“This is one of the AICP’s most important undertakings,” said Blair Stribley after attending a meeting in Los Angeles updating Association of Independent Commercial Producers‘ members on the work of the AICP.next committee formed last year to provide insights, context and hopefully some answers as to how the production community can capitalize on emerging content opportunities and formulate new ways of doing business.
Stribley, who is partner/executive producer at Venice, Calif.-based Backyard Productions and its sister content creation and development shop Seed, explained, “The reason it’s so important is that we’re entering an era where a very new business model or models are developing for our industry. Producing commercials is a mature business. The practices and standards are well established. But now we’re involved in content creation that involves new practices and standards–and new forms of compensation–that speak to the future of production companies.”
And arguably that future has already arrived as reflected in the results of the AICP’s recently released fourth annual Survey of the Commercial Production Industry. Among the key findings of the study–independently conducted by the Los Angeles-based research firm Goodwin Simon Victoria Research–is that commercial producers are “deeply involved” in creating non-traditional advertising. Nearly seven out of 10 members (69 percent of those surveyed) produced “non-traditional advertising projects” during the study year of 2005. By far the most common format for such projects was an Internet or broadband viral, followed by original content (branded entertainment).
Next grids
The aforementioned AICP gathering in Los Angeles got a look-see at the work done thus far by the AICP.next committee, which is chaired by director Massimo Martinotti, a member of the AICP board of directors and executive committee. (Martinotti is also president of AICP’s Florida chapter and of Mia Films, a production house based in Miami with offices in Mexico, Argentina and Costa Rica, and associate offices in Europe.)
The meeting presentation included the screening of filmed interviews with a cross-section of people primarily from outside the commercial production house community, with varied perspectives from the likes of futurist/author/educator Ken Robinson and David Droga, creative chairman of bicoastal agency Drogafive, among others.
Also unveiled at the meeting were grids that outlined the flow and process of creating content for various media spanning branded entertainment, cell phone/hand-held fare, virals, etc., accompanied by recommendations as to how production companies should be compensated for each of them.
“There are certain elements of compensation if a company is involved in concept development and content creation,” said AICP president/CEO Matt Miller. “This breaks the traditional work-for-hire model and moves into such areas as ownership and retention of intellectual property, holding an equity stake in content. The grids also addressed key aspects like contract language, guidelines and how our client union contracts might or might not plug into these new forms of content.”
Miller noted that the AICP will soon schedule a New York session to update East Coast membership on the work of the AICP.next committee. “Once our members familiarize themselves with what the next.committee has done,” said Miller, “we intend to share it with agencies and clients.”
Gilmartin Underscoring the importance of the nontraditional content arena and related new business models covering compensation and other aspects, the AICP has brought Denise Gilmartin on board to serve as VP of business affairs and nontraditional media, a newly created post.
For the last nine years, Gilmartin has been running her own consulting business, Denise Gilmartin & Associates, which had her providing CFO expertise to assorted commercial production houses. Prior to that, she was executive VP/CFO at RSA.
Throughout her tenure at RSA (1992-’98) and her own consultancy firm, Gilmartin has been proactive in the AICP, either serving as West chapter treasurer, heading AICP’s group of CFOs/comptrollers, as a board member or assuming a lead role on the AICP’s ongoing analysis of advertising agency production contracts. “She brings a great knowledge of the industry and much needed context to her role at AICP,” said Miller. “That context is knowing the business affairs, contractual aspects and other issues of commercialmaking inside out–and now helping us apply those to the new media landscape in the nontraditional media part of her position with us.”
Indeed Gilmartin’s responsibilities will span the traditional spotmaking biz (business affairs, agency contract analysis, client guidelines, issues such as wrap-up insurance) and nontraditional content as she works closely with the AICP.next committee to the benefit of the trade association’s membership. Gilmartin will also run the AICP’s Los Angeles office, taking the reins from AICP executive VP Steve Caplan, who has departed to join Greer Margolis Mitchell & Burns, an ad agency and media firm that focuses on major social issues as well as political campaigns (see separate story in News section).
“The chance to use my skillset as a CFO and extend it into all these areas at AICP is what drew me to this position,” said Gilmartin, noting that also appealing to her was being able to embark on her new role at a time when the industry has reached an exciting crossroads with new media and content creation opportunities emerging.
