INTRODUCTION COMMERCIALS 30
SURVEY
McDonalds Imaginary Iggy by Object and Animal
Playstation Play Has No Limits by Biscuit
in recent years, and on the back of a challenging 2020 it was a welcome relief.” Outsider too, says, “it has been
very positive, especially in contrast to 2020. Brands have come back with a desire to spend more, make more work and be braver with creative ideas.” RadicalMedia says “it has been an
intense time for producers” but “the demand for creativity and production has significantly risen in 2021. There is a sense of confidence and optimism.”
CHANGING TIMES But it’s not been smooth sailing. Says Rankin: “Whilst the want to spend has been present, we have had to move shoots due to factors like talent not being able to enter certain territories – causing budget and logistic problems for both production and client.” Iconoclast says the year has been
“in one word, dynamic. There’s been a lot of change this year, so it’s been crucial to be able to adapt and move with those changes. We’ve seen increased uncertainty from clients as well as increased mandates from cost controllers and procurement. Due to the more reactive creative environment, deadlines have become much shorter, so speed and adaptability have been the name of the game.” Pretty Bird says, “it’s been all over the place and commercial producers
“COUNTER TO EXPECTATIONS, IT WAS A BUMPER YEAR. WHO KNEW?”
£12.3m
The average turnover of a commercials
production company in
this year’s survey (it was £15m in 2020’s survey)
have had to be incredibly resourceful and fast reacting to be able to navigate the ever-changing rules and regulations in place surrounding COVID19.”
QUICK THINKING But despite it being “a big improvement on past years, budgets continue to not live up to the creative so there is a lot of time having to negotiate what is feasible and what is not,” says Caviar. And that’s echoed by many. Despite the bounce back, says Spindle, “budgets have been tighter, but ambitions have remained the same, so there’s been a lot of lateral thinking and collaboration to get projects over the line.” There’s also more to
achieve now, “The increasing importance of digital within campaigns has also led to the list of deliverables getting longer
and longer. However, with the rise of digital comes new opportunities to make interesting work and get something good on to a newly signed directors reel,” says 2AM. But you have to work fast. Passion
£238K
The average budget for a 30-second ad reported by
respondents (that’s up from £191k last year)
Spring 2022 C02
says “An increased trend, coming hand in hand with the uncertain times that we still live in, has been short schedules and tight budgets. Decisions have to be made quicky and productions need to be nimble to reflect that.” Partizan says that while it’s been “busy” with “lots of fast turnaround
Commercials 30
projects” it’s been a “challenge to execute with lower budgets and an expectation of more shoot days.” Dark Energy points to “producers
and directors increasingly having to re-work ideas, scripts and budgets before being awarded the job. It seems as though agency teams are overstretched and so there is a pressure on production companies to bridge the gap.”
PEOPLE PROBLEMS Busy is good, but of course it brings its own problems. Bold says that “through autumn and into the end of the year it was so busy that being able to crew up was a minor miracle.” Park Village too says it was
sometimes “hard to find and pencil commercial producers and some crew due to the volume of work after restrictions were lifted.” Travel restrictions meant “a
huge number of productions have shot here,” says Stink. “Meaning a fight for crew. and not just amongst commercial production companies, but with the streaming services who have taken over all the studio spaces and book out top crew for months at a time.” Pretty Bird too points to “the big platforms coming in and paying high rates for our crews leaving us without teams to work with.”
RISKY BUSINESS 2AM says that while “we now all have loads of experience in shooting commercials in a COVID world (thanks
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