The strong Australian dollar has had an impact making imports more
attractive and exports less attractive. In the same way it has had
an impact on television commercial production in Australia.But before you
run off and have the agency produce your commercials overseas, in
this edition of P3 e-news we look into the benefits and issues with
off-shore productions.P3 À helping people
achieve commercial purpose through creative processAdd a colleague
to the .p3 newsê mailing list, by emailing their details to people@p3.com.au
television production updateIncreasingly more Australian film companies
and agencies are looking off-shore for cost effective shooting locations,
such as South Africa and the Czech Republic and to a lesser extent New
Zealand. But why?Exchange Rates
While the dollar is higher against the major currencies such as the US
Dollar, the Pound and the Euro, the cost of producing televisions commercials
is more affordable. The issue for Australian advertisers is that many
agencies and film companies will include a contingency for exchange
rate fluctuations within their estimates to ensure that they
are not exposed to changes during the production. But likewise, it is
important to ensure that either positive change will lead to a refund
or the cost is locked in at the time of approval and that the contingency
is removed.Cost Advantages
South Africa and the Czech Republic offer excellent value in two key areas:
1. Crew costs – film crews areconsistently lower in cost
than local crews and they work longer standard days before overtime is
incurred.
2. Talent costs – Both markets have access to a huge
pool of talent due to the proximity to Europe, especially during the summer
seasons in each market. The combination of the current exchange rate and
the higher competition means that rates are typically lower than Australian
talent and even New Zealand.Cost Penalties
The main issues that advertisers should be aware of are:
1. Travel – These locations can be expensive to travel
to and so any estimate should clearly state the agency and film company
travel costs. Also, do not overlook the advertiser costs if you intend
to attend the shoot.
2. Travel Time – Directors and producers will typically
charge for travel days to and from the location, above and beyond the
shoot days. Likewise, agency supervision hours can be higher due to extended
travel time. But in most cases the agency will waiver these additional
charges for the opportunity of shooting overseas.
3. Facilitation fees – If using an Australian production
company, you will find that they will use a “local” film company in the
country of shoot to facilitate the production. This means that the locals
organise the shoot and pay the bills locally with a mark up of typically
10% – 15%. Then the film company may apply their own production fee mark
up on top of this.P3 Advice
Shooting overseas can be cost effective for shoots with
high numbers of talent or a particularly long shoot of 3 days or more.
But before approving a shoot overseas, make sure:
1. you understand the costs you are paying including any contingencies.
2. the agency identifies where the savings have been achieved
over a local production.
3. the agency have explored all local options and that
they are comparing like for like.
If in doubt as to the advantages and risks, contact P3TV for a full 48-hour
assessment of the proposed production.
test p3tv on-line for yourself
Want
to try out the P3TV benchmark
application for yourself? Now you can
with our free on-line demonstration.
Advertisers
enter username client
Agencies enter username
agencyproducer or agencystaff
Film companies enter username
producer1 or producer
2
And all have the passworddemo.
Try
it out for yourself. If you need help simply click the HELP
button on any page.
If you enter an estimate remember
this is an open demo section of the applications so we cannot provide
any security. Therefore just use the time to check out how
it works and what it can do.
you’ve read the P3 ‘e-news’
now get the P3 ‘manual’
To get the complete
64 page manual
on how P3 can help you
maximise your advertising budget,
email us at people@p3.com.au
or order on-line at
our website www.p3.com.au
by clicking the SUBSCRIBE link
or download a pdf version
by clicking the E-BROCHURE link.
television production workshops
Want to know more about television
commercial production?
For the majority of marketers, television production is
a complex and technicalaspect of advertising
and often the single most expensive cost after media. P3 is planning a P3TV half-day
workshop for advertisers to be held in late March in Sydney and
Melbourne.If you are interested in attending,
email your details to tv@p3.com.au and we will send you details regarding
the workshop.
