Bicoastal Atherton and Dallas-based Concrete Productions have formed a production relationship to share select resources, including office space and sales representation.
Per the deal, Concrete will have access to Atherton’s production offices in Los Angeles and New York, while Atherton will gain a production base in Dallas via Concrete’s headquarters.
Atherton’s New York-based director of marketing and sales Phillip Collins will help Concrete president Lisa Cobb with the overall marketing of Concrete. Concurrently, Cobb will spearhead Texas sales and marketing for Atherton.
Cindy Akins, West Coast executive producer/partner at Atherton, observed that her company and Concrete have had a friendly working relationship, and that Atherton had recently started offering Concrete the use of its New York and L.A. production spaces for spots. Among the jobs Concrete has produced out of Atherton’s offices are a Pontiac spot via DMB&B, Troy, Mich., and a Major League Baseball spot via Vigilante, the urban marketing subsidiary of Chicago-based Leo Burnett Co.
"It’s been going on for around six to eight months on a friendship basis," said Akins. "We just decided there are ways to formalize it that are in the best interest of both companies." She added that such an arrangement doesn’t create a strain on either company’s resources.
Akins said that although L.A.-based independent rep Carole Biedermann has done a great job for Atherton in the Texas territory, there are significant advantages to hooking up with a local company. "It can only benefit us to have a resident sales and production presence there," said Akins, who added that they hope to bring more productions to shoot in Texas as a competitive alternative to shooting in Canada. "For instance, it’s a hell of a lot easier for Concrete’s head of production, Steve Johnson, to do bids for us in Texas. They know the corners they can cut, the locations, the crew, and so on. When we really started to look at it, it became a no-brainer for us. We’re simply casting a broader net."
Atherton has a similar working relationship with London-based commercial and longform production company Branded Films (which is co-owned by Atherton president Julie Atherton’s sister, Susie Brooks-Smith). Branded Films recently provided production support for Ford Motor Company’s millennial two-minute branding spot, "Goodbye/Hello," helmed by Atherton director Edouard Nammour (SHOOT, 11/5/99, p. 7).
Also providing production support for "Goodbye/Hello" was Film Graphics Productions, Crows Nest, Australia, which is owned by Atherton director David Denneen; Atherton maintains a representation deal with the company, and provides production support for Little Minx, an L.A.-based music video company, which it co-owns with Rhea Rupert.
For Cobb, the affiliation represents a cost-efficient way to produce on the coasts where Concrete shoots the majority of its jobs, without the expense of opening additional offices. "Two years ago, we shot mostly in Los Angeles," said Cobb, "and this year we shot mainly in New York. With the shifting workload, I didn’t want to dial up the overhead in any one market. I prefer to invest in my directors and their reels, rather than in a piece of real estate."
Atherton’s rep force consists of Chicago-based Tracy Bernard & Associates in the Midwest; Biedermann on the West Coast and Collins on the East Coast. Concrete is repped on the West Coast by L.A.-based Darr Hawthorne; in the Southwest and Southeast by Dallas-based Montoya Reps; in the Midwest by Chicago-based The Connor Group, and on the East Coast by New York-based Maggie Klein & Co.
Atherton directors include Nammour, Denneen, Rachel Harms, Vadim Perelman, Brian Weber and Gordon Willis Jr.; it also represents Film Graphics directors Philip Meatchem, Les Sharpe, Graeme Burfoot and Mat Humphrey, along with Little Minx director Malik Hassan Sayeed.
Concrete’s directorial lineup consists of Greg Kiefer, Alex-ander von David, Raymond Bark and Stewart Charles Cohen. Concrete additionally represents director Bobby Sheehan in the Southwest and on the East Coast.
