Who Makes The Commercials? at DVinfo.net

John Holland · January 8th, 2006, 01:45 PM

Hey all,

I watch a lot of TV and commercials and I also make commercials for my school and local businesses and I've always wondered, who makes the commercials for the big companys like Nike, Sony, etc. Do they hire production companys to do commercials for them or do they have departments within them that create these commercials? I've always wanted to make commercials for big companys but didn't know exactly how they went about getting people to make them.

Thanks in advance.

Marcus Marchesseault · January 8th, 2006, 02:17 PM

I will let someone with direct expertise in that level of the business answer the rest, but I think you answered part of your own question. I believe the bigger companies have both internal marketing production capabilities and also hire out to independant production and marketing firms. Where to start? Maybe call some medium-sized regional companies in your area and see if they have an in-house production department. Who knows? Maybe your current experience is enough to get you a job. To work for the top companies, you will probably need to live in one of the big cities.

Steve House · January 8th, 2006, 02:44 PM

Not an expert but it's my understanding that most large companies hire outside advertising agencies to put together their marketing campaigns. Those ad agencies in turn either have in-house production facilities or hire 3rd party producers and production companies to put their concepts into tangible form.

January 8th, 2006, 03:18 PM

John,

A mix of the two. Some companies hire outside agencies, with most of the big ones being in major metropolitan areas, to do their ads. Some of those companies hire one agency, while some hire several. Other's have "in-house" advertising departments that handle all of their print, radio, TV & internet campaigns. There are advantages and disadvantages to each scenario.

And some do both!

Sean McHenry · January 8th, 2006, 03:24 PM

Who makes the commercials? We do.

My day job is Engineering for a major "post production house" in Central Ohio. It seems these days most spots, like movies, are a big collaborative effort.

I don't think I can say exactly who we produce for but, large companies, like major car companies seem to have one company do the initial Ad work, one company shots the film, one company does the film to video transfer, one company does the off-line in Avid (or some other NLE, but usually Avid) and then another company does the video to film transfer, if one is needed for theatrical commercials you might see before a movie, which I personally am quite tired of.

So there are a bunch of us in this workflow. I work in the post house part where we do the Avid editing. We do occasionally produce dubs for television stations but sometimes that job goes to a duplication house.

Before I started back into Engineering with these folks, I sold broadcast equipment for a few years. Before that I was a Studio Engineer for a local NBC station (34th market place as I recall). While selling equipment, I got to buy a bunch at discount so I trained in Avid and got certified through GeniusDV out of Florida. I then became a freelance editor in my off time. I made good spare change and it paid for all my gear. I was doing the post house job at home on my Avid Xpress system.

In the evenings a local director/producer would bring me his DVCam, MiniDV or even beta tapes from his shoots. We would chop them together into industrial pieces, internal communications pieces and yep, commercials. I've done political spots for judges races and the like, I also did a spot for a local pizza place, I even did 2 episodes of a local music video program from my system, including the motion graphics and editing the entire program from raw shoot tapes. I would hand them the master and that would be that.

Good luck.

Henry Cho · January 8th, 2006, 03:37 PM

i work at a large advertising agency as director of motion graphics. most of the large companies you see on tv have relationships with ad agencies. ad agencies will pitch corporate clients and try to win a certain aspect of their business, whether it's tv, print, interactive, or all of the above. the winning agency will sometimes become the agency-of-record, exclusively handling all of that client's advertising needs. most big companies have an agency-of-record. there is usually at least one creative director, a team of art directors and copywriters, and lots of producers in the agency. these people will concept a creative approach, all with the intention of increasing their client's brand recognition/reputation. some clients will be more hands on than others and want a say in all creative concepts before it goes into production. ad agencies typically have very small in-house production staffs. video, audio, multimedia, and 3d are often farmed out to smaller, very talented production outfits or freelance creatives with different specialties. these production houses and freelancers work closely with the ad agency to create a campaign for the client.

most creatives in the business usually go through headhunters or placement agencies that have relationships with ad agencies or production outfits. you should have a portfolio/reel ready to present, and make sure it's really good before you show it... have a few professionals critique it for you. remember, you are now competing for business with some really seasoned professionals, many with amazing reputations. after people see something that isn't up to par, it'll be hard for you to get that particular door open again. my experience is, if your work is good, and you don't blow budgets or deadlines, you will have no problem getting and keeping work.

hope that helps.

John Holland · January 8th, 2006, 03:45 PM

Thank you so much,

I do a lot of commercials for organizations on my campus, and they're not those corny crazy guy in the plaid blazer with large sunglasses type commercials (no offense to anyone lol). I'm really interested in making commercials, especially for companies that use comedy as an approach to gaining attention. I did an internship with CBS in NY (the main headquarters CBS) and they used a lot of outside companies to do their productions (Blackrock Media, etc) so I wondered if big companies did that with their commercials. It explains a lot. Any more info you guys have I would surely appreciate.

