Hello, I have no clue on how to get into filming commercials. I heard somewhere that filming ads is a lucrative way of getting your foot into the industry. So, I'm wondering how does one get their start filming commercials for actual known brands? I have the assumption that you send a demo reel to an ad agency, but I have a feeling that I am wrong. If someone can please break it down for a noob like me, that'd be awesome.
Working in commercial?
- Thread starter Sweeney Jet
- Start date
Becoming a “go to” prodCo for an ad agency is considerably more
difficult to do than making an independent feature film.
The way it works - the short version - is an advertising agency
comes up with the concept for the commercial. They then either
take bids from prodCo’s ot just hire the prodCo they have a
working relationship with. If they take bids, they will look at
the past experience of the prodCo and they will not hire a first
timer.
So as a first timer you will not send your reel to the ad agency
(unless the agency has an in house director) you will send your
resume to the prodCo’s that have a long track record of making
commercials for the ad agencies.
The reality is, commercials are not a way into film. The reason we
hear that it is is because of the very, very few directors who do
make the jump. That becomes big news. But the vast majority of
working directors did not start by making commercials.
If that’s the path you want to take, make sure your commercial
reel is stellar - absolutely amazing. The ad agencies that have an
in house commercial director rarely open their doors to new ones.
The prodCo’s that have four or five “go to” directors are open to
new directors, but their standards are really high and the
competition considerably more fierce than movies.
difficult to do than making an independent feature film.
The way it works - the short version - is an advertising agency
comes up with the concept for the commercial. They then either
take bids from prodCo’s ot just hire the prodCo they have a
working relationship with. If they take bids, they will look at
the past experience of the prodCo and they will not hire a first
timer.
So as a first timer you will not send your reel to the ad agency
(unless the agency has an in house director) you will send your
resume to the prodCo’s that have a long track record of making
commercials for the ad agencies.
The reality is, commercials are not a way into film. The reason we
hear that it is is because of the very, very few directors who do
make the jump. That becomes big news. But the vast majority of
working directors did not start by making commercials.
If that’s the path you want to take, make sure your commercial
reel is stellar - absolutely amazing. The ad agencies that have an
in house commercial director rarely open their doors to new ones.
The prodCo’s that have four or five “go to” directors are open to
new directors, but their standards are really high and the
competition considerably more fierce than movies.
some of us here have fun playing at making commercials for poptent.net I netted $1400 from them in the last few months. Check it out.
As a challenge its quite fun. Good way to build up filmmaking skills, and maybe,just maybe, get a bit o cash on the side.
Also, I believe some forum members make local commercials, low budget affairs for small stores, used car lots, etc, and find that a way to pay some bills. At that level its just about price and local networking.
As a challenge its quite fun. Good way to build up filmmaking skills, and maybe,just maybe, get a bit o cash on the side.
Also, I believe some forum members make local commercials, low budget affairs for small stores, used car lots, etc, and find that a way to pay some bills. At that level its just about price and local networking.
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Is there a website, directory, or whatnot to find out which production companies have such and such relationships with such and such ad agencies?
Wow. I didn't know that. Thanks for your reply. It's been informative.
wheatgrinder said:
I actually attempted poptent.net twice already. One for Mountain Dew and recently Netflix. Just crossing my fingers. lol. To no avail, I would imagine.
The local commercial for local businesses route seems like a logical place to start. How much should I charge...? I mean, the primary reason I wanna make commercials is to have money from filming and to, really, use that money to buy better equipment to make my indie films.
Despite what many people think, commercials aren't really the way
to make a little money to save up for your features. Commercials,
especially the nationals and "well known brands" ones are huge
business - MUCH bigger than feature films - and thus MUCH more
difficult to break into.
Local commercials can be one way to go. But if you don't have good
enough equipment to make a broadcast quality commercial, I suspect
even the local places will hire someone who does.
to make a little money to save up for your features. Commercials,
especially the nationals and "well known brands" ones are huge
business - MUCH bigger than feature films - and thus MUCH more
difficult to break into.
