Whether the proverbial glass is viewed as half full or half empty depends on one’s orientation and attitude. But either way, there’s half a glass left to fill, and the optimist might be more inclined to chart new waters for that purpose while the pessimist would maintain the status quo level of H2O.
Yet charting new waters can prove daunting in an uncertain, fragile economy. Still, such waters run deep for those with entrepreneurial spirit as reflected in companies looking to diversify and further extend their reach in myriad ways so far this year.
Underscoring this dynamic were several 2011 primetime Emmy Award nominees. For one, consider the performance of Ridley and Tony Scott’s family of companies which garnered nominations for Best Drama Series (CBS’ The Good Wife produced by Scott Free Productions), Outstanding Miniseries or Movie (Starz’s The Pillars Of The Earth—Tandem Communcations and Muse Entertainment in association with Scott Free Films), Outstanding Nonfiction Special (History channel’s Gettysburg produced by Scott Free Productions in association with Herzog & Company), and Outstanding TV Commercial (Subaru’s “Baby Driver” produced by RSA Films and directed by Jake Scott). The Good Wife earned a total of nine nominations while Gettysburg tallied seven. The latter wound up winning the Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Special, as well as statuettes in other categories.
Indeed it’s been a great Scott of an Emmy season, showing how diversification can score on both the creative and business barometers.
Also prominent in the Emmy mix was the acclaimed HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce which topped this year’s competition with 21 nominations, including for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special (Todd Haynes), Outstanding Writing For A Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special (Haynes and Jon Raymond), Outstanding Actress in Title Role (Kate Winslet) and Best Supporting Actors (Brian F. O’Byrne, Marc Winningham, Melissa Leo).
The five-part miniseries was a production of Killer Films/John Wells Productions in association with HBO Miniseries and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Mildred Pierce marked the directorial debut in the TV program arena for Haynes whose helming touch has nonetheless been evident on the small screen in shorter form. He has to his credit, for example, the high-profile Heineken commercial titled “Share” and continues to be on Moxie Pictures roster of feature filmmakers who are available for select spots and branded content.
Furthermore, Killer Films, headed by producers Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler (both exec producers on Mildred Pierce), has a more direct business tie to Moxie. Underscoring our diversification theme, Moxie, under the aegis of CEO Robert Fernandez and president/director Danny Levinson, announced earlier this year that it had partnered with Killer to form talent firm KillerMoxie Management. The new venture’s client roster includes writers/directors Haynes, Floria Sigismondi, Gregg Araki, James Foley, Sam Jones, Nicholas Jaecki–and a pair of Best First Screenplay nominees at the Independent Spirit Awards, directors/writers Nicholas Fackler and Dana Adam Shapiro–and actors Joy Bryant, Brady Corbet and Asia Argento, as well as rockers Sean Lennon, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, and Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes.
During the “From The Director’s Chair” session of SHOOT’s Directors/Producers Forum at the DGA Theatre in NYC this spring, Levinson said in broad strokes that KillerMoxie Management puts Moxie in a position to explore creating opportunities for clients in entertainment across varied media and diverse talent. This in turn could generate career and brand-building projects for Moxie’s coterie of filmmaking talent.
Additionally this year has also seen the formation of Moxie Pictures TV with David Casey, formerly of History, hired to serve as director of creative. He teams with Jesse Korwin, director of development, to advance Moxie television endeavors; the two will focus primarily on nonfiction programming for TV network series and specials, as well as show packaging and promotional campaigns for network series and brands.
Scripted television offerings represent a goal for the future. Key to Moxie Pictures TV strategy will be to develop television projects directly with its high profile roster of commercial and feature film directors as well as the KillerMoxie Management roster of talent.
On the theatrical motion picture front, Moxie’s movie producing debut, Errol Morris’ feature-length documentary Tabloid, opened in theaters this summer.
