Day 2
9:15 AM
Rethink earns its meat with advertisers like Solo, BCAA and A &W but they earn extra creative opportunities working on PSA’s. These give the creative people here more opportunities to have fun and involve themselves in projects.
After a morning meeting with Chelsea, my primary contact right now, and Laura, a producer, I’ve learned that talent costs are “the bane of agencies.” The cost of hiring a voice talent can be incredibly high, especially when compared against the costs of the producing the spot itself.
12:45
We arrive at Technicolor studios. It’s super trendy and feels expensive. Like, every moment we stand in reception is costing someone money.
Once we enter the studio and begin I quickly find out that this is a long process. It moves very slowly. Matthew and Claudio are the video editors on this project and they work quickly and thoroughly but it will still take several hours.
The studio itself is very dark; we sit on a raised platform behind the editing team. It really feels like something out of Hollywood. Occasionally David or Laura toss out a “what if we…” and then the video editors quickly bring that suggestion to life. The afternoon is spent making unknown actor’s faces warmer, cropping out wiper blades, etc etc.
The process however, is surprisingly casual. Intermittently a gourmet chef checks in on us, offering meals, drinks and snacks. Although we aren’t dressed in big suits it has a very big agency feel about it.
It takes a long time, but the progress evolves right before our eyes. I ask questions occasionally and do my best to absorb and understand the process.
In the end we drive back to Rethink.
