Commercials Facts
Commercials people live the filmmakers’ dream. They are very well paid for concentrated periods of intense work. They are at the cutting edge of marketing, selling and branding in a public market place that is harsh if not brutal in its judgements.
“Yet the buzz from being on the edge all the time is intense”, says one senior Commercials Producer.
Mind you, it is possible to become cocooned in a world of only 3,500 people that produce so much, and which has great impact in the public consciousness. For the same award winning Executive went on to quote the famous words of Barbara Streisand as being applicable to himself:
- “Why am I so famous?
- What am I doing right?
- What are the others doing so wrong?”
We think it was self mockery, but you never know.
KEY NOTES
- Work with committed fully crewed production teams, with filmmakers of the highest calibre, on feature film standard “mini-movies”, often devising or using cutting edge techniques and conventions.
- An accepted training route for people who want to break into feature film, and an area the film industry watches for emerging talent.
- Freelancers dominate, making up 68% of the workforce. 31% of the commercials workforce are women.
- The industry is very London-dominated.
- Advertising agencies are commissioned by industry and organisations to produce advertising campaigns, usually with the commercial as key for showing on TV and possibly in cinemas. Acting as the film production operation, Agencies put together their own production teams and crew, usually from people that they use regularly.
- Very very hard to break into as the work is well paid, attractive and with prospects for advancement. Entry through being qualified, highly skilled and committed and often shadowing existing team members.
For more information on our research work, please visit Skillset's Research pages.