Moxie’s feature scope has since broadened with its first narrative feature, Austenland, an adaptation of author Shannon Hale’s novel about Jane Austen-obsessed contemporary heroine Jane, played by Keri Russell. The film–which wrapped shooting last month–marked the directorial debut of Jerusha Hess who co-scripted the indie hit Napoleon Dynamite with her husband and writing/producing partner, director Jared Hess. Austenland is produced by Stephenie Meyer (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Breaking Dawn Part 2, The Host) through Fickle Fish Films, the production company of Meyer and Meghan Hibbett, and Moxie Pictures’ Gina Mingacci. Executive producers are Fernandez and Levinson of Moxie Pictures and co-producer is Jane Hooks (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Bronson).
Major Ascent Though it was finalized one day prior to the start of this calendar year, Deluxe Entertainment Services‘ purchase of Ascent Media Corporation’s Creative Services and Media Services businesses carries import and implications well into 2011 and beyond, underscoring the staying power of diversification and expansion through acquisition. The Ascent holdings now part of the Deluxe family include such mainstay shops as Company 3, Beast, Method Studios, Rushes, Encore Hollywood and Level 3 Post.
Warren Stein, COO of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, noted that the Ascent deal has expanded Deluxe’s reach meaningfully into commercials and TV, “historically areas we have not played in that much. We were very much a feature film company but now we have diversified beyond that across the board, including in the digital area spanning features, TV and commercials.”
Stein noted that Ascent has some “remarkably talented people” who could cross over into features, just as a number of Deluxe artisans could expand into TV and commercials. He sees that synergy starting to develop as another potential benefit of the deal.
Overall, Stein assessed, “The deal has worked out very well, even better than we anticipated…Business has been stronger than we expected. Feature film production has picked up. Commercials have been strong as well. The market for commercials in the first part of 2011 was stronger than the same period of 2010. We’ve realized much greater cost savings for the acquisition, and benefited from an infusion of major talent.”
New dimension There are assorted other recent examples of production, post and VFX houses looking to extend their creative and business reach this year. Among the fronts spawning growth is 3D.
Tate USA, a mainstay Santa Monica-based commercial production house headed by founder/executive producer David Tate, has diversified into 3D, launching T-3D, a venture dedicated to producing 3D content for the advertising marketplace.
Veteran spot production company executive Michael Romersa and his partner Danny Llewelyn are executive producers of T-3D, which through a relationship with equipment development/rental house the 3D Camera Company (3DCC) gains exclusive North American access to an ensemble of stereographers as well as leading edge technology.
Under the aegis of Bill White and partners William Reeve, CSC, and Lacia Kornylo, the Toronto-based 3DCC has since its founding in 2006 developed a range of specialized stereoscopic image capture equipment for the motion picture entertainment industry. Such equipment, including rigs designed for aerial photography, were deployed for example on a standout scene in the Michael Bay-directed Transformers: Dark of the Moon in which sky divers (mountain flyers in winged suits) literally jump from the top of the Trump Tower and soar through downtown Chicago.
Plans call for 3DCC to soon have a full-service operation up and running in Los Angeles. Romersa has been tabbed to serve as managing partner of 3DCC’s Southern California shop. In addition to its Toronto headquarters, 3DCC maintains footholds in India through a working relationship with Mumbai-based production house the Prasad Group and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via Abu Dhabi company Anasy Media Productions.
Tate’s T-3D, which opened in July, represents 3DCC’s first major incursion into the advertising arena. Tate USA’s directorial roster–which includes the likes of Jonathan Brown, Steven Antin, Michael Bindlechner, Ohav Flantz, Chris Graham, Matt Humphrey, Enno Jacobsen, Mattieu Mantovani, David Popescu, Rob Bliss, Pedro Gonzalez Rubio, Jonathan Teplitzky, 13 Keys and Status Collective–can thus more readily dovetail into the 3D marketplace, tapping into 3DCC’s stereographers and technological resources. David Tate and Romersa both noted that additional 3D directors could also be brought into T-3D as select spots and longer-form branded projects dictate.