Local commercials can be one way to go. But if you don't have good
enough equipment to make a broadcast quality commercial, I suspect
even the local places will hire someone who does.
inside view
I work in the ad industry, producing commercials for large companies. While you're right that it's no ticket into the film industry, it can provide you with all the skills you need to do so in other ways.
You can't save up to break into film at any job, the bottom tree branch is like 3 million dollars. What you can do is prep yourself to deserve investment, and then show people that.
Commercials on the very large scale are often done by television and film directors. (ford, ATT, etc)
but mid-range commercials, signage, and regional work can be a source of income while you learn advanced skills.
About the competition. I have no idea what you are talking about. Competition is not stronger out here. 9 out of 10 ad guys are lazy as hell and haven't learned a new production trick since 1995. You will have some trouble booting out the sediment though, as many are seasoned veterans with what amounts to tenure, and companies will pay someone with half your skill 100k a year rather than fire him and hire you for 50 just because you are better.
Getting into an established production company that regularly is outsourced for major corporate jobs can be tougher. The new mentality at these companies this decade is the managerial genius of crowd sourcing. Instead of giving 1 person a fair wage with benefits, they just toss jobs out into the market and take the lowest competent bid. The only people that really make money in those situations are the companies, as no one artist wins enough bids to make a living.
I got my job by just walking into an expanding business with one of those lazy guys there (hey have you heard of this new program photoshop, I make six figures, wheee!) , and saying, here, I can eclipse everything you've done graphically in the last ten years this month, hire me. They said do the month free first. I did it, and they hired me. I can usually polish off their jobs in 15 days a month, and still have time to work on film. Here's a couple of ads I got paid for that I also used to develop filmmaking skills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVFhUeMUDI&feature=player_embedded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Xb1eqxO-Y
I work in the ad industry, producing commercials for large companies. While you're right that it's no ticket into the film industry, it can provide you with all the skills you need to do so in other ways.
You can't save up to break into film at any job, the bottom tree branch is like 3 million dollars. What you can do is prep yourself to deserve investment, and then show people that.
Commercials on the very large scale are often done by television and film directors. (ford, ATT, etc)
but mid-range commercials, signage, and regional work can be a source of income while you learn advanced skills.
About the competition. I have no idea what you are talking about. Competition is not stronger out here. 9 out of 10 ad guys are lazy as hell and haven't learned a new production trick since 1995. You will have some trouble booting out the sediment though, as many are seasoned veterans with what amounts to tenure, and companies will pay someone with half your skill 100k a year rather than fire him and hire you for 50 just because you are better.
Getting into an established production company that regularly is outsourced for major corporate jobs can be tougher. The new mentality at these companies this decade is the managerial genius of crowd sourcing. Instead of giving 1 person a fair wage with benefits, they just toss jobs out into the market and take the lowest competent bid. The only people that really make money in those situations are the companies, as no one artist wins enough bids to make a living.
I got my job by just walking into an expanding business with one of those lazy guys there (hey have you heard of this new program photoshop, I make six figures, wheee!) , and saying, here, I can eclipse everything you've done graphically in the last ten years this month, hire me. They said do the month free first. I did it, and they hired me. I can usually polish off their jobs in 15 days a month, and still have time to work on film. Here's a couple of ads I got paid for that I also used to develop filmmaking skills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVFhUeMUDI&feature=player_embedded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Xb1eqxO-Y
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That's good news.
With very little competition it should be easy to break in and
earn a living making commercials. I'm glad to know that things
have changed. I guess my into if wildly out of date.
You probably got your concept of what ads look like by watching NBC or CBS. That's just the top 5% of ads made.
Most of your day to day stuff is being done by people that just know basic motion graphics. As a filmmaker, you should be many levels above them. Companies charge about 200 an hour for your work and will pay you 65-110 hr. When I started at my current company, they had a guy putting still pictures with ariel type up for 15 seconds at a time and selling it as an ad. They were taking low res web images and putting them on 1000 square foot LED signs. Fortunately I was able to talk some reason into them, and now all the convention centers and highways and hotel tv's show ads like I included above. World deborified, +15 xp!
At the full on pro grade level, you can pull about $1500 dollars a day (unsteady) for work.
