Are corporations taking over ???

Well, perhaps my statement is too blanket but it is true in the vast majority of markets across the nation. A production company can't survive in a market trying to compete with cable companies using free or underpaid kids as shooters, editors and producers and making their money on air selling. The cable companies just look at commercial production as a hook to bring in advertisers to buy air, not as a profit center so how can one compete with that?

I don't think that all clients are chiselers, I just think that with the economic downturn and rising costs to do anything, I don't think that local advertisers, in general, care or can afford to care about their image so much. Quality commercials are typically done through agencies and not that many local advertisers can afford an agency, they just do everything with marketing and promotion themselves or sometimes through an ad club or collective. But the bottom line is cheap, cheap, cheap.

Yes, there are a lot of trees to bark up in LA, but I hear this from all of my friends who are in advertising and its not just in spot production. Same with print, websites, tradeshow video, etc. The digital revolution has commoditized these industries, at least at the low end. I have directed and worked on some regional spots, there is still some life left in the $50k to $150k regional market but it is so competitive as to be almost ridiculous.

To me, unless you are tied in with an agency, trying to eke out a living doing local spots in pointless these days. I think you could make more money doing events and or weddings. I don't even get cable, I have DirecTV so I don't see local spots anymore but when I watch them at a friends house, or when I travel, they always remind me of a cheesy homemade web page with motion. That is a direct result of the market bottoming out to the cable companies. In the 90s, I used to actually see a few local spots that were done by local producers that were decent, real actors, sets, shot on film. Low budget but pretty nice. Nowdays, nothing but cheese ;-)

LA and NY are so different than the rest of the country, perhaps it is different where you are? Although I was in Florida (Tampa and Miami Beach) and a couple places in Pennsylvania this year and the spots were horrendously bad.

Dan
 
Thanks for the response.

As for making a living out of it, I hope there is a future in video/advertising on the internet. Might garner more eyes than running a spot at 3 AM on Animal Planet.
 
Well besides the "overnight producers/directors" as they like to call themselves around here in Naples & FT Myers, I thought they were the problem. It seems that comcast has cut most of them out of the picture, but some still linger. I've had a few business owners tell me that they had a local spot shot for $150.00 & $200.00 bucks !!! Of course I laughed out loud and said are you joking. Nope he wasn't joking. Yea it's getting bad.

It's very cut throat right now, especially us being the highest foreclosure state and lowest ranking state in any sign of money growth. Many many restaurants have closed, mostly mom & pop places, and some chains. I think it's going to get worse before it gets any better. The only thing that's keeping us from drowning are the parts that I've been making (CNC).



However there are other companies in town that have been here since the 80's, and are doing 150k budgets & higher. I guess the one guy here in town shot or had something to do with the movie Gone Fishing ( this is what I hear, who knows in this town ). He's doing some big budget shoot for some condos at 300k (yea small town, everyone knows your business). So I guess I need to start looking into an agency. I'm not even sure if they exist here, but I going to start looking around or maybe try some different selling strategies.




Ok so here's my next question. If Comcast takes commercials on, what if I was to shoot a commercial for my business, do you think they'd air that ?

Or is there some kind of no competition clause ?
 
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I would just find ways to justify your cost & budget.

Put your gallery side-by-side with their gallery. Your work should speak for itself.

Also, there will always be those crappy used car commercials.
 
twocik23 said:
Ok so here's my next question. If Comcast takes commercials on, what if I was to shoot a commercial for my business, do you think they'd air that ?

Or is there some kind of no competition clause ?
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I would think its a conflict of interest for them, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were so money hungry that they aired it without even thinking about it.
 
I would strongly recommend branching away from cable commercials. Cable is struggling. When it comes to ad buys, cable is making less and less sense to businesses that are tightening their marketing budgets. Of course, if its cheap crap that they want, why even try to stop them?

I'd recommend transitioning to online. Look for clients who understand the importance of having a solid online presence and work directly with them. The demand for compelling online video content is going nowhere but up, and as the economy gets tougher, businesses need to get more creative in the way they market themselves. The opportunity is there.
 
Best thread ever. :Drogar-Evil(DBG)::Drogar-Love(DBG)::Drogar-Evil(DBG)::Drogar-Love(DBG):

bewillia said (2nd paragraph) what I had rattling around in my mind & kinda hit on a few posts up. I agree, there is nice potential creating online material.
 
bewillia said:
I'd recommend transitioning to online. Look for clients who understand the importance of having a solid online presence and work directly with them. .
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This is my instinct too. One question though, with regards to online content, is there merit in HD and higher end cameras like RED ONE and EX3? The web degrades quality so much and connection speeds in the US are hogtied to an archaic infrastructure.
Anyone?
 
bewillia said:
I'd recommend transitioning to online.
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It is the future. I know many many people who no longer watch t.v and if they do it's either TIVO or on the internet. Either way the cable broadcast commercials are loosing their impact at an alarming rate. Web advertising is the way to go.
 
brianluce said:
This is my instinct too. One question though, with regards to online content, is there merit in HD and higher end cameras like RED ONE and EX3? The web degrades quality so much and connection speeds in the US are hogtied to an archaic infrastructure.
Anyone?
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Go to www.apple.com/trailers and take a look. It is possible to stream and upload really pretty great quality video on-line but you need to know how.

As far as format, GIGO. The better the origination format, the better the compression. Less grain is better for compression. More bit depth, contrast ratio, dynamic range are better for compression and you obtain these values by shooting better formats. It is a law of diminishing returns though so you do have to have the budgets to support shooting better formats. I've seen lots of great stuff shot on the DVX, HVX and EX1 on the web that compressed beautifully. But it was well lit, well composed and well thought out.

Dan
 
brianluce said:
This is my instinct too. One question though, with regards to online content, is there merit in HD and higher end cameras like RED ONE and EX3? The web degrades quality so much and connection speeds in the US are hogtied to an archaic infrastructure.
Anyone?
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Frankly I don't think most television advertising merits the use of the RED. Many people love to watch their 480i signal on their 1080p tv's and shooting something with the RED really isn't going to make a difference. So shooting with RED is just as much relevant with interent as the medium as it is cable television. In fact you will be able to get better resolution on the internet then most people get on their t.v.
 
zergtherobot said:
Frankly I don't think most television advertising merits the use of the RED. Many people love to watch their 480i signal on their 1080p tv's and shooting something with the RED really isn't going to make a difference. So shooting with RED is just as much relevant with interent as the medium as it is cable television. In fact you will be able to get better resolution on the internet then most people get on their t.v.
Click to expand...

I think that is why the DVX100 has been and will be such a popular choice.
 
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