The alluded to stereographers for whom T-3D has exclusivity in the ad world via its deal with 3DCC include William Reeve, John Reeve and Dylan Reade. William Reeve is recognized as a pioneering 3D stereographer with credits that include Saw 3D, Dinosaurs Alive, Legends of Flight and Volcanoes of the Deep Sea. (All but the latter had their 3D production facilitated by 3DCC.) His son John Reeve is a stereographer and camera operator whose body of work spans Queen Elizabeth in 3D, Rescue 3D, Lord of the Dance 3D, The Red Show and Cobu 3D, with 3DCC handling the 3D production for all. And stereographer/3D cameraman Reade has served as a specialist in IMAX 3D production since 1988. His credits include nearly 50 IMAX films such as Legends of Flight 3D (3D production by 3DCC), Born To Be Wild 3D, Under the Sea 3D, and Space Station 3D.
Additionally via 3DCC, T-3D has an exclusive arrangement for ad industry projects with postproduction supervisor Ken MacNeil whose 3D exploits include Saw 3D, concert productions for such artists as Kylie Minogue and Michael Flatley, and TV projects.
Tate USA’s directors can avail themselves of these 3D artisans’ expertise in the planning and execution of spots and branded content. David Tate described stereographers as a cross between such disciplines as that of production designer, cameraman and choreographer. On the production design score, he noted that leading stereographers draw storyboards and design shots meticulously. On the camera front, stereographers discuss and provide expertise on what focal lengths, angles and other lensing considerations will best capture what’s required of a scene. And in a choreographer capacity, stereographers envision how shots should cut together.
“Stereographers are essential to the process,” affirmed Tate. “They can work with directors and DPs, sharing the experience of knowing when to sit back and wait so as to give more impact to the high impact shots. But it goes beyond the images that jump out at your face. There’s a depth and quality in 3D that stereographers help to achive throughout.”
Romersa noted that he has touched base with several agencies that are eager to diversify into 3D and sees the market opening up not only in cinema advertising but also in broadcast. “There are two U.S. networks broadcasting exclusively in 3D–including ESPN’s 3D network–and within 18 months there will be more,” related Romersa. “TV sets will become more user friendly, and technology is rolling out that doesn’t require the wearing of glasses. Once that settles in, 3D will be off to the races. With 3D entertainment on the rise, it’s only a matter of time before 3D advertising and related content comes into prominence. We’re looking to be on the ground floor of that.”
Romersa added that agencies can package projects to shoot in both 2D and 3D, with the latter version playing in theaters prior to a major 3D movie or in homes via ESPN’s 3D network which offers a highly desirable sports environment for advertisers. The 2D fare could continue to run on conventional media outlets as agencies prepare for the future by building their 3D production experience and acumen.
Integrated approach For editor/director Larry Bridges, founder of Red Car, diversifying his company beyond its longstanding editorial core has evolved naturally as an attentive response to the marketplace. Just as ad agency creatives are dealing with multiple media platforms and strive for the properly integrated campaigns and pieces of communication to connect with audiences, Red Car sees the need to be selectively integrated as well in order to provide the solutions being sought by agencies and clients.
“We have to be integrated with varied talents and services across many media formats,” observed Bridges. “Agencies and brands need more complex solutions, pulling from different areas–solutions involving production, post, editing, graphics, sound, animation, moving into transmedia, the Internet–and we are growing to meet those needs. The ‘typical’ job today spans broadcast networks, web films, an iPhone app, an Android app, a possible cinema version, and other forms of content.”
Red Car has been extending its creative reach into these varied areas spanning digital, production and post services.
