I'm going to write and direct a spec commercial for a local company. I'm doing this to get experince in commercial directing and to hinance my reel. If by some stroke of luck the company likes the commercial and wants to buy it, what would be a good price point to sell it to them? I'm filming this commercial for the experience and for my reel, but I am just thinking ahead in case it really comes out well.
Selling a Spec Commercial
- Thread starter Underdog
- Start date
clang
Veteran
So they don't even know you're making it? Even if you think the finished ad is pure genius, they may loathe and detest it (for any of a million reasons you couldn't know) and call their lawyers to try to sue you or at least prevent you ever showing it in public.
Pricing it will be very awkward - even if they do happen to like the ad, their attitude may well be 'Hey, this crazy stranger already made the ad and where else can he sell it? - offer him 20 bucks".
I honestly think you should treat it as a pure promotional exercise - make it, send them a copy, tell them it was done for your reel but they are very welcome to contact you should they want to use it commercially. And don't then hold your breath - unless they happen to be looking for a cheap ad, the chances are you'll never hear anything back.
Pricing it will be very awkward - even if they do happen to like the ad, their attitude may well be 'Hey, this crazy stranger already made the ad and where else can he sell it? - offer him 20 bucks".
I honestly think you should treat it as a pure promotional exercise - make it, send them a copy, tell them it was done for your reel but they are very welcome to contact you should they want to use it commercially. And don't then hold your breath - unless they happen to be looking for a cheap ad, the chances are you'll never hear anything back.
seanmcleod
Well-known member
Yeah don't do a local company... set your sights higher. If you're looking for commercial work, what most people do is do a spec for a large company like Nike, or Gatorade, or Lexus... they don't have to be huge budget but they should be well written, have a clear message, and well done. Then if you want some local work send it to the company you planned to do a commercial for and say "Hey, this is what I'm capable of, do you want me to work on something for you?"
And added benefit of doing things this way is that the average person doesn't really understand of doing something on spec... so they see you did a Gatorade commercial and they think "wow, this guy's big league!"
And added benefit of doing things this way is that the average person doesn't really understand of doing something on spec... so they see you did a Gatorade commercial and they think "wow, this guy's big league!"
Never,ever, do anything for free. As was posted here "Give him $20 bucks....". If you think you have a good idea contact the company and ask for the person who handles marketing. Speak to that person about your abilities and that you might have a good idea for them. In fact you may find out that they use an ad agency. In that case you can contact them. Introduce yourself. Present your portfolio, if you have one. Otherwise, tell them of your abilities, experience and education. Generally, ad agencies work with the same production guys all the time. It's a comfort thing. The only time you might have a shot here is if they are unhappy with their usual guy for some reason.