MINNEAPOLIS—Ad agency post facilities throughout the U.S. are in the process of forming a national trade association in order to address concerns, share information and raise industry awareness that they constitute a significant creative force. More than 55 agencies have expressed interest in becoming part of the as yet unnamed organization, according to Michael Aaron, supervising editorial producer of The Assembly Line, the in-house editorial arm of Fallon, Minneapolis.
The foundation for this initiative was laid at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention this past April in Las Vegas. During that confab, Aaron and several of his counterparts at agency in-house facilities held a four-hour session to discuss prospects for an industry organization. "The consensus at that meeting was that we needed an organization in order to network with each other, to bounce ideas off of one another," related Aaron. "Agency post people felt it was difficult to find a peer group and that we as a community had matured to the point where we needed one. Our prime mission is to foster and promote communication between in-house post facilities to help us all collectively."
Among those attending that NAB meeting were: Pam Lopacki, editorial manager of DDB Chicago’s Edit Zone; R.J. Porzel, editorial manager of The Core at Leo Burnett USA, Chicago; Greg Martinez, post producer of GSP Post, the edit arm of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco; Michael Ross, editorial director of Mr. Editorial at Deutsch, New York; David Rothenberg, manager of production services at DDB New York’s Cool Dry Place; and Mike Rodriguez, manager/editor of Prime Cuts, an arm of Young & Rubicam, New York.
Though a formal agenda hasn’t been set for the planned organization, Aaron related that several areas figure to merit attention, including Avid vs. Apple’s Final Cut Pro as a number of agency shops investigate what is the appropriate editing platform for them. Also, virtual or remote editing is worthy of exploration, he said.
Aaron added that sharing ideas on attracting talented editors to an agency setting should also prove helpful. "To hear what has worked for agencies and their plans for the future in recruiting and retaining talent will benefit the overall community," said Aaron.
Also figuring in the mix of likely agenda items, he noted, is "raising awareness within the industry that agency editing facilities represent a substantial creative force if they are properly managed and given the opportunity to grow and prosper. … This is a growth area—the barriers for entry into postproduction have come down over the past several years. It’s become far more feasible financially for agencies to invest in a post/editing infrastructure." At the same time, Aaron acknowledged that "there will continue to be a reason more often than not for agencies to go to outside editors and facilities. But we need to make the agency post community as strong as possible in that there are a growing number of projects that it makes sense to keep in-house."
Currently Aaron and his colleagues are still in the process of contacting heads of and lead editors at agency post shops across the country to ascertain their level of interest in becoming involved in the industry organization. This outreach program should be wrapped by the end of September. Aaron hopes to soon have a formal group chat room up and running to facilitate regular dialogue among those in the agency in-house post community. E-mail networking is also underway. Aaron can be reached at michael.aaron@fallon.com.
Aaron envisions the trade association opening with three chapters—East Coast, West Coast and Midwest—with each holding two annual member meetings. Additionally, there will be a national meeting each year at NAB. He hopes that the initial chapter meetings will take place in October/November, leading to the election of chapter officers, the establishment of a dues structure and a national slate of officers to be elected during next year’s NAB.
