s growing suite of Web-based production tools. Currently, those tools consist of a database of industry resources and reels, as well as a management tool, which can be used to facilitate all stages of commercial production, and an archival tool for storing completed ads. More resources will be added soon. "[Radisch] has been really helpful," Weitz adds. "We work with him about what our needs are and what the industry’s needs are, and he begins to construct the stuff."
Eventually, Williams and Weitz plan to market these tools to agencies via their soon-to-be-completed Web site, which they expect to be ready in March. But at the moment the applications are being used solely on The Production Department’s extensive project file. "We really have our hands full in terms of work," reports Weitz. "Hopefully, we’ll get up to the speed where we can take everything that we’re offered."
longterm plan
Despite the relative newness of The Production Department, the concept has been in the works for years. "We started dabbling with this idea in 1996 or ’97," Williams recalls. "I was at BBDO at the time, and Scott was freelancing. We discussed the Web, and the speed [at which] video could be transferred over the Internet. We always had this idea where you could put people’s reels online—directors, editors, composers, producers, art directors, writers. Once it got to the point where that idea was actually feasible, we started building a database of these people."
By the time Williams left BBDO last year, after eight years with the shop, the database had grown considerably. "It was very useful as we were building it, especially for me, because I was outside of the agency structure," says Weitz. "I could go anywhere in the world and have all of our information with me, and clients could access it as well."
The database wasn’t their only strength. "We also realized that, between the two of us, we had a strong reel," says Weitz. That reel included several noteworthy Snickers spots, including "Chefs," directed by Bryan Buckley and Frank Todaro. (At the time, the duo comprised the directing team of Buckley/Todaro, and helmed ads through bicoastal/international @radical.media; Buckley is now partner/director at bicoastal/international hungry man, while Todaro still directs ads out of @radical. media.) Other ads on the reel include Charles Schwab’s "Ringo," directed by David Cornell of bicoastal Headquarters. Williams produced the ads for Snickers and Charles Schwab while he was on staff at BBDO. As a freelancer, Weitz had produced jobs for, among others, General Motors and hotjobs.com.
While the launch marked the first formal business partnership for Weitz and Williams, they’d known each other since nursery school in Pittsburgh. After high school graduation, Williams attended Yale University, New Haven, Conn., while Weitz went to the University of Colorado, Boulder. They kept in touch, however, and it wasn’t long before their paths crossed again, in New York City. "We both ended up in film production, starting as P.A.s and eventually becoming production coordinators," Williams relates. "And then we both ended up being hired into the agency side of the business."
Williams worked in the production department of Ogilvy & Mather, New York, for three and a half years. During that time, Weitz signed on with DMB&B, New York. "Then I got hired at BBDO," Weitz recalls, "and about a month or two later, JD got hired at BBDO. Our offices were right next to each other."
Two years after joining BBDO, Weitz left to become a freelancer. Williams, meanwhile, remained at the agency, where he became a senior producer, and finally an executive producer. He left the company a year ago, but still works on BBDO New York projects, producing spots like Charles Schwab’s "Sally Field," helmed by Cornell of Headquarters; and "Jackie Collins," directed by John O’Hagan of hungry man. The Production Department also worked on Snickers’s "Acting Debut," lensed by David Shane, also of hungry man, out of FHV/BBDO, Netherlands. Additionally, Weitz brought an impressive client list. The first spots he produced out of the fledgling company included Buick’s "Training Camp," "TV Tower" and "Fantasy Golf" for McCann-Erickson Detroit. Steve Chase of bicoastal Reactor Films directed the trio of ads.
Interactive
element
For both producers, the Web-based tools have proved invaluable from the start. "I was doing a GM project with Alex Proyas [of bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures]," Weitz remembers. "I was doing it for McCann in Detroit. The director was based in Australia, we were shooting in Los Angeles, the postproduction was done by Animal Logic in Australia, and the voiceover was done by Willem Dafoe in Philadelphia. All of the elements, from edit to postproduction work to actual broadcast-able tapes from Willem Dafoe, were positioned in our management tool. It allowed us to present, choose and mix everything online, and allowed everyone around the globe to stay in touch."
Usually, an agency will contract The Production Department a little before client approval. "It’s basically the same as when I was sitting at a desk at BBDO," Williams says. "Once they sell the idea, you start working."
But often the work begins earlier than that. The Production Department was hired to produce several Schwab spots, as well as an E*trade campaign for GS&P, just as the clients were reviewing the boards. (One of the E*Trade spots was "Nozulla," directed by Buckley.) "Sometimes, they like to get us involved early, to get our feedback," Williams explains.
Although Weitz has worked extensively with Proyas, and Williams enjoys collaborating with directors like Cornell and Buckley, Williams says they both like to "keep our options open, and be as open minded as possible" in choosing directors.
No job is too big for the company. Weitz is currently involved in the preliminary stages of a Microsoft package out of McCann-Erickson, San Francisco, while Williams recently finished a Snickers campaign for BBDO, directed by Phil Morrison out of bicoastal Epoch Films. One of the Morrison-helmed ads, "Toys," for the new Snickers Cruncher bar, debuted during the Super Bowl; another, "Car Alarm," aired during the pre-game show. While that may sound like a challenge for the small company, Williams says the Super Bowl spot is "no problem." After all, he’s got the experience—and the tools to get the job done.
