As past columns on industry mentoring attest—particularly in recent installments about The Kangaroo Project (SHOOT, 9/26 and 10/24, p. 4) and Group101 Spots (SHOOT, 10/10, p. 4)—there’s no substitute for hands-on experience. However, what shouldn’t be read between the lines is any disdain on our part for book learning. In fact, an up-to-date textbook on spotmaking has been sorely missing from the educational landscape for a considerable number of years.
But now, looking to fill that void is Designing and Producing the Television Commercial, authored by Larry Elin and Al Lapides. Elin is currently assistant professor in the television, radio, film department at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. Previously, he had a 25-year track record as a creative executive in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego and Denver, spanning TV, features, advertising and multimedia.
Based in Los Angeles, Lapides is VP, director of TV Services with Leo Burnett USA. He has been with Burnett for more than 36 years—five in Production Business-Operations and 31 in Production. He has spent 10 years in Burnett’s Chicago office and 26 at the agency’s Los Angeles base.
The impetus for the book came from Elin, who planned to teach a course in TV commercial production. Elin asked Lapides if a comprehensive, up-to-date textbook was available for the class, and the answer was no. However, Lapides had an outline on the subject that he used internally for new people in the agency’s production department. Lapides sent a copy to Elin, who felt it was the basis for a book. A year and a half later, Designing and Producing the Television Commercial was published.
I ran into Lapides last month at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Commercials Branch reception co-hosted by SHOOT to honor this year’s nominees for the primetime spot Emmy. Lapides told me that he and Elin thought the book would be beneficial not only to students but to industry people who have responsibilities that include overseeing/approving production, etc., but are not directly involved in the creative production process.
Lapides’ involvement in the book was totally independent from his ongoing endeavors at Burnett. For the book, he drew from his extensive contacts and resources throughout the industry, as well as his longstanding professional experience. The book explains the business, art and technology of creating a commercial, from the development of the client’s message right through to postproduction.
Among the book’s features are examples from and participants’ observations about actual spot productions, which provide insights into how the process works in a professional setting; classroom exercises and discussion questions at the end of each chapter, which help readers develop a critical perspective on the material covered; and biographical profiles of professionals in the field, which illuminate possible career paths.
The book is divided into three parts. Part I provides foundation and background—the big picture about the TV commercial itself and the businesses that surround it. Part II discusses the design process and the dynamics behind it, with insights into the client-agency relationship and the development of an advertising plan, which includes creatively developing the commercial. And Part III covers production and post, right through to delivery of the final commercial.
The book also contains a glossary of industry terms, other recommended readings (at the conclusion of each chapter) and chapter-by-chapter summaries.
Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, Designing and Producing the Television Commercial has just debuted. According to Lapides, the book is starting to make the rounds for possible use in curricula at universities and other learning/training institutions.
