Texas is a big place—and not just geographically. When creating commercials, more and more out-of-town production companies are finding the Lone Star State is the place to be. In recent months, that notion has led to the formation of alliances between out-of-state production houses and homegrown, Texas-based shops for a variety of reasons, including a desire to increase one’s presence in the Texas agency market, as well as to expand production options.
In one deal, bicoastal Atherton entered into a reciprocal agreement with Concrete Productions, Dallas. In another, New York-based Washington Square Films formed a relationship with Directorz (formerly Bednarz Films), Dallas. Per the latter arrangement, Washington Square directors Jeff Feuerzeig and Peter Sillen are represented in the Southwest by Directorz.
Texas has long attracted production companies from other areas. Mark Androw, executive producer of the Story family of companies—New York Story, Chicago Story, L.A. Story and Texas Story—has had a base of operations in Texas since ’92. When Androw started Chicago Story, the first of his companies, in ’89, the idea was to offer, in his words, "national quality directors for local production, with local production support." In ’93, Androw branched out with New York Story, and followed with L.A. Story in ’95.
"Having a base in each city is different from simply having a rep," explains Androw, whose Texas-based director is Rocky Powell. (Several other directors from the Story companies have done work in Texas.) "We have an executive producer in Dallas, as well as in Chicago. If there’s a board at DDB in Dallas, our executive producer can go over there and meet the creatives face to face. They have longstanding personal relationships with people. It’s more effective than having a sales person as your outpost."
He adds that productions by his companies frequently use a combination of "our office facilities, casting pre-production in L.A. and then shooting in Dallas, or prepping in Dallas and shooting [elsewhere]. It’s an interesting combination of resources."
That concept is being reworked in the recent strategic alliances between out-of-state and Texas companies. The market is currently seeing an upswing in production. "The end of ’99 was slower than everyone wished," admits Leslie McCullough, VP/executive producer at Big Fish Films, Dallas. "But this year started off with a bang. It’s been an extremely busy first quarter. And we’re getting more work from out-of-state."
"A lot of new, fresh companies have started here," adds Elaine Unfried, executive producer at Stone Core Films, Dallas. "Others have added directors. It just feels like, overall, we’re becoming stronger as a community. [Bicoastal/ international] Propaganda and Spoke Film, out of Chicago, are shooting here. And we’re drawing in out-of-state agencies as well."
Two reasons for the influx of out-of-state agencies and production companies, according to several of the producers SHOOT spoke with, are costs and locales. Cost is low—the area is a right-to-work, non-union state—while the locations are versatile. "We have great stages and good locations," says McCullough. "The terrain in Texas varies greatly. If you’re shooting on location, you can find whatever you want."
"You get value for your production dollars," adds Unfried. "You do not have to deal with union issues. I don’t know if crew rates are much less, but overall location fees are less exorbitant than [those] in New York or Los Angeles. People don’t need a $10,000 fee to shoot at a house."
New Relationships
With more work coming to Texas, the recent alliances were born out of mutual needs. "The Texas market never falls under one jurisdiction," explains Jonathan Schwartz, director of sales and marketing at Washington Square Films, who says that reliance on traveling reps has not proven completely successful for the company. "When you are doing two or three sales visits a year, there is no way you can properly handle that large a market."
From the perspective of the companies involved, an alliance is more cost-effective than creating a regional office. "We can’t open an office in every market of the country," explains Schwartz. "And it doesn’t make sense to hire a rep from some other area who does an occasional visit. All that means is sporadic phone calls and occasional sales trips. It’s better to have someone who’s based there and knows the market."
"We would never consider opening an office in Texas," says Cindy Akins, senior VP/executive producer at Atherton. "But now we have one. Opening an office in Texas requires a certain overhead we are not willing to commit to. That’s no longer an issue. And [Concrete] no longer has to consider opening an office in New York and L.A."
