Before scheduling a shoot in the first or second week in January, clients, agencies and production houses should carefully consider their options in light of Y2K glitches that could arise. That was part of the advice given by the Ad Hoc Y2K Intra-Industry Committee on Commercial Production, which has issued recommendations to those commercialmakers who cannot avoid lensing in early January.
"No one knows what’s going to happen on January first, particularly with regard to infrastructure," said Al Califano, chairman of the Y2K industry committee. Califano, who is also vice chairman of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) and partner/executive producer of bicoastal OneSuch Films, posed many open-ended scenarios. "Will utilities be affected? Transportation? Banks? Even if I and all my suppliers are Y2K compliant, if the electricity goes out and we’re on a shoot, we may have a problem. The time to think about this kind of thing is now."
The committee—which included representatives from production companies, ad agencies, the Association of Independent Commercial Editors (AICE) and assorted support service businesses—identified two high-risk periods: Jan. 1-9 for filming commercials in the U.S.; and Jan. 1-16 for shooting in foreign countries. The committee suggested avoiding these periods if possible, and advocated that shoots be scheduled during the remainder of ’99 instead.
However, for shoots that must occur during the high-risk January periods, the committee made several recommendations based on a series of meetings over the past year, in which ideas and concerns were discussed. Additional input was provided by expert guest speakers from different sectors, including the financial community. Califano described the committee recommendations as food for thought, helping to identify areas that agencies, clients, production companies, editorial houses and other industry businesses should be talking to each other about. From this, shops can make individual business decisions as to what action to take or policies to institute to cover Y2K contingencies.
Committee recommendations included:
•Alerting the client to the existence of a high-risk period.
•Revising the agency contract payment schedule to provide 75 percent up front.
•Having an alternative location available in the event of problems at the original site.
•Using contingency (weather) day guidelines for Y2K delays.
•And making sure back-up spots are delivered to stations in December.
Califano explained that the 75 percent up-front payment is to offer a greater measure of protection if banking problems arise during the first two weeks of the new millennium. "By state and federal labor laws, we [production companies] need to be compliant with payroll going out in a timely fashion," he said.
Commercial producers on the committee also proposed a contract addendum, providing that the agency, rather than the production company, be responsible for the Y2K compliance of any subcontractor designated by the agency. "When an agency decides who the contractor is, I’m outside of that decision-making process," said Califano in discussing the position of an executive producer at a production company. "I cannot guarantee—nor will I have the opportunity to do the necessary due diligence to determine—whether that contractor is Y2K compliant or not."
Agency POV
Cathy Pitegoff, manager of broadcast business affairs at New York-based Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG, served as lead agency person on the Y2K industry committee. She noted, as did Califano, that the committee’s recommendations are only "suggestions" to be considered. Pitegoff related, for example, that the agency point of view does not endorse the 75 percent up-front payment for jobs shot during the high-risk period. "That was a producer suggestion," she said. "But again, it’s something that’s been suggested that people can discuss."
Pitegoff observed that the main goal of the committee is to create greater awareness throughout the industry about Y2K and what can go wrong, particularly with elements "completely out of our control" like electricity, phone service, running water and airline delays. "So much in our world is initiated by computer; as a result, things can go wrong. And we, as well as our clients, need to be fully aware of this. There may be clients who need to produce commercials in early January. They just need to know that there could be extra costs they’ll have to incur because of the [Y2K] situation. … Thank goodness New Year’s Day falls on a Saturday. By the end of that following week, we should know a lot more about how things are in the U.S. That’s why we defined the high-risk period [domestically] as January first through the ninth."
Pitegoff and Califano both credited New York Heads of Production (NYHP) with helping to generate broader awareness of Y2K considerations. Pitegoff said that Pamela Maytheni, a NYHP founder/organizer, got approval for the Y2K committee to present its suggestions to NYHP members during that group’s meeting on Sept. 28 at Ogilvy & Mather’s New York office. (Maytheni is president of The Source, Boca Raton, Fla., an information service that maintains a commercial industry database.)
"By plugging us into the NYHP, Pamela helped us get the word out to top heads of production," said Califano. Pitegoff added that the NYHP meeting enabled agency production heads "to hear our recommendations and concerns and then take them back to their agencies, where they could figure out the best way to work [under Y2K conditions]."
The idea of forming a Y2K industry committee was first proposed by Califano during the AICP’s national board meeting in Dec. ’98. This didn’t result in an AICP committee, but rather in a Y2K group that drew from the industry at large, related Califano. "We began to bring together people from different segments of the business," Califano said, citing representatives from ad agencies, production companies, editorial and post houses, rental equipment shops, accountancy, legal and insurance firms, travel agencies and industry associations.
The dialogue that ensued over five meetings in ’99 proved invaluable, according to Califano. "Mainly, we’re helping to raise awareness of possible problems and what can be done ahead of time to avoid them. Treating Y2K glitches, for example, in the context of weather contingency day guidelines could go a long way to help resolve any problems."
Beyond the five formal meetings, Pitegoff noted that committee members frequently contacted industry colleagues, as well as each other. Her responsibilities included connecting with fellow agency business managers and agency heads of production concerning the Y2K issue.
At press time, another Y2K industry committee meeting was tentatively scheduled for Dec. 2; the session is open to anyone in the business who’s interested.
