Last year in this space we characterized the state of the postproduction industry as one facing both promise and peril. The “promise” was reflected in the demand for new forms of content on the part of global advertisers and programmers, ensuring a steady stream of often-challenging work for members of our community. The “peril” acknowledged the equally challenging competitive landscape they’re facing: it’s a world of reduced budgets, shortened timelines and expanded deliverables, intertwined with constant pressure to do more with less and meet increasingly stringent conditions to win business.
For example, several increasingly odious business practices came to the fore in 2014 such as the continued adoption of extended payment policies by large advertisers. AICE took a strong stand against this, particularly in the case of Mars, Inc., which was reported to be moving to a 120-day term but agreed to reexamine the policy for production and post expenditures after pressure from AICE and AICP.
Another was the growth of agency in-house post work. While in-house is here to stay, we believe agencies have been abusing their relationships with indie post vendors as part of their effort to steer work to in-house facilities. We’ve raised important questions about fairness, transparency and ethics regarding the use of in-house, and will be engaging agencies and clients on these in the coming year.
Overall, though, our outlook for 2015 is upbeat and optimistic. As an association, AICE has been expanding its role as both an advocate for the post community and a resource for all stakeholders in the advertising content and distribution process. Of particular value is the leadership our Technical Committee has taken on the complex issue of data protection and archiving, which impacts everyone from advertisers to agencies, production companies and post houses. The same committee is also working on helping standardize deliverable formats for digital video.
Our members are taking advantage of changes in media and technology to redefine what a post house does. The services they offer include creative editorial, motion graphics and design, VFX, color grading and finishing, audio mixing and post, sound design and music. We’re frequently contributing to integrated campaigns that include both digital and traditional deliverables, often produced with astonishing speed and creativity.
In short, our view towards 2015 is to stress the value independent post companies and their artists, producers, EPs and owners bring to the process of creating, finishing and sharing great ad content.
Rachelle Madden is executive director of AICE.
