Different applications of the Web continue to emerge vis à vis the advertising industry. In this week’s issue, reporter Sarah Woodward explores the prospects for discovering up-and-coming directors via Web entertainment sites. Her page one story notes the potential for ad agency and production house executives to see short films—and yes, even spec spots—on the Web: arguably pieces of work from young directing hopefuls that might not otherwise gain widespread exposure.
Established directors are also enlisting the Web for distribution of their films—to not only further their longform careers, but also to perhaps change perceptions of their storytelling prowess in an ad business that is quick to pigeonhole talent.
Additional benefits of the Web are delineated by William Fortney, partner/executive producer at Crash Films, in the "Your Shot" which appears below. He cited, for example, his company’s practice of creating a Web site for virtually every one of its productions. The site enables authorized parties to gain "anytime access" to pertinent info for each job. Crash first tapped into the advantages of this setup a year ago, on a European job directed by Robin Willis.
But negative and manipulative uses of the Web are also increasing, including one that’s touched upon in reporter Kathy De Salvo’s "Means To An End" regarding the etiquette—or lack thereof—in pursuing directors (see Directors Supplement, p. 7). As DeSalvo’s story attests, the rumor mill isn’t what it used to be. Now, via e-mail and the Internet, it’s easier to spread rumors from unknown sources.
SHOOT has had to carefully sift through assorted rumors about directors who are supposedly shopping for new roosts. For one, the quantity of such rumors has escalated dramatically over the past several years, due in part to the increased number of directors. However, also feeding the beast are those rumors with no foundation that are intentionally floated in order to cause trouble at a competitor’s house, or a rift that might result in a director deciding to seek greener pastures.
The rumor mill has become a tool of choice for some production house poachers looking to secure a director’s services. In De Salvo’s story, Frank Scherma, proprietor/ executive producer of @radical. media, observed: "Spreading rumors helps propagate what they [poachers] want." Noting that one of his shop’s directors was the recent subject of such a false rumor, Scherma assessed, "That’s part of the non-etiquette."
By and large, though, Scherma believes most people in the industry respect each other’s relationships with directors. "I don’t think there’s a large group of poachers," he said. "But there is definitely a group of them."
Rumors are also concocted to help generate marketplace interest in a particular helmer. And let’s not forget that great motivator known as petty vindictiveness. Generally speaking, a good rumor from an apparently reliable source often had some basis in reality when I started covering this business some 20 years ago. In terms of a ballpark estimate, a directorial rumor with legs would ultimately prove to be valid 70-plus percent of the time in the ’80s and early ’90s. Today, less than half of the rumors that hit the radar screen even have a kernel of truth. And there are more blips than ever on that screen.
Like any tool, the Web can facilitate a purpose as good or bad as the person who deploys it. Though the technological means are evolving, the practical means and ends remain rooted in the principles of the user.