Nick Jushchyshyn · January 9th, 2006, 09:40 AM

Craig Worsham's seminar and/or DVD is a great resource for learning about the production side of this industry.

http://www.directingcommercials.com/

January 8th, 2006, 01:45 PM	#1
John Holland Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Greensboro, North Carolina Posts: 59	Who Makes The Commercials? Hey all, I watch a lot of TV and commercials and I also make commercials for my school and local businesses and I've always wondered, who makes the commercials for the big companys like Nike, Sony, etc. Do they hire production companys to do commercials for them or do they have departments within them that create these commercials? I've always wanted to make commercials for big companys but didn't know exactly how they went about getting people to make them. Thanks in advance. __________________ Green Bench Productions

January 8th, 2006, 02:44 PM	#3
Steve House Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,742	Not an expert but it's my understanding that most large companies hire outside advertising agencies to put together their marketing campaigns. Those ad agencies in turn either have in-house production facilities or hire 3rd party producers and production companies to put their concepts into tangible form. __________________ Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams!

January 8th, 2006, 03:24 PM	#5
Sean McHenry Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Hilliard, Ohio Posts: 1,193	Who makes the commercials? We do. My day job is Engineering for a major "post production house" in Central Ohio. It seems these days most spots, like movies, are a big collaborative effort. I don't think I can say exactly who we produce for but, large companies, like major car companies seem to have one company do the initial Ad work, one company shots the film, one company does the film to video transfer, one company does the off-line in Avid (or some other NLE, but usually Avid) and then another company does the video to film transfer, if one is needed for theatrical commercials you might see before a movie, which I personally am quite tired of. So there are a bunch of us in this workflow. I work in the post house part where we do the Avid editing. We do occasionally produce dubs for television stations but sometimes that job goes to a duplication house. Before I started back into Engineering with these folks, I sold broadcast equipment for a few years. Before that I was a Studio Engineer for a local NBC station (34th market place as I recall). While selling equipment, I got to buy a bunch at discount so I trained in Avid and got certified through GeniusDV out of Florida. I then became a freelance editor in my off time. I made good spare change and it paid for all my gear. I was doing the post house job at home on my Avid Xpress system. In the evenings a local director/producer would bring me his DVCam, MiniDV or even beta tapes from his shoots. We would chop them together into industrial pieces, internal communications pieces and yep, commercials. I've done political spots for judges races and the like, I also did a spot for a local pizza place, I even did 2 episodes of a local music video program from my system, including the motion graphics and editing the entire program from raw shoot tapes. I would hand them the master and that would be that. Good luck. __________________ ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’m shooting on D.V.’ - my hero - David Lynch http://www.DeepBlueEdit.com

January 8th, 2006, 03:45 PM	#7
John Holland Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Greensboro, North Carolina Posts: 59	Thank you so much, I do a lot of commercials for organizations on my campus, and they're not those corny crazy guy in the plaid blazer with large sunglasses type commercials (no offense to anyone lol). I'm really interested in making commercials, especially for companies that use comedy as an approach to gaining attention. I did an internship with CBS in NY (the main headquarters CBS) and they used a lot of outside companies to do their productions (Blackrock Media, etc) so I wondered if big companies did that with their commercials. It explains a lot. Any more info you guys have I would surely appreciate. __________________ Green Bench Productions

January 9th, 2006, 09:40 AM	#8
Nick Jushchyshyn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Posts: 548	Craig Worsham's seminar and/or DVD is a great resource for learning about the production side of this industry. http://www.directingcommercials.com/ __________________ Nick Jushchyshyn Matchmoving, Compositing, TD imdb

January 8th, 2006, 02:17 PM	#2
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	I will let someone with direct expertise in that level of the business answer the rest, but I think you answered part of your own question. I believe the bigger companies have both internal marketing production capabilities and also hire out to independant production and marketing firms. Where to start? Maybe call some medium-sized regional companies in your area and see if they have an in-house production department. Who knows? Maybe your current experience is enough to get you a job. To work for the top companies, you will probably need to live in one of the big cities.

January 8th, 2006, 03:18 PM	#4
Guest Posts: n/a	John, A mix of the two. Some companies hire outside agencies, with most of the big ones being in major metropolitan areas, to do their ads. Some of those companies hire one agency, while some hire several. Other's have "in-house" advertising departments that handle all of their print, radio, TV & internet campaigns. There are advantages and disadvantages to each scenario. And some do both!

January 8th, 2006, 03:37 PM	#6
Henry Cho Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 516	i work at a large advertising agency as director of motion graphics. most of the large companies you see on tv have relationships with ad agencies. ad agencies will pitch corporate clients and try to win a certain aspect of their business, whether it's tv, print, interactive, or all of the above. the winning agency will sometimes become the agency-of-record, exclusively handling all of that client's advertising needs. most big companies have an agency-of-record. there is usually at least one creative director, a team of art directors and copywriters, and lots of producers in the agency. these people will concept a creative approach, all with the intention of increasing their client's brand recognition/reputation. some clients will be more hands on than others and want a say in all creative concepts before it goes into production. ad agencies typically have very small in-house production staffs. video, audio, multimedia, and 3d are often farmed out to smaller, very talented production outfits or freelance creatives with different specialties. these production houses and freelancers work closely with the ad agency to create a campaign for the client. most creatives in the business usually go through headhunters or placement agencies that have relationships with ad agencies or production outfits. you should have a portfolio/reel ready to present, and make sure it's really good before you show it... have a few professionals critique it for you. remember, you are now competing for business with some really seasoned professionals, many with amazing reputations. after people see something that isn't up to par, it'll be hard for you to get that particular door open again. my experience is, if your work is good, and you don't blow budgets or deadlines, you will have no problem getting and keeping work. hope that helps.