Boom or bust, or another lukewarm four quarters—whatever the future holds for 2002—the commercial production industry was united on New Year’s Eve in bidding a welcome adieu to the year 2001. And nowhere was the send-off more vocal than here on Manhattan Island.
Who could have predicted the heinous damage that New York City now strains to repair, resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center? Then again, who’d have thought New York would rank second in a year-end tally of the friendliest American cities? SHOOT caught up with several New York-based production company executives to discuss terrorism’s toll, the lingering, industry-wide economic storm clouds and the potential silver lining of an effort to attract production work to the city.
All agreed that from a business perspective, the first nine months of 2001 were mediocre at best. "June and July were dead for us," recalls Bill Curren, executive producer at Maysles Shorts, New York. "It was stale as the Sargasso Sea until August, when things started to pick back up again. And then came the incident. "
Several New York companies saw jobs postponed or cancelled as a direct result of the September catastrophe in lower Manhattan. Jonathan Schwartz, director of sales/marketing at Washington Square Films, New York, said his company was wrapping up a bid to work with the late producer William "Bill" Weems, when word came he had been among those killed when United Airlines flight 175 was crashed into the World Trade Center. "While we didn’t have a history with Bill, he had certainly gone to bat for us on this project," Schwartz recounts. "Unfortunately, the job ended up being cancelled [entirely]."
Richard Winkler, executive producer at New York-based Curious Pictures, was still shooting on a summer-long project for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, when his client’s headquarters were destroyed. Fortunately, everyone Winkler had been working with from the Port Authority’s 1 World Trade Center offices escaped with their lives, and they were able to complete the project—a David Kelley-directed :90 informational video, plus a :30—for the Port Authority’s new AirTrain service.
Black Watch Productions, New York, which specializes in commercials and original programming for children, was hit hard by the attacks—literally. Monica Anderson, owner/executive producer of Black Watch, notes that her firm’s studio is situated on Murray Street, a mere two blocks from the World Trade Center site. A skylight at the studio was streaked with debris, and staff members’ eyes still widened, as they recounted to SHOOT—no doubt for the thousandth time—how they fled from the destruction still so evident around their workplace neighborhood.
Anderson and staff were unable to access their building for a week and a half after the attack. Once access was restored, Black Watch began an arduous clean-up process, laboring to expunge the smell and detritus from the tragedy next door. "We had to have all our equipment taken apart and cleaned," notes Anderson, who says small business assistance loans have been, at best, extremely difficult for her company to obtain. The firm is also ineligible for any meaningful aid from government disaster relief agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Add this to the fact that Black Watch’s phone system was disabled for a total of six weeks this fall, and a clear picture emerges of a company devastated, and still suffering, as a result of 9/11. "We don’t know how much business we’ve lost, but we’re not going to be beaten by this," states Anderson.
Upswing
Elsewhere around town, the mood is more upbeat—but sober nonetheless. Steve Orent, partner/ executive producer at bicoastal/ international hungry man, has 10 out of 12 directors based in New York, and he indicated that "agencies here very much want to stick around and shoot [in New York] if they can. People are really trying hard."
Hungry man has shot several spots in New York since 9/11, including two "New York Miracle" ads for BBDO New York: the Bryan Buckley-directed "Theatre," featuring Barbara Walters, and the Barry Levinson-helmed "Turkey," with Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. (Levinson is not signed with hungry man; the job was run through the production house.) Assessing the economic climate, Orent was cautionary: "Right now it’s on a level where you have to be a businessman," he says. "There’s no fat in budgets now."
Bicoastal Coppos Films’ managing director Joanne Ferraro, and Tom Mooney, partner/executive producer at bicoastal Headquarters, agreed that there has been an effort recently, by both agencies and clients, to bring work to the city that might otherwise have landed elsewhere. Coppos has shot two major projects in New York of late: for Budweiser, through DDB Chicago, and for TGI Friday’s via Publicis-Mid America, Dallas. Headquarters, Mooney says, has shot 90-95 percent of its post-attack work on American soil, much of it in New York—credits include spots for Xbox via McCann-Erickson, New York, and a Staples ad out of Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York
Is tangible good will towards New York City sustainable? Most production executives are lukewarm on the proposition. Mooney indicated that only 15 percent of Headquarters’ work prior to the attacks took place in New York. Ferraro said her company’s New York shooting frequency was only five percent. "People are more open to bidding here at least," states Mooney. "Of course, come winter, we don’t have the weather people want. But overall I think it’s going to be a little better."
"We’re bicoastal, so that helps …," Ferraro points out, noting that having the two offices makes it possible for the company’s directors to easily shoot in either New York or Los Angeles. "But as much work as we can throw into New York, we’re going to try and do that. Things are getting back to normal here—but pre-attack normal was a slow pace."
Lou Addesso, president/executive producer at New York-based Creative Film Management International, says he sees New York production holding the line. Most of Addesso’s directors are based in Los Angeles, and he reports that several of them have come to New York in the last three months, making a special effort to shoot in the Big Apple. They include Ted Demme, who helmed an ad for the Lowes chain of stores via McCann-Erickson, New York, and Lesli Linka Glatter, who directed several client-direct ads for RadioShack.
"I was born and raised here," continues Addesso. "I’m building a new apartment in the meat packing district, so I’m not going anywhere … but aside from that, I think people who are not from New York will be comfortable in coming here to shoot—that is, unless there’s another incident."
