INTRODUCTION COMMERCIALS 30
SURVEY
Mayor of London Have a Word by Spindle
BBC This is our BBC by Academy
uncertain, scripts changing, protracted sign off and even cancellations as budgets were reassessed.”
TIME IS MONEY
All this indecision from clients means the go button is hit later and later while the budgets offered are often far from what’s need to make the spot. Great Guns says there was “an unusual mix of some healthier-than-usual and some more-starved-than-usual budgets that seem to have found a common ground in increasingly compressed schedules.” Agile Films says, “it feels like
there has been a shift in agencies’ relationships with their clients – often meaning that the budgets are unrealistic and the pressure to deliver films with an unrealistic schedule is put on us the production company.” Stink notes that “budgets have
been as challenging as ever. We always say, ‘this year they’ve plateau-d’ and yet every year they seem to get more challenging.” Dark Energy says it’s been “frustrating at times. There is some great creative coming through, but budgets have been frustratingly challenging and delivery times not always realistic.” For Rogue, “the year was notable for the continued ambition-gap between how much clients want on screen, and how little some of them are prepared to pay.” Spindle says “the climate has been buoyant this year with more opportunities. However, budgets and deadlines have been tight against
33 Of respondents said
that budgets had risen this year.
28% said they’d stayed the same and 29% said they’d fallen
the creative ambitions and have not always allowed for crew rate increases and inflation.” Caviar notes that “clients’ demands are getting bigger, but budgets continue to get smaller!” Iconoclast also points out that “creative ambition is growing again whilst budgets decrease. Problematic in a world where crew rates and materials are not aligned with inflation or client budgets.”
COUNTING THE COST
AWARD, WITH MORE STAKEHOLDERS
REQUIRED TO SIGN OFF BUDGETS”
“JOBS SEEM TO TAKE LONGER TO
Budget strictures are hitting at a time when the cost of production is rising. “The cost of shooting in the UK has risen significantly due to reduced overtime, rate rises and inflation,” says Academy. Pulse also notes that “production
costs are rising across the board, from crew rates to equipment hire, locations and catering costs, but client budgets aren’t representative of this.” Park Village says that the “rise in
54
Of production companies said they made more
commercials this year, 19% said they made fewer and
27% said the same
cost of living has led to an increase in freelance rates and salaries, particularly for freelance producers and in house production staff, but budgets are not growing larger to accommodate this.” Crew availability and rates are
also being hit by the sheer amount of long form being shot in the UK, by the streamers in particular. Says Canada: “It’s harder than ever to book HODs and studios due to streaming services shooting long form.” Hungryman also points out that “there have been more challenges
Spring 2023 C04 Commercials 30
to get heads of departments and crew that are purely focused on commercials rather than longer format, in particular with big streaming platforms basing themselves out of London and having competitive financial rates (which were traditionally held by commercials).”
MORE FOR LESS
This comes at a time when production companies are expected to produce an ever-growing list of deliverables for a variety of platforms – but often with nothing extra in the budget. “Budgets are always getting tighter whilst deliverables increase,” says Park Pictures in a common refrain. Bullion too says there are “far more deliverables for campaigns to sit alongside the main TVC for all social platforms – but no extra time or money.” Stink says a major change “is
the need for our shoots to cover not just the main piece of film but also the socials, the stills etc.
In some
instances, these sides of the creative project are more important than the film. So as production companies we’ve had to become even more adaptable and able to manage different strands of the creative at the same time.”
COMPETITIVE TIMES
In a tough environment for commercials producers, it’s unsurprising that competition is fierce. “The competition for jobs is more
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