Most of your day to day stuff is being done by people that just know basic motion graphics. As a filmmaker, you should be many levels above them. Companies charge about 200 an hour for your work and will pay you 65-110 hr. When I started at my current company, they had a guy putting still pictures with ariel type up for 15 seconds at a time and selling it as an ad. They were taking low res web images and putting them on 1000 square foot LED signs. Fortunately I was able to talk some reason into them, and now all the convention centers and highways and hotel tv's show ads like I included above. World deborified, +15 xp!
At the full on pro grade level, you can pull about $1500 dollars a day (unsteady) for work.
Once all the gear is in hand, I have seriously considered going to some locals (typical car lot, furniture store stuff) and offering some free work to get a few under my belt. I could do better than what I see from them now with a flip cam and a $15 budget. The hope being I might be able to get a little side paid work just to pay for some more gear.
the problem with small businesses is that they may not WANT a TV ad, or think that its beyond their reach. I think a response like that has little to do with the cost of making the commercial, rather how much air time costs etc. Though its not your area, you may have to learn and even "sell" air time.
That said, everyone and there mom has a web site, for a few hundred bucks, I think you could convince a small business with an existing web site, to upgrade their image with a kickbutt web add. Even though its on the net, a local business will appreciate the local touch etc.. I might have to try this my self..
That said, everyone and there mom has a web site, for a few hundred bucks, I think you could convince a small business with an existing web site, to upgrade their image with a kickbutt web add. Even though its on the net, a local business will appreciate the local touch etc.. I might have to try this my self..
Digital signage
Where I found a crack in the armor was in digital signage.
Digital signage is closed circut advertising. The monitors that line convention center hallways, the giant LED signs beside the highways, etc. Most of these are at custom resolutions and ads have to be made specifically for a particular sign. In example I commonly create ads that are 3 monitors wide. The contracts are usually only a grand or two, but can be done in a day. You may see contracts up to 20k in just the signage world.
The big advantage is that all of your clients are large companies, and that's your way in to become one of their go-to guys for production work.
One major problem with cracking into tv ad markets is that corporations are getting a little smarter, more thrifty or both, and just setting up in house content teams at corporate headquarters to churn out to all branches of the business. Silver lining is that most of that work is outsourced. Speaking of, a huge multibranch project has just been outsourced to me for the upcoming Con-Ag trade show, and I may need to do a little outsourcing myself. If anyone would like to point me to an after effects or > Reel and hit me with an hourly rate, I'll keep it in mind, and maybe have a job or two to give out over the next couple months.
"upgrade your image" is a tough cold sell, and people are less responsive than you would expect. You may wish to carry around a sealed envelope with a paper inside that says "you will give me a long blank stare" so that you can hand it to clients and appear psychic. Hit them with "sell more products" instead, now you are talking merchant language instead of advertiser language. (learned that the hard way)
Where I found a crack in the armor was in digital signage.
Digital signage is closed circut advertising. The monitors that line convention center hallways, the giant LED signs beside the highways, etc. Most of these are at custom resolutions and ads have to be made specifically for a particular sign. In example I commonly create ads that are 3 monitors wide. The contracts are usually only a grand or two, but can be done in a day. You may see contracts up to 20k in just the signage world.
The big advantage is that all of your clients are large companies, and that's your way in to become one of their go-to guys for production work.
One major problem with cracking into tv ad markets is that corporations are getting a little smarter, more thrifty or both, and just setting up in house content teams at corporate headquarters to churn out to all branches of the business. Silver lining is that most of that work is outsourced. Speaking of, a huge multibranch project has just been outsourced to me for the upcoming Con-Ag trade show, and I may need to do a little outsourcing myself. If anyone would like to point me to an after effects or > Reel and hit me with an hourly rate, I'll keep it in mind, and maybe have a job or two to give out over the next couple months.
"upgrade your image" is a tough cold sell, and people are less responsive than you would expect. You may wish to carry around a sealed envelope with a paper inside that says "you will give me a long blank stare" so that you can hand it to clients and appear psychic. Hit them with "sell more products" instead, now you are talking merchant language instead of advertiser language. (learned that the hard way)