For SHOOT’s spring special report on production companies, we decided to canvass a selection of agency producers and creatives, asking all of them the same three questions, to find out what they look for in a director and a production company. Below are their answers.
Texas East
Senior partner/co-director of broadcast production
Ogilvy & Mather, New York
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
It has always been one of the most important factors in awarding a production. Not just from a financial standpoint, but the overall record of a production company becomes even more important when we are trying a new—or "new to us"—director. The current financial situation certainly makes scrutiny more important, but, really, it always has been. The recent rash of companies collapsing is just a reminder to those of us who have seen it several times in our careers; it’s not new news.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
We are open to using new directors and production companies. I believe we are more likely to use a new or new-to-us director if we have a history with the production company or with the new production company’s senior players.
I would say, offhand, seventy-five percent of our production is with people we have had success with previously. Send the reel.
What was your most favorable—or unfavorable—experience with a production company?
Like most things in this business—or life, for that matter—there are so many of both, I could never pick just one. Plus, a gentleman never tells.
Sara Gennett Lopez
VP/director of broadcast production
Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
Companies tend to come and go rapidly lately. I’d say we spend little time and energy looking at a company’s track record. We’re too busy keeping up with the whereabouts of the individual directors and producers that we like to work with.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
We try to get the best director for the job, whether they are "new" or not. Everyone gets sucked into the newer-is-better—sometimes it is, sometimes not.
Production companies should not send stale candy with their directors’ reels. A good rep is a good idea.
What was your most favorable—or unfavorable—experience with a production company?
Most unfavorable experience with a production company: agreeing to hold a pre-pro meeting in a director’s wife’s restaurant because the production company’s offices were too small. The restaurant ended up being a transvestite-staffed establishment in a basement where we sat next to a smelly pond with tons of turtle poop in it. I had four very conservative clients and the CEO at that meeting.
Most favorable: any job with Jeff Gorman—he and his folks always rock.
Matt McCain
Senior copywriter
WongDoody, Seattle
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
I base my opinion of a production company mostly on their reel. I think the work speaks for the track record. I also like to talk to ad folks I know who may have worked with the production company in question, just to hear what their experience was like. Are they easy or hard to work with? Are they reliable? As far as stability goes, I really don’t put too much thought into whether they’re going to be in business in the near future or not. I figure we’re all teetering on the edge of demise, anyway. Why judge?
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
At my agency, and in Seattle, our budgets are pretty small, so we use a lot of new and fairly new directors. The best way to bring them to my attention is to send a reel to our producers. Then, when we get a TV project (which isn’t that often these days), the producer will put the director in the mix, if the project calls for it. I don’t care if the reel is half spots, half short films, or music videos. If the talent’s there, we itch to "discover" new directors.
I have a go-to director that I try to bring into the shortlist for nearly all projects. Usually, it’s a matter of us not having enough money for him to do the job. He’s done doing free shit for us. So, despite my loyalty to that director, we usually end up using new people.
What was your most favorable—or unfavorable—experience with a production company?
My most favorable experience was with David Frankham from The Artists Company, for an L.A. Dodgers TV project. There was no money, less time, and he and his staff really made magic happen, from casting to crazy logistical challenges. And the spots turned out better than I could’ve hoped.
Kevin McKeon
Executive creative director
Bartle Bogle Hegarty, New York
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
A production company’s track record is important, sure. But I have to admit, I don’t personally focus on it that much, unless I hear from someone who’s had a horrible experience with them.
When looking for someone to shoot my ad, I really focus on the director. If he or she’s got a great reel, that pretty much tells me all I want to know. That tells me I’ll probably walk away with a great spot, regardless of the actual experience. I can get over a bad experience. I can’t get over a bad ad.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
Am I open to new directors or production companies? Well, if by "new" you mean "new to me," then, of course. I’m always excited about working with new people.
If, on the other hand, by "new" you mean as yet unproven and trying to build a reel, that’s a hard one. I’d like to sound totally open minded and say, sure. But the truth is, I want every spot to be the best spot it can be. So, if I’ve got the budget, I’m unlikely to say, "Yeah, Rocky Morton’s great. But let’s go with this unproven guy, because I have a hunch he’s going to be big once he gets a few spots under his belt."
That having been said, if I see something on a reel that tells me this new director is bringing something completely fresh to the table, that’s when I’m most likely to take a bit of a chance.
The other time you go with someone new, obviously, is when you just don’t have a whole lot of money. In that case, I’ll look for someone still building a reel and a reputation, who will take on a less lucrative job, and then produce the hell out of it, so it can go on the reel. Really, in that situation, everybody wins.
Tom Miller
Senior copywriter
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
The obvious answer is, yes. Of course, a track record of success and stability is important. Unless, of course, I’m getting great savings as an incentive to take a risk on an unknown, this will always be the case. In light of recent events such as high-profile companies going bankrupt, days—or even hours—before a production was to begin, it would be great to be able to see that risk ahead of time.
But how? Unless the books are opened—and that’s not likely—how do you know if last week’s proven production company with a great track record and "stability" is this week’s house of cards?
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
I like to believe I am very open to using new directors and new production companies. But I guarantee that’s what most people say, and then do the exact opposite. It’s a hard sell, because who wants to risk a new director or company shitting the bed—especially in this environment?
You like to work with people you trust and/or have worked well with before, so the natural inclination is to stay with what works. I’d say I use directors I’ve worked successfully with before about fifty percent of the time.
