It seems pretty much unanimous: things are looking up on the West Coast. Shops in areas where business boomed in the 1990s and then crashed—like San Francisco and Portland, Ore.—say things have improved lately. Additionally, the Greater Los Angeles area has seen a marked increase in the number of spot shooting days in the last few months.
"I’ve definitely seen an increase in commercial activity," says Tim Larson, president of DownStream digital, a Portland-based full-service post house that opened in ’88. Larson says that DownStream’s corporate communications work, which makes up about half of the post outfit’s business, remained consistent during the last couple of years, a period when the shop experienced a downturn in spotwork. But now commercial jobs are on the rise. "We’ve been very busy," says Larson. "Starting in the last quarter of ’03 it’s been great, and we’re hoping it continues."
DownStream digital, which has a staff of about 60, offers editorial, sound design, finishing, online and visual effects services. Primary clients include Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), Portland; Vinton Studios, Portland; Nike Film and Video, Beaverton, Ore.; Euro RSCG, San Francisco; and Euro RSCG 4D DRTV, Portland.
Recent DownStream jobs include Budweiser’s "Good-Bye," directed by Andrews Jenkins of Food Chain Films, Portland, via DDB Chicago; and Oregon Lottery’s "Fish Tale," helmed by Jon Manning of Troika, Portland. DownStream also created Lincoln Town & Country’s "Journey," out of Town & Country Dealership’s internal agency, Square Circle Advertising, Lake Oswego, Ore.
At the beginning of 2003, Food Chain Films went from being a regional production company to a national shop, partnering with bicoastal Go Film. "About two years ago, we started looking at the state of production," says David Cress, executive producer at Food Chain. "After 9/11, regional was a squeezed-out place to be. We [had] lived off the bigger budget regional productions or lower budget national productions. The bigger regional ones were severely curtailed."
At the time, the future didn’t look good, says Cress, but then the company talked to their directors. "Most of our directors had some kind of national deal, as well as retaining us in the region," Cress relates. "A couple of them—Vance Malone and Andrews Jenkins—said, ‘If you guys can put together some kind of national representation deal for us, we’d just as soon stay with you.’ "
In early ’03, Food Chain entered into an agreement with Go Film, whereby the shop would represent the Food Chain directors nationally, and Go partners/ executive producers Robert Wherry and Jonathan Weinstein became partners in Food Chain, along with Cress. (Gary Rose has since joined Go as a partner/executive producer.) "They helped provide the expertise to move into a national arena," says Cress.
According to Cress, local business has improved recently. "It really mirrors the stock market," he says. "Ten years ago in Oregon, there were ten or more Fortune 500 companies here. Now there’s one. The market here is only just now starting to recover in terms of the medium and small agencies. Those kind of agencies are coming back."
Food Chain has produced spots for the Portland-based Columbia Sportswear via Borders Perrin Norrander, Portland, and the production company counts Johnson/Sheen Advertising, Portland, and W+K among its local clients. Recent Food Chain jobs include Mercedes-Benz’s "It’s a Performer" and "Pristine," directed by Jenkins via Merkley + Partners, New York; and Cricket’s "Hellos," "Misdirection," and "The Call," helmed by Vince Malone through Cinco, Irving, Texas.
Portland-based Vinton Studios has been around since ’76. Most of Vinton’s jobs are for national and international clients in the commercial, television and feature film industries. Recent spot projects include Arby’s "Oven Mitt" campaign via Doner, Southfield, Mich.; and Wrigley’s "Extra Scotty" campaign out of BBDO Toronto. Vinton is also producing The Corpse Bride, an animated feature based on a 19th century Russian folk tale. The film is being directed by Mike Johnson, and produced by Tim Burton.
Paul Golden, advertising division president/executive producer, says that many of Vinton’s jobs involve integrating animated characters with live-action environments that are filmed around the globe. For instance, Vinton recently shot a Cadbury’s spot in South Africa, and filmed a pair of cinema spots for Wrigley’s in New Zealand. The shop regularly travels to Vancouver, B.C., Toronto and Los Angeles to film, and shoots stop-motion and motion-control work on their own sound stages.
Golden says business is going well. "I’d say work flow has been up," he states. "The first three months of this year seem to be better than last year. We’re hitting our targets for the first quarter, which is great. I think maybe we’re coming out of that recession that everybody was feeling last year."
