Los Angeles, 5/10
The build-up to conflict and the ensuing war in the Middle East has resulted in the expected slowdown of board flow on the West Coast this month.

Many are surviving on scripts received a month ago to keep bread on the table. "We've had a momentary standstill on scripts but they're slowly coming through," says one player. "People are putting projects on hold until the war is over."

Even so, a strong first quarter was felt by many houses this year, with equally strong creative on the page.

"We've been doing okay out of the East Coast and midwest, but the West Coast has recently uncovered some nice creative jobs," says another top exec.

"Competition is steep but it's good to finally see creative bent toward really interesting visual perspectives."

Cars and alcoholic beverages remain thefront runners, spitting out of company's fax machines, while comedy scripts remains elusive in the current environment. Yet one optimistic producer noted an interesting fact, warped in its own beautiful way:

"The best thing is when you see the US go through months of turmoil, particularly during a war," he says. "You usually end up with good creative, particularly in filmmaking - look at the films of the '70s. Things are getting better in advertising, and we'll start seeing more good creative as the year goes by."

Toronto, 5/10
Even though "the war thing has a lot of people acting conservatively," and "most of the jobs are coming from home," Canadian prodcos are, for the moment, managing to do "just fine" on a modest flow of car and food boards. Still, if our Canuck conversations are any indication, things are about to get a lot tighter - and no, we're not referring to the kind of tight brought by scotch, or on-set private dancers.

Remember the days when bags of blow would circulate on set, crews would break for mid-afternoon pig roasts and the rent-a-chopper would drop off a case of single malt and a crate of Cubans (the cigars, not the nationals) on the glacier where you were shooting? They're done. Get over it. And while you're getting over it, get the new director you just signed to steal the ketchup bottle from the hot-dog vendor who's roasting the lunchtime hog.

Granted, Canadians tend to be a cautious, and self-effacing lot, which pales their achievements when put alongside tales told by the neighbors or the Brits, but hey, we thrive on adversity. And we're more a bong-hit-in-the-back-of-a-Tempo and a coffee kind of people anyway. As one exec prod said: "It could be worse, eh?"

New York, 6/10
"What's hard about being in this country, and in this industry, is that the cabal of Republicans who weren't elected are responsible for all this." Producers in the city have a keen eye on the news this week. With the inaugural bombs over Baghdad, the country is on tenterhooks and advertisers are rethinking strategy. The rapid-fire turnaround of spot work has slowed board flow considerably. Folk are waiting to see if the seek-and-destroy will be as cut and dry as Dubya promises, before they approve that knee-slappin' beer board for 6:30 to-air slots.

Projects on the go now were booked weeks ago, and although some of the larger houses are talking about "major" upcoming projects, they're unusually tight-lipped about who's pitching and for whom.

So what's an exec to do? "I'm going to the demonstration on Saturday. Stop the mad cowboy disease! Stop the bomber!" was one house head's earnest plan. "It's time to think about micro-managing," commented another, alluding to eliminating discretionary spending.

But maybe nobody will have to worry about discretionary purchases, or board flow. Considering the Republican House just approved $726 billion US in tax cuts for 2004, it's evident the country's leader is pretty darn certain that the rest of the world has underestimated the economic outcome of America's latest exercise in nation building.

London, 7/10
Factory operations may wax blasé about the bounty of boards and shit-hot budgets, but tales from the end of the line (read: edit shops) suggest another story - one of cutthroat competition, dueling bids and hungry A-list directors. Despite said challenges and the desert shenanigans of Blair's bestest buddy, there are jobs to be had in London and some truly are all that. Phat budgets are rumored to be attached to promos, and effects-heavy boards are riding the comeback trail.

It all seems a bit premature for the economy to be showing wartime recovery, but as sure as the bombs fly, the London scene is explosive. "We've three big name directors in here pitching the same thing," said one chop shop head. "We booked 65 days from January 1 until March 20," bragged an obviously chuffed exec prod. Another, claiming to have no less than 24 scripts in hand, was anticipating an airdrop after our interview. In fact, the air of positivity begs the question, 'What's up?' "English people don't panic," said one. "We tend to be very pragmatic in our thought," said another. Indeed. Mark these words: someone would make a mint selling stiff upper lips to the rest of the world.