“We’ve been building a strong graphics department for some time. We have a creative director/graphic designer in each of our offices,” said Bridges. “We’ve introduced to our palette such specialties as finishing, audio and we’re now on the verge of color in a very meaningful way. The industry has shifted away from a fixed base operation with expensive heavy metal hero rooms to what are becoming more flexible, portable, software-driven color solutions which free up talent who can be freelance, permalance, staff or from the outside.”
Furthermore, creative editorial house Red Car recently made its first directorial signing, securing the services of noted mixed-media animation helmer and artist Crankbunny (a.k.a. Norma Toraya).
Additionally, Chris Bialkowski was promoted from senior designer to creative director overseeing animation and visual effects at Red Car, New York, while Courtney Fransen was hired as animation/VFX producer. “We’re stepping up our offerings to clients across the range of content production in ways that complement our core editorial work,” said Mary Knox, managing director of Red Car New York. These additions to the Red Car N.Y. roster are being made available to clients nationally via the company’s network of offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas.
Crankbunny had been at Curious Pictures for five years prior to joining Red Car. Her work is hands-on and hand crafted, frequently entailing a layering of techniques, including hand-drawn animation, painting pixilatiion, stop motion and live-action compositing. Over the years she has collaborated with assorted agencies, including Doner, Digitas, Fallon, Bromley Communications and Taxi. Her filmography also includes the short Animals Will Leave Us First, which is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“The signing of Crankbunny helps to bolster several other recent moves at Red Car in the area of animation and visual effects,” said Bridges. “We’ve been providing motion graphics and animation work to our clients for the past several years, mostly as an outgrowth of our editorial work. Now we’re actively concentrating on strategic and creative development in this area.”
Red Car is no stranger to the content arena. The company has a long history of producing short and longer form fare, including a recent Bridges-directed series on prominent writers for the National Endowment for the Arts.
As for its alluded to increase in digital acumen, both in terms of talent and resources, Red Car has connected with Artifact as a digital partner. Artifact’s roots are in digital and its principals are interactive creative director George Johnson, digital business strategist Marni Borek, and operations/finance exec Alexandre Fuchs. Artifact’s expertise spans creating, producing, designing, thinking and building digital experiences.
Prior to co-founding Artifact with Borek and Fuchs, Johnson was director of technology and design at Rabbit. Earlier he served as VP/executive creative director at ARC Worldwide/Novo Interactive, helping to conceive and build immersive products and experiences for Cadillac, Toyota, Levi Strauss & Co., Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Sony, E*Trade, Estee Lauder, Hewlett Packard and Orbitz.
Borek previously was VP, strategy, at Schematic’s N.Y. office. Prior to that, she held interactive marketing management positions at Draftfcb and Ogilvy One. Her client roster includes Target, Universal Music Group, Nokia, IBM, Orange, Motorola, United Healthcare Group, Bank of America and Sony.
And Fuchs was most recently COO of Curious Holdings, the holding company for Curious Pictures.
“We can connect Artifact to our client relationships, and can bring our clients that much more in digital,” said Knox who got to know Fuchs–and for that matter, Crankbunny–during her tenure as executive producer/managing director of commercials at Curious Pictures.
Bridges said that Artifact brings Red Car into the bigger picture of digital strategy, helping to answer client questions for a wide range of platforms, “opening up opportunities for us in all kinds of spaces like outdoor guerrilla stuff, apps, experiential.”
Like Bridges, Knox sees an intelligent, measured branching out as a natural, logical extension for Red Car. “We have a very strong historic core expertise in editing but I don’t see myself each morning coming to work at an editing house,” she related. “We engage in the business of storytelling for brands. We can do that storytelling in the form of editing images together but the needs of our clients for brand engagement also open up other doors and different ways for us to help them connect with audiences–we can be an editing company as well as a design company, an ideation company. Selling has changed today. What is sales for a company? To effectively connect with your clients, you have to be in the zeitgeist–and if we can be there in more than one creative stream, with so many integrated solutions being sought today, then we become more relevant and valuable to agencies, clients and brands.”
