LOS ANGELES

Things are starting to pick up a little on the West Coast. The combination of Olympic and Super Bowl boards injected a wee bit of life into an otherwise ailing market. "Things seem to have returned to normal but I don't know if that's because business is picking up or if we're benefiting from other production houses shutting down," says one producer.

"It seems like there's more work out there," says another producer while nursing a holiday hangover. "They won't leave me alone. I wish they'd go away."

CitiGroup, Nike, Budweiser, Toshiba, Earthlink and UPS are among the clients stirring the creative pot. For the first time since Sept. 11, commercial producers say there has been a noticeable increase in the number of comedic boards. America seems to have recovered its sense of humor. Hopefully the market will follow suit.

BOARDFLOW: 5/10

TORONTO

After last month's findings, anything would be an improvement, and by gum, there is improvement! "After a very quiet December, January looks very positive," says one producer. Many Toronto movers and shakers concur: there are boards to be had and early 2002 should keep people, if not insanely busy, then rationally occupied. "You're almost afraid to say it out loud, but we're busy," says one industry player, who like most have experienced a slower-than-usual fall/winter so far and who is hesitant to shout inordinate activity to the rooftops. "We could be busier, but there is a lot going on."

"There are a lot of boards out there," says one producer, while another described the general quality of the lot as "meaty."

Foreign work is also seeping back into the city after an unsettling void earlier in visiting productions. "Lots of activity for the new year," says one specialist in non-domestic work.

Banking and financial services are conspicuous among available boards, as is beer, naturally. Personal and food products boards are also circulating.

BOARDFLOW: 6/10

NEW YORK

Late November and early December marked the busiest board flow most New York production companies had experienced since 9/11.

"Board flow has been better in the last couple of weeks than it has been for the last couple of months," said one executive producer at mid-month.

Jobs booking for January and February, including Olympics-related projects aplenty helped to bolster the fortunes of many production and post companies fighting for their survival. Scripts for computers, credit cards, telecoms, banks, cars, beers and airlines were reported.

"We have maybe 30 boards in, but it's all troubled. It's the post-apocalyptic new millennium model," says one exec producer of the current state of affairs. "A million directors want to do every project, but the client isn't sure if they want to do it, and half of them die. If it's really good, it's going to be killed. Maybe that's an exaggeration but boards for many cool projects get killed when clients say, 'It's too quiet or too smart.'"

East Coast and especially New York agencies continue to produce the bulk of boards stirring production passions, with southern and midwestern agencies putting out the remainder of commercials-to-be. Also, several branded content projects inspired by the success of Fallon's BMWFilms project seem to be in the cooker, with electronics, liquor and car companies all developing film content along these lines. But these, as with all of the projects available, fit into the buyer's market that has become a long-term reality in the production community.

"There's less work and of course, anything good creatively, everybody wants it. Budgets are tighter across the board and the bottom line is a by-product of agencies and clients being more aggressive," says another exec producer. "If you can't make money work then you are out. If clients say they have 350 to do a spot, this is all they have."

BOARDFLOW: 5/10

LONDON

"It's hard to judge, people were still in a bit of shock but now I'd say it's a mad bollocks scramble, with some really creative stuff coming in," says the exec producer of one key London production house.

Indeed, the flow of scripts in the final month of 2001 held promise for a fairly busy January and February; that said, it remains the top directors who are bidding, while many others in the middle ground are left in bleaker territory. Scripts for products ranging from automotive, telecommunications, health and beauty, beers and liquors, airlines, foods, clothing and retailers were reported, with boards from both the US and Europe supplementing the shooting schedules of several production companies. But, despite the reported busyness across the business, there were strong reminders that Christmas 2001 is a much leaner goose than recent yules.

"There were no Christmas parties this year. I usually get 30 invites but this year all the agencies did in-house parties," says one producer. "It's a strange thing, but if people are fighting for jobs, I suppose it's hard to justify spending money on parties."

Hung over or not, most went into their holidays with a sense that 2002 could well "come back with a vengeance."

BOARDFLOW: 6/10