Mad River Post closed its doors a couple of weeks ago. I cried.
Twenty years ago commercials were edited on film. Kem, Steenbeck, and Movieola were the systems used at top post houses of the day, and if you muttered the words offline video, you were talking about low end television shows or worse, corporate video.
Edit rooms were small and dark, and the only comfort for clients were cheap high backed directors chairs.
It was in this environment that my friend Michael Elliot and I came up with a bold new plan. Start a new editing company aimed at high-end TV commercials, forgo the film edit, and edit solely on video. We would provide our clients with a comfortable “living room” like environment because we knew that 10-12 hours a day were more to ask from our staff and clients while working in a dull cramped environment. We introduced “producers” to the postproduction world, so we could keep the editors focused on the work, not the business. We located the company in the out of the way town of Santa Monica–at the time a no-man’s land when it came to commercial production. And we bought a massive cappuccino machine. Luckily, we thrived.
One year later, I saw a cool new technology that I thought could really help us edit smarter and faster. It was called the Avid, and it was about to be released. We invited the Avid team to our offices for a demo, and when they were done, we gave them a list of things the avid must do to gain our support–three months later they were back having made the requested improvements. We bought our first Avid–if I remember correctly, it was serial number 3. The rest of the commercial industry was still editing on film.
I sold my stake in the company 10 years later after opening offices in Santa Monica, San Francisco, and New York. I continued to be impressed as Mad River not only remained in business but also continued to grow. I have always been proud of my contribution to the company.
So when word came of the shuttering of the company, I cried. But mostly I looked back at the last 20 years, and the changes that have come to our business.
Technology has gotten better and cheaper making the barrier to entry almost nothing. We’ve taken client service to a ridiculous level. Our companies have become temples of extravagance and waste, and salaries went over the top. Keeping up with the competition in these areas have left us weak, and susceptible to this downturn in the economy.
Finally, the ubiquity of the video screen–on computers, iPods and telephones, in elevators and taxis, on billboards and in-store video networks.
All these providers of content have reduced the value of what we create.
Once again it’s time to rethink the business. It is truly the end of an era.
So I say a fond farewell to the company that I helped to create oh so long ago, and I welcome the challenge to come.
I wish all my former colleagues well. In the end, it’s not about one company, or about a company name. It’s about talent–and I’m proud to say that some of the best talent in our business had a layover at Mad River Post.
Au Revoir.
Michael Porte is former co-owner of Mad River Post and currently owns The Field and Nth Degree Creative Group in New York.