Reaching out Visual effects house Moving Picture Company (MPC), London, New York and Santa Monica, has extended its reach internationally and stateside. Last month it opened MPC Creative US headed by executive producer Paul Abatemarco out of the Santa Monica studio.
The move followed the lead of the success of MPC Creative in the London office which arose out of the increasing number of clients who wanted to work directly with and tap into MPC for more comprehensive creative and production services, including yet going beyond the studio’s core visual effects offerings.
“All sectors of the advertising business are trying to diversify and offer more–agencies are developing in-house motion graphics, others are developing editorial operations,” related Jeremy Smith, executive producer of MPC Creative in the U.K. “Our launch of MPC Creative in London and now in the states is a natural result of wanting to be more flexible and creative for our clients, being able to offer them more options.”
At the same time, Smith stressed that NOT an option for MPC Creative is to encroach on MPC’s longstanding mainstay business.
“MPC in its advertising division has benefited from great relationships with production companies and their directors,” he said. “We are not going after them. We are not looking to compete with the Noam Murros and Traktors of the world. If we find we are, we will gracefully bow out of such a prospective project.
“But,” continued Smith, “we have a very strong, diverse group of talent, visual directors who will allow us to go after work that the [live-action production company] directors won’t be looking for that we can do turnkey. We can help agencies design the idea, offer animation, motion graphics, visual effects and edit all under one roof, providing the economical advantage of dealing with one vendor and one markup. There are people who come to you with jobs that don’t require the traditional director, jobs that are CG and post heavy, that center on creature creation. We can facilitate those jobs with our visual effects talent serving as directors.”
MPC Creative in the U.K. has taken the helm of several such jobs, including an ambitious Cat’s Pride litter campaign out of Doner in Southfield, Mich., entailing the creation of photo-realistic CG cats. Jake Mengers, visual effects creative director at MPC London, directed Cat’s Pride via MPC Creative, U.K. One spot shows a cat giving a full back massage to a woman, relieving the tension created from her having to lift heavy litter bags. The other commercial has a cat passing out from a smelly litter box only to be revived via CPR administered by another cat whose litter box is filled with Cat’s Pride.
Mengers and the coterie of filmmaking artisans at MPC Creative UK in turn now represent a talent source for Abatemarco and MPC Creative US to access for select projects. Abatemarco meanwhile is developing a roster of directing talent for MPC Creative US. He envisions that roster as being a combination of in-house talent who can assume the directing mantle when needed, and other select outside directors whom MPC Creative can call upon. He conjectured that such outside talent could in some cases come in the form of talented visual directors in Europe and Asia whom MPC Creative US could handle exclusively for stateside assignments.
As for an in-house nucleus, MPC Creative US has a key roster building block in place with its first director signing, Daniel Marsh who in his role as lead VFX supervisor at MPC LA has worked on projects for such clients as AT&T, Honda, Chef Boyardee, OWN and Mercedes-Benz. Several more director signings were in the offing for MPC Creative US at press time.
“We won’t be doing docu-style or comedy work,” said Abatemarco, “but we intend to have a roster that can take on a depth and breath of visual styles, who can handle visually driven commercial work running the gamut of different disciplines from live action to CG, stop motion and so on.”
Both Smith and Abatemarco have extensive production backgrounds. Smith served as sr. executive producer at Blink London for 10 years and prior to that was on the ad agency side as a producer at BBH, London. For the past nearly four years, Abatemarco was executive producer at Stardust, which started out as a design/motion graphics company and then diversified successfully into live action. Earlier Abatemarco served as VP and head of sales at Radium/Reel FX and prior to that as director of operations at Riot, Santa Monica (which since been folded into Method).
Start-ups Meanwhile newly launched houses are opening as diverse entities, a couple of prime high-profile production company examples this year being Wondros and Alive & Well.