As for bringing a new director to my attention? Follow the 4 G’s:
Get a great spec reel.
Generate word-of-mouth.
Give me some cost-savings incentives to use him/her.
Good luck.
What was your most favorable—or unfavorable—experience with a production company?
Not touching this one.
John Noble
Senior VP/director of broadcast production
The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
Track record is big for us. Companies with solid reputations and solid backing are without a doubt given top consideration. That’s not to say we don’t use smaller "niche" companies—we just tend to call other agencies who’ve used them, and to check up on them a little more than we would a company like Stiefel, Partizan or @radical. media. In light of recent events, I may discretely check up on a com-pany that I might’ve let go by in the past.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
With technology and accessibility there’s lots of new talent out there. It would be foolish to think the big companies have uncovered all the diamonds in the rough. The absolute best way to get my attention is to send me a reel—DVD, please. I watch everything and give every reel my full attention. If you’re good, you’ll make it to the "green zone" portion of our agency library—green for money. The second best way to get a producer’s attention is to get written up in the trades (create a buzz), or enter a film festival. Martin producers read, highlight and share every trade publication out there. We keep a keen eye on the film festivals out there, as well.
If we have a good experience, I’d say ninety-nine percent of the time we’ll return to them. (Just ask Stacy Wall of Epoch, Traktor of Partizan, or anyone at hungry man.)
What was your most favorable—or unfavorable—experience with a production company?
Most of the time we have great experiences. The bad ones, well, it takes many beers to bring them to surface of memory … and many more beers to forget them. Seeing it’s not quite cocktail hour yet, I’ll pass.
Kohl Norville
Art director
Lowe, New York
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
With the larger issue of getting the work done on time or under budget, the stability of a production company is very important. Money has always been tight, but with recent events, the magnifying glass is always on. The track record of the producers and directors we are going to work with is also important. I talk to our seasoned producers about how a production company has worked for them in the past. Afterward, I will talk to my friends in the business about the personalities to see if they hinder or help a job.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
If a great production company has enough faith in a new director, then I would love to work with them. When it comes to new production companies, it’s about the work—independent films, videos, whatever. If their standards are high, I have and will continue to work with the young and hungry. Bringing a new director to my attention is easy. Send the reel. I think it’s very important to look at everything.
What was your most favorable—or unfavorable—experience with a production company?
My most favorable experience was with a new production company: Crook Brothers Productions, in Brooklyn. We worked together on Heineken’s Red Star Records with a budget that people said couldn’t afford one spot. We came back with three spots that have since won awards.
David Rosen
VP/associate creative director
Deutsch, New York
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
Not very. We pretty much always choose to award jobs based on the director we want. If we like the director—unless we’ve heard a particular horror story—we usually take for granted that what we’re drawn to on his/her/their reel comes from being part of a good production company.
The same way we’ve seen that the director has surrounded him/her/ themselves with the right people to make their other shoots successful, we expect they will find the right folks for our particular job.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
We’re pretty open to new directors and/or production companies, but again, we’d choose by the strength of the individual director we wanted to work with. To be honest, we do use directors we’ve worked with before quite often—I’d say at least fifty percent of the time. When you have a good working relationship, it’s tough to overlook that for an unknown.
Dennis Ryan
Chief creative officer
Element 79 Partners, Chicago
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
A production company’s track record and reputation really counts when it comes to awarding jobs. Recent events make us more aware of the issue, but creative concerns and confidence issues have always been paramount. That’s why we’re more likely to use a new director if she’s backed by an established production company. We know the necessary resources will be there, and that the new talent will be bolstered up as much as possible. Similarly, new production companies are less of an issue if the principals have established strong reputations in their prior positions.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
The best way for a production company to introduce new directors is through agency producers. An informed producer excited by a new talent makes the most persuasive argument for venturing into the unknown, because, like the rest of the agency, they share the risk directly. I probably work with directors I’ve worked with before three-quarters of the time.
What was your most favorable—or unfavorable—experience with a production company?
One of my favorite memories of a production house came from the now defunct Propaganda. Sure, we used them a ton. But, interestingly, one of the things that made me most loyal was that I could talk about a project to people like Steve Dickstein, Dave Morrison or Colin Hickson—or even Dana Balkin, their rep—and get honest director recommendations, including talent outside their own people. That kind of partnership really meant a lot.
Lora Schulson
Senior producer
TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York
How important a factor in awarding a job is a production company’s track record and stability? Have you scrutinized this variable even more in light of recent events?
A production company’s track record is very important to a producer. You want to know you’ll be taken care of, that they’re buttoned up and will make you look good. And that they have the experience so they won’t steer you wrong—e.g., shooting in an unsafe place, etc.
As a producer, I often look to the more reputable production companies for new directors. When taking a risk on an untested director with a reputable production company, you know they’ll make everything go smoothly.
How open are you to using new directors and new production companies? What is the best way for a company to bring a new director to your attention? What percentage of the time do you use a director you’ve worked with before?
I like working with new directors. I’m less likely to work with an unknown production company.
The best way for me to see a new reel is to e-mail me that it’s being sent over, and then send it. I’ll look at it when I have time. I use the same directors about thirty percent of the time.
What was your most favorable‹or unfavorable‹experience with a production company?
Most unfavorable experience: The director was too busy to attend the callbacks or look at the locations or casting before we met with him—so he had no opinion on anything when we met with him. It’s the production company’s job to help a director balance and manage his/her time.
