Home to several prominent national agencies and the production and post shops they invariably inspire, Texas has proven less susceptible to the economic turmoil commercial producers have experienced in other regions of the US.

"We stayed fairly busy through the thick and the thin of it," says Jeremy Besser, exec producer of Dallas production company Directorz (and president of the AICP's southwestern chapter). "[But,] I don't think anybody's safe. We've had a decent year but the market does feel soft. Production budgets are lower, turnaround times are faster and there is more competition. We've been able to hold our own, but we are an established name. I pity the guys who are upstarts in this market."

In this case, the established name is director Jeff Bednarz. Most recently Bednarz directed spots for Michelob out of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco and another job for Dallas agency Temerlin McClain. Other Directorz notables include Pete Sillan, who recently shot campaigns for regional gutbuster Whattaburger, and Jeff Fuerzig, who did a campaign for Icehouse Breweries (both through Dallas' SquareOne - see One Company, Many Hats, Boards July 2002). Directorial newcomer Jimmy Lindsay recently completed a comedic campaign for Golf Smith through Austin's Breedlove & Partners.

Besser doesn't believe that being out of the major centers hurts his company. "Ninety percent of the time, geography doesn't make any difference," he asserts. "The other 10% of the time, agencies need to turn work around quickly so they use local talent. We are bidding stuff from all over, mostly Chicago, San Francisco and locally. We are touching on the Hispanic side of the business which definitely produces a lot of work, but it's a tough market for us as Anglos to break into."

Besser says Dallas agencies The Richards Group, Publicis and Tracy Locke Partnership are contributing to a fairly healthy local board flow, although the national focus of these shops means Directorz competes with bicoastally focused directors.

San Antonio-based Hispanic market shop Cibolo Films offers a similar but distinct take on the region. Internal expansion and the ongoing Argentine meltdown have both had telling impact on Cibolo's business. "We are bidding a lot in Los Angeles," says Cibolo marketing head Mauricio Jemal. "Finally, after a year, we are seen as a local presence, not just as a Texan company. Soon we will open in Miami too."

Beyond seeking the business of Hispanic shops such as Dieste (Dallas), Bromley (San Antonio), Latin Works (Austin & Los Angeles), Del Rivero Messianu DDB (Miami), Cartel Creativo (San Antonio), and Zubi (Dallas), Cibolo has added kids specialist Elise Llewyn, who has already directed a general market Dole spot for Ad Americas, Los Angeles. Also, Cibolo reps Argentine directors Martin Lobo and Karina Innausti in the US. Directing team Bosco & Jojo, also part of the Cibolo scene, have re-located to Barcelona where they direct through Zindara. Meanwhile for the US market, the madcap duo recently shot a re-branding campaign for Payless through Bromley. The roughly $500K US job was filmed in Toronto.

"In Mexico, the prices have gone up," notes Jemal. "Now, we can go to Barcelona, Toronto or Vancouver for a lot less. I don't know if [Mexican service providers] are pricing themselves differently for the US, or what."

Texan post companies seem pleased with the current climate. "We are as busy as we have ever been," says Lola Lott, president/exec producer with Dallas' Charlieuniformtango, "which has a lot to do with agencies that have landed some pretty decent accounts. For example, the Richards Group recently won Hyundai and part of the Mondavi Wines account. Everyone from Los Angeles has been saying how dead it is. When the economy is slow and money is tight, editing close to home is a way to save."

Tango editors recently cut a number of high profile national campaigns, notably a five-spot Fruit Of The Loom package directed by MJZ's Craig Gillespie. Projects for TXU Energy, American Airlines, Williams Communications, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sara Lee, BMW, Subaru and La Quinta Hotels keep the Dallas operations editors, audio engineers, VFX artists and graphic designers busy. Lott says that along with the Richards Group, shops like Publicis, Cartel Creativo, JWT Houston are prime sources of post business.

Lott notes that Temerlin McClain, the agency for American Airlines, is in a transition mode following the hiring of former TBWA\Chiat\Day executive creative director Eric McLellan (check name).

Meanwhile, the company's satellite office in Austin offers access to the beefy accounts held by GSD&M, so much so that editor Sam Selis, formerly of Joint, Portland, has been brought in to handle the flow of work - just the talent to handle work that is increasingly national (or international) in scope.

Webfiles:
Ad Americas> http://www.adamericas.com
Bromley> http://www.bromcomm.com
Cartel Creativo> http://www.thecartel.com
Charlieuniformtango> http://www.charlietango.com
Cibolo Films> http://www.cibolofilms.com
Del Rivero Messianu DDB> http://www.delriveromessianu.com
Dieste> http://www.dieste.com
JWT> http://www.jwt.com
Latinworks> http://www.latinworks.com
Publicis> http://www.publicis-usa.com
Richards Group> http://www.richards.com
Temerlin McClain> http://www.temmc.com
Tracy Locke Partnership> http://www.tlp.com
Zubi> http://www.zubiad.com