The latter was launched by Stephen Dickstein and Phillip Detchmendy, featuring a directorial roster that includes Eric Hellenbrand, Phil Abraham, Henry Hobson, Aaron Salgado, Alex Feil, Robin Hays, Andreas Roth and Chris Woods.
Beyond its commercialmaking and branded content chops, Alive & Well has extended its reach into the digital arena via a partnership with Fake Love, a shop active in motion graphics, experiential design and new media applications across varied platforms.
Furthermore, Alive & Well maintains Kicking & Screaming, a network of freelance talent who can be called upon to work with the company on viral video projects. Dickstein envisions a natural progression for the entity as it evolves a roster of dedicated creatives who work in the content arena.
As for Wondros, a production house formed by director Jesse Dylan and featuring a roster shaped by executive director Anne-Marie Mackay, diversification has been part of the company blueprint from the outset. Complementing its mainstream commercial and branded content operations, Wondros has a music video division headed by exec producer Joseph Uliano, and maintains Wondros Global, which specializes in giving voice to causes, issues, philanthropic and technological pursuits, creating pieces of communication spanning short and longer form. The Wondros directorial lineup includes: Dylan, David O. Russell (nominated this year for the Best Director Oscar and a DGA Award on the strength of The Fighter), Aaron Schneider (whose feature helming debut, Get Low, won this year’s Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature) Trent Reznor (this year’s Oscar winner for Best Achievement in Music on the basis of the original score for David Fincher’s The Social Network), Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter, and experienced in commercials), Mark Pellington whose filmography encompasses features (Arlington Road, Mothman Prophecies), TV (Cold Case), commercials, music videos and music documentaries (for such artists as U2 and Pearl Jam), and Javier Aguilera, a noted music video director who’s diversified into spotmaking.
Coming Attractions Diversification continues for spotmakers eyeing long-form. Park Pictures, the commercial production house founded by director Lance Acord and executive producer Jackie Kelman Bisbee, this summer formed a narrative feature company, Park Pictures Features, with film producers Galt Niederhoffer and Sam Bisbee. Park Pictures Features’ first project is the family comedy Robot & Frank, marking the theatrical feature directorial debut of Park Pictures’ Jake Schreier. The film’s cast includes Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Jeremy Strong and Liev Schreiber. Written by Christopher Ford, the feature is being produced by Niederhoffer, Bisbee, Kelman Bisbee and Acord.
Set in the future, Robot & Frank follows aging curmudgeon, Frank (Langella), a confused loner with a love for books. His one friend is the librarian Jennifer (Sarandon) whom he regularly visits. Other than his library outings, and weekly visits from his son, Frank lives a quiet, lonely life, until his grown-up kids (Marsden, Tyler) install a caretaker robot to look after their dad and an unlikely friendship begins.
Next on the Park Pictures Features’ slate are the theatrical film directing debut of Acord and a new project from director Ringan Ledwidge. The company will also produce the adaptations of Sam Lipsyte’s best-selling novel, “The Ask,” to be directed by Steven Shainberg, and the late David Foster Wallace’s short story, “Little Expressionless Animals.”
Niederhoffer thus far has produced 21 features, eight of which have been shown in competition at the Sundance Film Festival–with seven winning awards, including Grace Is Gone which garnered the Sundance Audience Award in 2007.
Sam Bisbee’s film debut as a producer–The New Tenants directed by Park Pictures’ Joachim Back–won the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short last year. Bisbee executive produced and co-wrote the screenplay and songs for the slasher musical Don’t Go In the Woods, directed by Vincent D’Onofrio (who starred in The New Tenants). Bisbee additionally has screenwriting and singer/songwriter/composer credentials.
Park Pictures plans for two movies in its first year. The company will draw on its directing talent (which includes Acord, Schreier, Niederhoffer, Ellen Kuras, Joachim Back, Gary Freedman, Steven Shainberg, 300ml and Alison MacLean) as well as local New York City directors to make feature films with strong visual, narrative, and commercial appeal.
