The Commercial Process:
A Director's Point of View - Part Three
Tony Johns
Copyright © Tony Johns, 2001
Ok, so you've been to film school. Maybe you've
shot a few spec commercials and music clips and slowly you've built up
a show reel. You now you feel you are experienced enough to earn a
living from your directing skills. However, before anybody will take
you seriously (and give you heaps of money to make TV commercials and
music promos, etc) it helps to have a production company behind you.
What does a production company do for you? It
is up to the production company to promote you and to find you work.
They will outlay the costs on show reels and advertising, etc and
basically look after your interests they are your agent.
Some, not all, will have you sign a contract that will bind you to the
company. The reason being, you won't be able to go off and join the
opposition.
Each production company has their own set of
guidelines regarding what you can and cannot do. For example: some
production companies do not like you approaching advertising agencies
without their say so. Others won't let you do any self-promotion at
all. They believe it is their responsibility (which is true) but it can
be very frustrating when you haven't worked for a while and you find
that the producers of the company are too busy elsewhere to promote
you. It is becoming more and more common for production companies
around the world to employ a full time rep to sell their directors.
Alternatively they sign with a freelance agent.
Regarding fees, once again each production
company is different. A director can usually earn ten percent of the
overall budget on a commercial campaign but this can vary from
production company to production company. Some will give you a
percentage of the overall profit plus your fee - this will give a
director an incentive to keep cost down and not go over budget. The
director can also work on a day rate: for every day that he shoots
(principal photography) he charges a fee.
In my part of the world this can be anywhere
from three thousand to ten thousand dollars a day. Obviously this would
vary from country to country. The director would not charge for time
spent in pre-production or post-production. Production companies have
been known to require the director to pay for any costs over and above
what has been budgeted for. This would be deducted from the director's
fee. Some production companies will cover your day-to-day expenses;
i.e. mobile phones, petrol, entertaining clients, etc.
So how do you choose a production company?
First, find out who is hot and who is not. How many directors do they
represent? You don't want to be just another director on their books.
Find out the types of producers they have what experience do
they have? Do they have useful connections? What is their background?
Remember you don't have to settle for the first offer that comes along.
Big is not always best either. There are
smaller production companies that do very well in the commercial market
and in some ways, when you are starting out, joining a smaller
production company might be your best bet! They say the life expectancy
of a commercial director in one city is between three and five years.
You will find that you are hot one moment and cold the next. This is no
reflection on your talent. It is simply the way the industry works.
Agencies always want to work with the latest, hottest director (its an
ego thing). It is important that you do not rely on one city or one
country to sustain your career. The more markets you can cover the more
work options you will have. Make sure that the production company you
work with has connections in other markets.
There are various types of producers but I
believe most come under two titles. Creative producer; money producer.
A creative producer not only looks after the money side of a production
but also likes to have a say in the creative process. This can be a
great asset to a director if the producer is well experienced but look
out if they're not! A money producer is only interested in counting
numbers and leaves all of the creative decisions to the director, which
is as it should be. However, I do believe that on occasions it can help
to have other people to bounce ideas around with.
So the best advise I can give to anyone looking
for a production company to join is to take your time and don't rush
your decision. Weigh up the pros and cons and if all else fails - flip
a coin!
That's it for now. Good luck
Tony Johns Bio
- An award winning international
television commercial Director, Tony Johns came to this profession
through his involvement as a successful recording artist in the 1980's.
Tony began directing music promos for his own band and was the first
independent director in New Zealand to do so. Until that time all band
promos had been directed by Television New Zealand staff. Impressed
with his refreshingly innovative and creative music promos airing on
Television New Zealand, Tony was invited by music promos for other
recording artists of the day. Advertising agencies Saatchi &
Saatchi and Colenso, attracted by Tony's success with music promos,
commissioned him to direct television commercials.
The demand for Tony's directing talents
compelled him to defer his musical ambitions to concentrate on his
burgeoning directing career. It was a natural career change he was more
than willing to make given the new opportunities to indulge his passion
for story telling. Tony's ability to see beyond the basic script,
visualising all the details from the selection of professional talent,
to the details of art direction, visualizing camera angles and creative
lighting design, to the final edit design in the planning stages of
every project, sets him apart.
Tony has directed commercials in New Zealand,
Australia, Singapore and Indonesia. Tony has recently come under the
umbrella of WeDoFilms in the USA. Samples of Tony's work can be viewed
at www.wedofilms.com and he can be contacted at lintonfilms@xtra.co.nz
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