Is the financial crisis affecting your market?

[Lars Erik]

With all the talk of the financial crisis and nearly every country heading into a ressesion these days, I do ask myself what will happen in our industry. Here in Norway so far, the only places the crisis has affected, is the larger commercial jobs. TV and smaller commercials seems, to me anyway, less affected. Some even say that ressesion times is good times for the entertainment industry, due to the fact that people may stay more at home and watch more television and so forth.

 

Back in '87, the people who worked in TV and entertainment said they never worked so much as they did after the stock market collapsed that year. (I was too young to remember those days, 12 years old) But now as you all know, the world has changed a lot, a lot more TV-channels and with the internet. Spreading the commercial money in a more wider range.

 

I heard a couple of weeks back on the radio that Hollywood is letting thousands of people go. I only heard the last minutes of the programme, so I don't know more than that. My question I guess is if any of you have noticed the crisis yet, and how? Less jobs? Producers trying to cut rates? (even though they're always trying to cut rates)

 

Personally I haven't, but then the crisis has just reached Norway, with dramatically falling prices on houses and such.

[Mike McGowan SOC]

Personally I have not noticed much. Usually there is a large Chevy or Ford commercial about this time of year in Miami and (no big supprise) there have not been any. Other than that, everything seems to be pretty much steady as she goes.

[Charles Papert]

I have been given a "take it or leave it" rate on an upcoming pilot for the same studio that I did a pilot for over the summer. When I offered to produce a paystub from that one showing the prevailing rate as a precedent, the UPM told me that the studio has established new rates since the economic meltdown and that all precedents were off. May or may not be the truth, but it makes a good excuse for them!

[Robert Starling SOC]

....the UPM told me that the studio has established new rates since the economic meltdown and that all precedents were off. May or may not be the truth, but it makes a good excuse for them!

 

They (studios / producers) will get to taste a slice of that "pie" they're trying to serve you when advertisers tell them this year "yea, we know we paid $xxx for spots on your show in the past but with the economic meltdown blah blah blah". The unfortunate part is it will trickle down to us.

 

In the last ten or so years it is the rare job where there is not some form of "budget whining" in the process; you almost become numb to hearing it. We need a new above the line position called "Flea Market Deal Haggler" or "Straw Market Budget Whiner".

 

As specialists the more we communicate and stick together amongst ourselves the better we'll be able to hold on to decent rates.