By A SHOOT Staff Report

In a year when pre-roll ad fare became must-see creative—with The Martin Agency winning its first ever Cannes Grand Prix for Geico’s “Unskippable-Family”—the takeaway is that any platform, even one previously regarded as devoid of innovation, has the potential to be entertaining and engaging.

In some respects, this underscores that 2015 has been a year when the walls figuratively came down separating television, features and all things audio-visual (even humorous, strategically savvy pre-roll videos). Indeed content has creative promise whether it be on cinema, TV, computer or mobile device screens. And those who realize that promise, be they movie or TV producers, brands, ad agencies, clients, video game creators or aspiring filmmakers can break through and find an audience.

Furthermore the borders separating different forms and platforms continue to dissipate. Television itself is more than the TV set. Platforms from Netflix to Hulu and Amazon took firmer hold this year. Their profound influence on content is evident on assorted fronts. Earlier this month, for example, the International Documentary Association presented its Pioneer Award to Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, in recognition of the company’s game-changing and unwavering support of creating and showcasing nonfiction programming. The Pioneer Award is presented by the IDA to acknowledge extraordinary contributions to advancing the nonfiction form and providing exceptional vision and leadership to the documentary community.

Meanwhile Amazon’s Transparent won assorted awards, including a Best Director Emmy for its creator Jill Soloway and Best Comedy Actor distinction for Jeffrey Tambor. Amazon also just released its first feature film, Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq. Via its Original Movies division Amazon plans to turn out about a dozen films annually that will hit theaters prior to running exclusively on the company’s streaming service. (See this week’s SHOOT Chat Room interview with director/writer/producer Lee.)

Just as Amazon has spread its wings to TV and features, so too has the barrier between those two disciplines become porous in the marketplace at large. Leading feature filmmakers, writers and producers continue to gravitate to the smaller screen during this new Golden Age of Television. And in 2015 this has manifested itself in different ways. Consider the recently concluded Gotham Film Awards, the Independent Film Project’s celebration of independent filmmaking, which for the first time has extended its reach to smaller screens, adding categories for TV and digital content. Winning best long-form series was the USA series Mr. Robot. And earning the Gotham Film Award for Breakthrough Series—Short was the web show Shugs and Fats.

Yet while walls tumbling down and the nirvana of content being king, no matter the platform, are intoxicating notions which reflect opportunities for the creative community, so too do they present a practical challenge. In our Year In Perspective Survey, James Bray, executive creative director of M&C Saatchi LA, observed, “Content is being abused. Unless you’re Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift or Red Bull, the masses don’t care deeply about what you’re putting out there. However, many see content as marketing du jour and creativity has given way to volume. They just refuse to put Twitter down. As a result, there’s just too damn much stuff out there. There’s no way a clothing or detergent brand is going to compete with the Jimmy Fallons of the world. And yes, that’s who we’re competing with.

“I like the DC Shoes approach,” Bray continued. “They drop one or two pieces every six months, because they know fans are not trolling their channels daily. And those pieces always blow well beyond the confines of their followers. No one watches Netflix all day – the same is true for social. But if the content is good enough it finds its way to us. And gets talked about on everyone else’s channels. This is what our industry means by surprise and delight. Make innovative and creative ideas, and results will follow.”

In-house production, virtual reality
Among SHOOT survey respondents, prevalent topics included the emergence of virtual reality and in-house ad agency production. On the latter score, Sally-Ann Dale, chief creation officer at Droga5, spoke of integrated and in-house production. “Our world is becoming more and more integrated and the lines are getting blurrier, which is reflected in our agile approach to integrated production within the agency. We’ve bolstered the production team by furthering our skill sets, which adds a deeper knowledge of feasibility and therefore success for some of our more creatively ambitious projects. We’ve also expanded our in-house production capabilities to allow for solving fast-turnaround opportunities.”

The 13th Annual Survey of The Commercial Production Industry released just a few months ago by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) offered a big-picture perspective on in-house agency production. Independently conducted by Los Angeles-based market research consultancy Bovitz, the AICP study—based on feedback from participating AICP member companies—measures trends and activity in the commercial and branded content production industry. Results documented positive trends in activity, most notably an increase of 14 percent in production expenditures in 2014 as compared to the prior year.

The 14 percent hike continues a three-year surge as expenditures exceeded $4 billion for the first time in the survey’s history. At the same time, the number of projects has decreased on average for production companies, perhaps due in part to the rise of in-house agency production. Still, production company expenditures and billings are up, marking the importance of high-end premium production, according to Matt Miller, AICP president and CEO.

“I’m bullish on the overall findings in that they reflect a high demand for video content across the board,” said Miller. “And while we’ve seen the emergence of agency in-house groups, they are doing a lot of low-end work specifically for certain outlets. Our members as well as the in-house entities are doing this work. But our members clearly play in the premium content space—not necessarily just the biggest budgets but projects that need true directorial and production talent in mid-level and smaller budget areas. Production companies provide a level of needed talent that many agencies cannot supply.”

The upturn for production companies, noted Miller, shows “that our industry is thriving in a competitive advertising environment.” Also boosting activity has been a general economic recovery. “As the economy continues to improve, and media channels proliferate—more filmed content is needed—and AICP member companies continue to see the positive opportunities in the economy of a growing industry.”

Production companies engaged in projects combining live action and digital production saw large increases in their average production expenditures in 2014 as compared to 2013. “As the mix of media distribution continues to widen, member companies have increased their average expenditures by 173 percent in the areas of interactive media and projects combining both live action and in-house digital production techniques,” said Miller. “Given the rapid evolution and changes across the media landscape, the AICP membership continues to evolve their businesses to produce both live action and digital content to reflect the demands of brands, ad agencies and the consumer.”

As for virtual reality, Matt Bijarchi, CEO of Blend, noted I think the ‘next big thing’ in 2016 will be virtual reality. It’s here and it’s happening now. I also think that there will be continued pressure from brands to create sustainable original video content platforms that consistently reward and engage their consumers on mobile and social platforms.”

Bijarchi was one of several surveyed by SHOOT who cited VR as an emerging force.

Bijarchi, Bray and Dale are just three of the SHOOT Year In Perspective Survey respondents offering their feedback on 2015. They and a range of execs from a cross-section of the industry responded to several or all of the following questions:

1) What industry trends or developments were most significant in 2015?

2) How did your company adapt or adjust to the marketplace in 2015? (diversification, new resources and talent in different areas, new strategies, etc.)

3) What work in 2015 are you most proud of? (Please cite any unique challenges encountered)

4) What do you think the “next big thing” in production or post will be in 2016?

Click here to see and scroll thru the survey responses. Or click on NAME below.

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