Per the arrangement with Atherton, Concrete will have access to Atherton’s production offices in Los Angeles and New York, while Atherton will obtain a production base in Dallas. "It really started out as friendship between Lisa Cobb [president of Concrete] and myself," recalls Akins. Already, Concrete has made use of Atherton’s offices for spots directed by Concrete helmers Alexander von David and Raymond Bark.
The two companies had worked together informally on various jobs until, Akins says, "Lisa and I said, ‘Why not formalize it?’ It keeps our reps talking and offers a larger net. We discovered a much larger territory."
While Cobb notes that Concrete’s commercial work comes from various regions around the U.S., she points out that she has done a great deal of filming outside of Texas. "I found myself shooting in New York and L.A. more last year than anywhere else. I wanted to have offices there. I knew Cindy, and I thought I could be of help to them with their directors [by] providing good, viable production support in Texas. We could help in growing each other’s companies. I would rather put my time and energy into building directors, not running offices."
"Our sales reps will be sharing information," adds Akins. "For instance, we had a job that came in for one of our directors to bid, but he wasn’t available, so we suggested one of their directors. The key to this alliance being successful is our having similar personalities. We don’t pose a threat to Concrete and they don’t pose one to us. We complement each other. We bundle resources with absolutely no strain on either company’s relationships."
Washington Square Films has been affiliated with Directorz since the summer of ’99, and the relationship has already borne fruit for the Washington Square directors. Feuerzeig recently completed "Portal Intro," "Home Office" and "Carter/ Voice and Data" for Red, an Internet portal, out of The Richards Group, Dallas, and has been awarded a 12-spot package for United Supermarkets, out of Austin, Texas-based agency T3. Meanwhile, Sillen helmed "Amazed" and "List" for discount retailer Sam’s Club out of GSD&M, Austin.
The relationship between Washington Square and Directorz evolved over a six-month period during which Schwartz and Tammie Kleinmann, a partner at Directorz, spoke frequently. (The other partners in Directorz are director Jeff Bednarz and executive producer/ head of sales Jeremy Besser.)
"We’re a very New York company," says Schwartz, noting that 75 percent of Washington Square’s work comes out of East Coast agencies. "I said that we had never had any type of success in the Texas market, so I wanted to see what they [Directorz] thought of our work—to see if they’d like the opportunity to sell directors in their market. We sent a reel of our work, and they loved it."
"We thought their directors were wonderful," recalls Kleinmann. "We also hit it off well with Jonathan. When he talked about an alliance, that shocked me. They are a production company. Why would they need us? But what we found we had in common was that both companies nurture the directors, and we’re not just in it for the money. We liked his philosophy. It was about getting the best projects for his guys."
Kleinmann says the Washington Square directors add variety to the Directorz roster of helmers. "We have Tom Ryan, who does tabletop, and Jeff Bednarz, who does big visual storytelling and dialogue. Now we have Peter Sillen and Jeff Feuerzeig of Washington Square, who have a documentary-style touch. It broadens our palette."
"Jeff and Pete are well-suited to the Texas market," adds Schwartz. "They tend to do a lot of real people, edgy storytelling. A lot of that is coming out of the Texas market. Our directors just never had the proper coverage in that area. We want to get more shared business and provide more talent to the client. Now all our work is being properly exposed to the agencies."
Reciprocity
Will others follow suit? Some already have, such as Big Fish, which recently developed a loose partnership with Cognito Films, Santa Monica. The two companies have a production support arrangement whereby if Big Fish is shooting in Los Angeles, Cognito will provide support, and should the need arise, Big Fish would provide the same service in Texas to Cognito. "Alliances are a very valuable option," observes Big Fish’s McCullough. "With the way the production industry is heading, these partnerships and alliances work well. Having a good sales rep is key, but having an established company within the local industry is good for the production company and good for directors. When you align with a production company, they are very familiar with production entities in that area."
"In this day and age, you have to be forward-thinking enough to break the mold," Schwartz says. "Everyone knows how competitive it is and how many directors are out there. To penetrate new markets, you have to be open to new ideas. This opens up the playing field."
