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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Treatments for commercials

J

Joe Cage

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Hey,

I always hear about directors creating treatments for a commercial and they have to compete for getting the best treatment to land the project. But how those directors about these projects? Do they get contacted by a company, we would for you to make us a treatment for this? Or is there a website I need to check where projects get listed on?

Thanks!
 
From my limited knowledge directors are attached to a company that may have several directors. That company has a sales rep who has relationships with ad agencies. The rep sends out directors reels and also cold calls agencies about upcoming projects. The d agencies typically contact 3 directors from different companies and then the director writes up a treatment with photos and the company also bids with a budget.
 
Peter Lyons Collister said:
From my limited knowledge directors are attached to a company that may have several directors. That company has a sales rep who has relationships with ad agencies. The rep sends out directors reels and also cold calls agencies about upcoming projects. The d agencies typically contact 3 directors from different companies and then the director writes up a treatment with photos and the company also bids with a budget.
Click to expand...

Peter is right on here. Basically ad agencies will reach out to Production Companies/Agencies that they've worked with a lot before and those ProdCos will select members from their Roster to have pitch. This will include potential budget, schedule, creative, etc. You typically pitch WAY more than you shoot in this process and is why ProdCo's will give minimums to their directors (that is once you've established yourself). You may pitch for 10 months and not do a single shoot. It's also why directors typically make a minimum of $5k per shoot day -- they are getting compensated for all of their pre and post time on that single shoot day as well. It can be incredibly hard to land yourself on a roster for a number of reasons. Pre-existing connections are always the easiest way.

I know this as I was being courted by a few NYC production companies to join their rosters. I was so new to the process that I was wildly unprepared. I went through a trial period but the division of the production company I was joining ended up being a non-starter and I moved on to other things. It can feel very enticing, especially if your daily rate minimum is going to be like $10k...but each day on set means months of pitching, politics, and always bending to the will of the client. You might end up with 4 days on set in your first year -- not kidding.

Tip, lots of folks start out over-preparing for local commercials, music videos, & personal projects as a way to practice. I know a guy who did full directors treatments for his friends' band's music videos and when he got the eye of a few labels, he was super prepared to get in there and pitch. He shoots tons of music videos and web spots now because he's so good at preparing and meeting the expectations laid out. Lots of ways to approach, but I've personally seen a few folks find great success with this path. As always, make really cool stuff and share it...things eventually happen.

EDIT: one last note, really prepare. I went in for "coffee" at the first production company and found myself sitting down for hours with the head creative director, executive producer, and founder of this company that does major campaigns for LEGO, Geico, Absolut, etc. They were asking for reel, experience, personal project ideas, and literally everything else under the sun. I thought I was just saying hi to someone as a segue to more conversation. Have your bag full and your brain ready...if it's just coffee then you won't need all that, but if it's more then you'll be ready.
 
Today I think most commercial directors has ghostwriters as you can not simply engage at the requested level on the project you pitch for. So you brief a professional treatment writer and often those are paid with one fee for the work to make the treatment and then a very high fee if the work comes trough.
 
Joe Cage said:
I always hear about directors creating treatments for a commercial and they have to compete for getting the best treatment to land the project. But how those directors about these projects? Do they get contacted by a company, we would for you to make us a treatment for this? Or is there a website I need to check where projects get listed on?
Click to expand...
It helps to have an agent. There are quite a few directors' agents in LA, NY, and Chicago who primarily represent commercial clients.
 
Ok thanks a lot! I shall create some personal projects this year, and hopefully get a nice demo reel. And ill see where it goes from there. Searching for an agent might be a good idea then.
 
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