Down in San Francisco, Retina, a telecine/finishing house, reports an increase in recent business. Retina opened in May ’03, but producer Katrina Nazzal and iQ artist Nick Hasson have been working in San Francisco for a number of years. Nazzal was previously with Varitel Modern VideoFilm, San Francisco, and Hasson was formerly with Industrial Light+Magic, San Rafael, Calif. (Retina colorist Chris Modern started coloring at Varitel and freelanced at R!OT Manhattan before joining Retina.)
"[We] were here in the dot-com boom, when things were just insane," says Hasson. "All those dot-com commercials were coming out of here. [Then] literally fifty to sixty percent of the business disappeared. Compared to two years ago, it’s back where it was—things are really picking up. Everybody around here is shooting a lot of stuff so it’s good for all the post people."
Retina is outfitted with a Spirit telecine equipped with both standard and HD capability, a da Vinci 2K Plus, and a Quantel iQ HD finishing and compositing suite. Retina is partnered up with a design group, 168 Design, which does broadcast design. The two shops each have a staff of about eight, and work out of the same location.
Hasson says Retina posts a variety of projects. "We have a lot of different clients both for telecine and iQ," he says. "San Francisco is such a scattered market that we’ll end up getting a lot of little things and not necessarily one big account." Almost half of Retina’s work is for commercial projects. Recent Retina spot jobs include Ubisoft’s "Freedom," directed by Mark Dektor of Dektor Film, Hollywood, via Butler, Shine Stern & Partners, Sausalito, Calif.; and CMT’s "9 to 5," helmed by Sean Ehringer of bicoastal Tool of North America through See Advertising, San Francisco.
Retina is devoting much of its attention to HD technology. "We’ve been trying to focus in the online realm on getting people into universal mastering and finishing in 24p, and then going where they need to go from there," says Hasson. "We’ve been spending a lot of time educating everybody so they will go that route because that’s really where we want to take our technology—doing everything in 24p and then spitting out to whatever people need, whether it be NTSC or PAL or Digibeta or HD and even 35mm film."
Further down the coast, managing director Diane McArter of Omaha Pictures, Santa Monica, says business has been good, and that work out of West Coast agencies has risen. "Overall, the results of the first quarter of this year are very strong," she reports. "For us, more work is coming out of West Coast agencies. I think that is reflected in the relationship and the growth of some our directors, like Rupert Sanders at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), [San Francisco], and TBWA/Chiat/Day, [Los Angeles], and Wieden+Kennedy."
Production in the Los Angeles area has continued to increase, with the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (EIDC), which oversees the joint Los Angeles City/County Film Office, reporting an increasing number of shooting days. McArter says that Omaha has been shooting more on the West Coast of late. About 60 percent of the production company’s jobs were shot on the West Coast in ’03. Recent spotwork include Levi’s "Doorman" and "Hotdog," directed by Speck/ Gordon—Will and Josh, respectively—through Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London; and California Milk Fluid Processor Board’s "Trail Runner," helmed by Sanders out of GS&P.
"The production business in L.A. and along the West Coast is slowly improving after the long industry malaise," says Luke Thornton, president/executive producer of bicoastal/ international Believe Media. "We are seeing improved board flow, but not at before-recession levels. There is more optimism within the production community, yet people are still maintaining a wait-and-see attitude."
The production company’s recent spot jobs include Subaru’s "We Are the True Believers," directed by Zack Snyder, and featuring Lance Armstrong, for Temerlin McClain, Irving; and Kia’s "Paintball" and "Tennis," helmed by Brian Aldrich for davidandgoliath, Los Angeles.
Thornton notes that the SAG/ AFTRA strike against the ad industry in ’00 had a major impact on production in the Los Angeles area, which is slowly recovering. "The climate after the strike saw a focus on shooting out of the country, mainly in Europe and Canada," he says. "The knock-on effect continued for two years, however the last six months have seen a dramatic shift back to L.A. This is due mainly to the fluctuation of the dollar in Europe, but we’d also like to think there is a renewed determination in advertisers to support the local film industry."
According to Thornton, one segment of the ad industry is doing particularly well. "The West Coast automobile advertising market is thriving," he says. "Team One [Advertising, El Segundo, Calif.], with their Lexus work, Deutsch LA on Mitsubishi, GS&P on Saturn, Rubin Postaer and Associates, [Santa Monica], with the Acura account, and relative newcomer davidandgoliath on Kia all have continued to do fabulous work. These companies demonstrate that a Left Coast agency can compete against the car market big boys in Detroit."
