1/2 my studio productions are just that....completely mine. I write scripts, scores, film sequences, write and play scores; even edit (rarely).

The other half is production of the score only for one of 4 large Fortune 500 companies.

Here's how this frustrating scenario plays out (from a session for a national pizza chain this weekend in Louisville).

Noon: 10/19/14. Meeting with internal staff marketing and film editor. Develop concept, samples of effects and basic track concept etc. Secure initial "go ahead" from internal folks.

6:00 PM Sunday til 8 AM Monday. Completion of rough track done to 2nd to last edit of graphics in time.

8:00 AM Monday. Arrival of national advertising agency personnel from Chicago. Includes account executive salesman, art director, creative director, v/P of film production...generally up to 6 staff members who are all charging airline charges, motel, $150.00 or more an hour to make sure the total production is
compatible with all other media efforts for the product line or customer. As a group, they have absolutely no experience at doing anything but brokering free-lance talent. From 8:00 to 12:00 thy nit-pick every note and try to put their "stamp" on the product.

Noon: The client wants to know what the hell happened to the direction we started with. An argument ensues, during which a compromise on problem areas is reached.

6:00 PM, with first showing scheduled at 8:00 AM on the next day, we frantically try to complete the tracking and edit.

9:00 PM: project is finished and I head for the job in Lexington. Follows are a day or more of recovery.

Agency contribution: not much more than an additional $50,000 in costs. Previously, the agency brokered everything, which became such a disaster that it added $100,000.00 to the project and sometimes killed it altogether. At least now I have more control that at first.

If you EVER hear the term "ADVERTISING AGENCY", run like the wind.

The dirty little secret is, they rely on "grunts" like me to get the work done and try to hide me from the people they are doing the work for.

Good news: My 30 hour marathon generates $3-5,000.00 in income; sometimes, for broadcast work there's additional compensation based om flight schedules (points).

The bad news: the process is tenuous, the pressure is massive and the inefficiencies triple the cost of the production.

I do at least one a week and have for over 30 years.

Man, I wish I knew how to entertain on a national level.

At 70, I'm getting tired!

That's a little look at "a day in the life".

Russ

Russ ...
an old saying - "A camel is a horse designed by a committee" - ... it is amazing how similar situations exist in just about any industry ...
I worked in the 'insurance industry' ... back in 1992 I was responsible for setting up a branch office in New Jersey ... The insurance industry has committees for EVERYTHING ... one of our staff members designed a form that was necessary for processing ... as the committee reviewed the form they made change after change ... every change led to one or two others ... after about 5 hours, we looked at the form the committee designed and saw that it was almost word for word, dot for dot, the same as the one the staff member proposed that morning ...

ouch Russ, so frustrating. Simply a corporate layer who simply exist to profit without providing any meaningful service. Reminds me of the Health Insurance industry in the USA who are a completely unnecessary corporate layer. Health care would be so much better if the money they milk from the public actually went into health care.