Commercial Producers Council launches under the umbrella of The Communications Council
Today marks the launch of The Commercial Producers Council (the CPC), a member based organisation representing the interests of production companies in the marketing communications industry.
Sitting under The Communications Council framework, the CPC will be assisting members with advice and guidance on producer/ agency agreements, it will be ensuring best practice business principles among members and promoting their work and services to the wider business community.
Services that member agencies of the CPC will be able to access are production agreement templates that represent best practice terms for creative agencies, preferred member pricing for insurance policies specific to specialist areas of production and film, as well as legislative and regulatory advice. In addition, the CPC will offer members online training programs in workplace health and safety management.
“The Communications Council is essentially incomplete without the inclusion of the Commercial Production Industry,” says Michael Ritchie (far left), Communications Council Board member and AWARD Committee Member. “The CPC will be closely aligned with AWARD which will give us, for the first time, a truly cohesive opportunity to both deal with better practice and create the community we have been missing.”
CEO of The Communications Council Daniel Leesong (above right) said: “We have traditionally had production company individuals as AWARD members but we were approached by several of them with requests which we could better service at a company level. Our aim in setting up the Council is to create a better business environment for production companies to thrive in while meeting those specific problems they get confronted with in their line of business.
“Forming the CPC and including it under our umbrella means they benefit from our standing activities, while we’ll benefit from their production expertise and insights.”
CLICK HERE for information about CPC membership, see here or contact Genevieve Murphy on +612 8297 3800.
12 Comments
You only need to be a reader of this blog to realise ad agency’s interests are not the same as production companies. How is that going to work?
$ 2000-5000 for some forms and OH&S training! Fxckoff!
How out of touch is this organization before it even starts?
Get to the real issues:-
How about 30 Day payment rather than relying on small business to finance large business ‘s cash flow?
How about fair pay for directors and producers. Many directors and producers are working at rates lower than the minimum wage.
How about preventing exploitation of young directors and producers? Asking them to work for free on advertisers commercials and “short films” whilst the agency personnel pull in big salaries.
And the biggie: How about addressing agency-owned production companies participating in bid-rigging and secret commissions?
If you add these issues to your agenda, then I’d happily hand over the cost of membership.
well said Plash
I’m back!
@ 12:15 They are not going to address agency owned production companies because agencies are the main members.
Hi Plash and Sceptical, understand where you are at and the level of cynicism. CPC is pretty much there to deal with the issues such as what you are mentioning and more. Its association with AWARD is intended to give it some community and soul beyond the whinge fest our previous attempts have been in the past 15 years. It being close to other bodies such as the agencies, the digital companies, the planners etc puts we think puts us in the right room to get things sorted out. give it a look and please get in touch with them as your issues and ideas would be welcomed.
Is Michael @ 7:11 (presumably Mr. Ritchie) suggesting that he’s prepared from his leadership position and bully pulpit as head of Revolver, CC board member, and AWARD committee member to lead the fight with CPC against agency owned production companies participating in bid rigging and secret commissions, or 90 day payment schedules with production companies basically financing the cash flow of multi-national billion dollar agency groups, or any of the agenda issues mentioned by all of the above?
If so, and CPC will be a legitimate ‘union’ of production companies to advocate for and enforce with the power of boycott or even strike where bargaining negotiations fail with the agencies fail for the best interests of production companies at large, then I can imagine any number of players on the production side joining the organisation and supporting his leadership. If not, then the ‘cynicism’ Michael has mentioned will be well founded, and the CPC just another example of form without substance.
Here’s hoping that Michael and other production company heavyweights will finally realise that by banding together, rather than continuing to chart their own individual paths toward success, they may actually have the ability to make substantive changes to an industry that’s in many quarters withering under the pressures put upon it by concerted agency group strategies to leverage their power and reduce that of a divided production side.
@ Michael. I admire your positive outlook but question your strategy. Your position is coming from a good place but it’s a little naive. Do you think a room of creatives, planners and digital agencies are going to have any empathy with the production company’s plight? They really only care about their own agenda which is “more for less”. With the exception of a couple of tiny creative shops, these guys are not the decision makers, nor business drivers, they have no control, power or influence in changing business structure. Creatives are usually the first guys to switch off when the topic of money and budget is raised. For most creatives, they see their mission is to win awards, not create a sustainable production industry.
hi Everyman. your perceptions good and are in keeping with what has pushed this into being. And Sceptical, understand you think this is naive – Perhaps there has been more thought put into this that you might think…..happy to talk about this face to face and explain why we are here and what has been unsuccessfully tried in the past.
Michael
Love to. How about next Tuesday evening at the Grand National. Say 7PM? I’ll be wearing a red carnation.
I want to know when they are going to get around to addressing the outdated MEAA Talent Agreements that fail to recognise the realities of the online platform and the standard production contract that leads agencies into flagrantly breaking their contract with their clients? SPAA could never be bothered as they were too busy fighting for the long form side of the industry rather then someone keeping the commercial side of the industry up-to-date and relevant.
Darren, you work for clients who are generally multi-million dollar corporations, as opposed to the voice and on-screen talent who you feel are overpaid, but are for the most part lucky to work four or five times a year, are prohibited by category from taking competitive work, hence the residual and rollover fees, and are for the hard working performers trying to make a living in a very competitive environment, at one of the lowest annual wages in the ad industry workplace.