Could the vigorous cross promotion of award ceremonies between the US-based Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) and European entity the Commercial Film Producers of Europe (CFPE) be a prelude to greater collusion by the two commercial production associations?

At this point, no official link has been forged, however, the 2002 AICP show ("The Art & Technique of the American Television Commercial ") introduced a new category; Advertising Excellence/International, which members of the CFPE board judged.

Similarly, the AICP is promoting the CFPE Young Directors Awards, an event that takes place in Cannes concurrently with the ad fest. While the CFPE board was in New York judging in mid-March, discussions on production infrastructure and cooperation took place and, AICP president/CEO Matt Miller voiced strong words of support for the need for global production standards.

"We're in the education phase right now, exchanging information," said Miller. "But our goal is to find ways to work together in order to ensure a production-friendly environment wherever our producers choose to film."

Spokesperson Birthe Møller of the CFPE concurs that the new relationship is in its earliest stages.

"There is no formal relationship between CFPE and AICP. We are both 'producer's associations' and following that we have a common interest in discussing the market situation on a regular basis," says Møller. "It is a new thing that we meet with the American association, but we have agreed to continue discussions whenever possible and to help each other on relevant issues, such as exchanging information on new standards."

Miller says as global holding companies "gobble up every agency in the world," the AICP's established national guidelines and analysis of agency contracts will take on greater international significance as US business practices are spread via agency networks. Miller also notes that if the relationship is successful, tighter bonds with other production organizations, such as the Japanese Advertising Community, may tighten.

Webfiles:
AICP> http://www.aicp.com
CFP-E> http://www.cfp-e.com