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Home » AICE Says Post industry, Squeezed by Agencies and Advertisers, Plans to Fight Back

AICE Says Post industry, Squeezed by Agencies and Advertisers, Plans to Fight Back

AICE, the marketing communications post production industry association, has issued an important policy statement that addresses head-on a list of current business practices that, when taken together, threatens the health and vitality of its members’ businesses.

The move is an effort to confront a number of trends emanating from advertisers and agencies that AICE members view as generally devaluing the contribution of post production to the success of marketing communications campaigns.

The document, titled “It’s Time to Re-think Current Ad Industry Post Production Business Practices,” summarizes the prevailing marketplace conditions that most post production companies that primarily handle advertising assignments for agencies and brands are laboring under.

To review the full document, see the attached file or CLICK HERE.

In addition to the release of this policy statement – which has been distributed to all member and associate member companies of the association and will be shared with industry groups on both the ad agency and marketer sides of the business – AICE has also formed a standing Business Affairs Committee.

This new committee includes representatives from every major AICE Chapter in North America and is headed by a veteran post production executive with broad experience. It has been tasked with creating a forum where issues and concerns can be shared with their business affairs and production management counterparts on the agency and client sides.

Members of the Business Affairs Committee include Gail Butler, Executive Producer, Hybrid Edit, Los Angeles; Craig Duncan, Executive Producer, Cutters, Chicago; Ray Forzley, COO/CFO, Section 8, Inc., Toronto; and Kristin Redman, Executive Producer, Hudson Editorial, Detroit. It’s chaired by Dee Tagert, Managing Director and Partner, jumP, New York.

As the statement notes, “the post production industry has been under serious financial pressure to deliver the same quality work and level of service agencies and clients have been accustomed to, with significantly reduced budgets and shortened schedules.”

It cites six areas of particular concern, ranging from competition from in-house agency facilities to the establishment of preferred vendor lists to the pressures brought on by sequential liability clauses that drag out payment terms.

It’s against the backdrop of these factors that certain larger marketers such as Procter & Gamble, Mondelez, AB InBev, Johnson & Johnson and others have begun to propose extending payment terms beyond 30 to 60 days norms to as much as 120 days or more. The statement addresses this issue as well.

“The imposition of extended payment terms could cripple many post production companies, drive them out of business and deprive advertisers and their agencies of such valued and important resources,” the statement asserts. It lists several key actions that AICE members might consider taking to counter such practices, including withholding delivery of key elements pending final payment, demanding greater percentages of bids before commencing work, declining to bid on jobs from marketers who are deemed to be slow payers and others.

The statement urges greater education on all parts to better define the pivotal role post production companies play in the advertising creation process and to illuminate how current business practices are undercutting the industry’s ability to continue to deliver what’s demanded by clients.

In addition, the statement calls for “advertisers, agencies, production companies and the post production industry to work together to develop a mutually-beneficial solution to this increasingly untenable economic situation.”

Both the adoption of the policy statement and the establishment of the Business Affairs Committee portend a more activist role for AICE in the ongoing dialogue over issues like fees, competition and ROI that have dominated the marketing industry of late.

“We want to humanize what these broad, sweeping actions can mean, and dramatize the outcome they can have on our companies and our people,” says Tagert about the initiatives. “Our industry is under siege, and this has motivated us to act. We want fairness in how we’re dealt with and we want appreciation for our contribution to our clients’ success. AICE is dedicated to the support of our industry and our members, and this is one way of demonstrating that.

Tagert adds that, over the years, post production companies (as well as other suppliers to the marketing communications supply chain) have had to endure increasing demands for services and deliverables with little or no consideration in terms of schedules or additional compensation, and it’s time that these companies collectively raise their objections. “We’ve buckled under left, right and center, and things have gotten to the point where we just can’t stand by any longer and say that this is acceptable,” Tagert adds.

Tagert points out to those who might say market conditions are dictating these changes, and not a determined and calculated insistence on squeezing profits out of suppliers, that post production companies, just like all other vendors in the ad creation and production business, are simply asking for what clients expect.

“Just as these huge, publicly-traded global companies are entitled to healthy bottom lines and regular cash flow, so are we,” Tagert states. “We’re entitled to make a profit, and we’re entitled to expect timely payment for our services.” Increasingly, she adds, post production houses are having trouble achieving either.

About AICE
AICE is the marketing communications post production association whose members are independent creative editorial, design, visual effects, color grading, audio, music and post production companies. It is dedicated to the advancement and promotion of these companies and the essential role their artists play in the media creation process. With chapters in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Toronto, AICE represents a significant segment of the vibrant post production industry, and continues to maintain its strong collective voice in the commercial advertising and marketing industry.

Among its signature initiatives and programs are the annual AICE Awards, which highlights creative excellence among its member companies; the regular publication of white papers and advisories on relevant trends and developments in post production; and active participation with other industry organizations on the establishment of standards and best practices for the post production process. For more in-formation, visit www.aice.org.

About Dan Ochiva

New York City-based journalist and NYCPPNEWS founder Dan Ochiva writes and consults on film, video, and digital media technology.

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

U.K. Extends COVID Insurance Scheme; Distributes $21 Million in Cinema Grants

The U.K.’s insurance scheme for film and television has been extended until April.

Known as the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, the groundbreaking £500 million ($676 million) fund assures productions that they’ll receive financial support in case of COVID-related losses. The program has so far accepted 100 qualifying productions.

To read the full article in Variety, click on this link. 

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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