Acord, partner in Park Pictures and Park Picture Features, related that the former is “a company comprised of filmmakers, so as we grow and evolve it only makes sense to develop and produce their feature projects. Being a commercial production company, we have a unique opportunity to utilize our resources within the industry to economically and efficiently make long form films. Having Galt on board has been great. Her knowledge and expertise is such an amazing asset.
“I have been excited to see Robot & Frank go into production,” continued Acord. “Jake and C.D. Ford have been working on this for quite some time now and I must admit it has been a bit surreal to sit on set and see the film actually take shape. Jake is a very talented guy. His confidence on set and insights into working with actors far exceeds that of a ‘first time director,’ I think his years of experience as a commercial and music video director have served him well.”
Feedback SHOOT sought input from other companies that have diversified so far this year.
We posed the following two-pronged question:
How and why have you recently diversified your business and/or extended your creative or geographic reach?
Also please touch upon whether in your opinion the current climate of global economic uncertainty makes it more or less prudent to invest in expansion and/or diversification.
Here’s a sampling of the feedback we received:
 Ray Carballada, president, ShootersINCShootersINC has diversified both physically and creatively, and doing so has been part of a long-term expansion plan we began to put into effect five years ago when we launched DIVE, the visual effects/post supervision for feature films division. Led by Mark Forker, formerly of Digital Domain, DIVE’s recent film projects include The Road, I Am Number 4 and The Last Airbender. This year we launched two new divisions: ShootersNYC, a creative hybrid boutique led by managing director/EP Jeff Beckerman that ties together production, post, visual effects and design for commercials, branded content, television and film work; and ShootersTV, headed by sr. VP John Foy, which is focused on developing long-form television programming. ShootersTV currently co-produces the popular Restaurant Impossible for Food Network. From my perspective, diversification is essential and part of the “new normal” in terms of how clients want to work and the reality of budgets today. While 10 years ago it was expected that a client would go to one studio for a certain editor, another for their visual effects, another for a colorist, etc., clients today are looking to work with companies like Shooters that can do a lot of things well, and has the kind of technical infrastructure and talent resources that brings peace of mind to busy producers. |
It’s not news to say there’s been a continual shifting away from the traditional in the way that companies approach advertising and marketing. It has to do both with the economy and with the acceleration of technology and the ways in which people interact with technology to discover information and entertainment. The old models just don’t apply anymore. The companies that have responded and evolved are surviving and, even thriving, despite the tighter budgets and fractured media plans. To keep up with the changing landscape, we’ve gone from specializing in postproduction to offering full-service creative and content development. We’ve got everything under one roof–producers, directors, graphics, color correction, shooting stage–so we can keep costs down and offer cohesive, nimble, efficient solutions to our clients. Opening a second office in Los Angeles [complementing the company’s Chicago base] was a way to capitalize on our roots in the entertainment industry. With the lines between commercial and entertainment getting less and less distinct, it just makes sense. It might seem like a risky time to expand in light of the economy, but the business is not going away. It’s just evolving. You’ve got to be willing to evolve with it. I firmly believe that creativity and courage is always rewarded. |
Diversification and the ability to rapidly adapt to change has always been part of the architecture and vision of Grand Large. Starting ten years ago in Paris, my plan was to produce international commercials for a predominantly U.S. client base. A week after opening and booking our first job (Marc Caro directed for Abbot Mead Vickers London), September 11th changed the direction of the business plan and Grand Large shifted its focus towards Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia. |
Original recently established a postproduction division because we felt that a turnkey solution would be beneficial to our clients and directors. And, in fact, several clients have already taken advantage of this new resource. It also allows us creatively and financially to handle other types of production, such as virals, apps, music videos and even television. |
Samantha Hart, president, 
Steve Horton, 
Bruce Mellon, executive producer,
