R/GA Digital Studios (R/GA-DS), New York, is closing its production, broadcast design, computer graphics and digital post division, R/Greenberg Associates (R/GA). Best known for its commercial production and feature visual effects work over the years, the New York-based R/GA will remain in business until mid-January, while projects currently in the hopper are completed.
Robert Greenberg, chairman/CEO of R/GA-DS, said that the decision to shutter R/GA reflected his determination to focus R/GA-DS on interactive endeavors, which are spearheaded by the company’s strategic interactive design agency, R/GA Interactive (R/GA-I).
"Over the past five years, we’ve made that transition," Greenberg said, referring to the switch from commercial production and postproduction into interactive media.
"We’re one of the substantial companies in the interactive business. We create solutions, applications and entire businesses online. And it was simply a question of how long I would keep the studio open, and I think we sort of ran out of runway."
Signaling the shift to interactive, R/GA-DS recently opened R/GA Broadband (R/GA-B), which develops, produces, and implements broadband applications (SHOOT, 9/10/99, p. 1). Greenberg said that R/GA-DS is now in the process of also launching R/GA Pervasive (R/GA-P), which would develop "pervasive computing" fare. "Pervasive computing" refers to wireless devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants that are capable of transmitting and receiving digital content. Both R/GA-B and R/GA-P are divisions of R/GA-I.
"For myself, the amount of energy and time it takes to manage [R/GA’s] broadcast side is not really where I want to put my efforts," related Greenberg. R/GA downsized from a maximum of 175 staffers in the early ’90s to a current level of 20 staffers, while R/GA-I has grown significantly in size.
Greenberg said that although the commercial division had remained profitable, the margins had been decreasing over time, part of an overall spot industry trend. He conceded that the dwindling margins factored into the decision to close R/GA.
However, R/GA-DS will retain one link to commercialmaking, maintaining its affiliation with New York-based production house Michael Schrom & Company. The Schrom studio is a satellite of R/GA-DS.
Though he believes the business decision is sound, Greenberg said that the pending closure of the 23-year-old R/GA is "traumatic" for him and he acknowledged R/GA-DS could not have achieved its current position without the accomplishments of R/GA.
"We wouldn’t have been able to transition into the business that we’re in without the business that we came from," he said, noting that he was deeply grateful to "the incredibly talented people that have built the R/GA brand over time."
Asked whether the production resources of R/GA could have proved valuable to broadband endeavors undertaken by R/GA-B, Greenberg responded that broadband is going to be significantly different from producing commercials. "You can’t produce [broadband] in anywhere near the same way that you produce television commercials," he said. "It’s going to stem out of interactive and not linear broadcast … A lot of people think [broadband] is going to be broadcast with an interactive element to it, [and] I think they’ve got it all wrong."
Greenberg said that the decision to close R/GA was not affected by the departures of any talent; the most recent being that of director/CG director Mark Voelpel, who has joined New York-based Black Logic (see separate story, p. 1). Director/ designer Jakob Trollback exited R/GA in February and launched New York-based Trollback & Company.
R/GA-DS is a subsidiary of True North Communications, which is among the world’s largest advertising conglomerates with global network holdings that include FCB Worldwide and Bozell. Greenberg said that he had the full commitment of True North in the decision to close R/GA and to concentrate fully on the interactive discipline. "Their [True North’s] original goal for us was to transition into a new media company, so they’re very much supportive of this," said Greenberg.
Wagonheim et al
At press time, Rick Wagonheim, R/GA’s executive producer/director of marketing, had just returned to New York from a pressing family matter. As a result, he had not been able to discuss his plans with Greenberg following the decision to shut down R/GA. Greenberg said that he was "a big fan" of Wagonheim, and hoped that there was some way he could stay on board at the company. Wagonheim said that before determining his future plans, his priority was to oversee the completion of projects currently at R/GA.
Wagonheim reported that there are multiple jobs currently being wrapped at R/GA. He added that based on his discussions with staffers who had been at the company for eight or nine years, "this summer and fall was the busiest the studio ever had."
Wagonheim said that he spent an "invigorating three and a half years" at R/GA, during which the division had "done a lot of work and made a lot of positive, constructive changes." He said that he would consider remaining within the R/GA-DS family "if it makes sense to be a part of this future."
Greenberg said that other staff members would remain on board until January and were being given severance packages as well as support in finding new positions.
Alums of R/GA who had recently left the company said that it had become apparent in recent years that R/GA-DS was concentrating its energies more on the interactive division.
"I think that it started to feel obvious that the company was going more and more into the realm of new media, and I think that what Bob has done is the logical step in this development," said Voelpel, who left before he knew of any decision to close R/GA. "Right now Bob decided to go with new media. I think that’s the right decision for that company."
"Rick Wagonheim did a great job at bringing in clients," said Trollback. "I think Bob’s vision and also True North’s vision was that the company would always be a new media branch. Because the fact is that True North was most interested in the new media part of the company, and I think that was pretty obvious. They’ve been very supportive in the new media efforts, and it was very clear that they weren’t when it came to the studio side."
Interactive
For Greenberg, the decision to move out of commercials and primarily into the interactive arena reflects certain desires. To begin with, Greenberg wanted to focus on what he felt was the cutting edge of developing technologies. And he noted that the work done under the R/GA-I banner enabled the company to work more closely with clients than typical commercial production work allowed. "In the production business, you get further and further away from a relationship with the client," he said, noting that R/GA-I was involved with an enterprise that was markedly different from commercial production. "We’re not just producing messages, we’re producing actual businesses and applications."
Greenberg observed that although R/GA is closing, R/GA-DS is in an "expansion mode" at the moment, due to an increase in staff and space for the company’s various interactive divisions.
In its heyday, R/GA was a much sought-after production and effects house which garnered numerous industry honors, including many SHOOT Top Spots. Among its notable credits was Diet Coke’s "Nightclub" via Lintas:New York (now Lowe Lintas & Partners, New York) which melded footage of iconic entertainers such as Louis Armstrong, Gene Kelly and James Cagney with contemporary performers, including Elton John and Paula Abdul. (R/GA did the visual effects on the spot, which was directed by Steve Horn of New York-based Steve & Linda Horn Inc.). R/GA’s recent commercial credits include: a Voelpel-directed Orkin Pest Control ad, "Spy Guy" for J. Walter Thompson, Atlanta; and visual effects for Dodge Intrepid’s "Nature" helmed by Richard Kizu Blair of Pandemonium, San Francisco, for BBDO Detroit, Southfield, Mich. In the feature visual effects arena, R/GA worked on such movies as Zelig, Braveheart, and Predator; the latter garnered an Oscar nomination in ’87 for best effects. In its rich history, R/GA collaborated on more than 4,000 commercials and 400 theatrical features.
Greenberg and his brother Richard Greenberg launched the overall company in ’77, and the commercial division took shape as R/GA Live. In ’92, the division was re-named Savoy Commercials. And in ’96, the division evolved into R/GA, its current incarnation. Throughout its history, the commercial division was a pioneer in the integration of visual effects and live action.
Also for a good part of the ’90s, R/GA was bicoastal. In ’92, it opened R/GA LA, an operation which primarily turned out title sequences and effects for features. The R/GA LA venture ended in ’98 when it was sold back to its West Coast-based management and became Imaginary Forces. Richard Greenberg, who was involved in R/GA LA, now runs Los Angeles-based Greenberg Schluter, a feature film design and effects company.
