Los Angeles: 9/10

Pop quiz: what do "off the hook", "insanely busy" and "fucking crazy" have in common? They're all phrases used by Los Angeles EPs to describe their January experience. "It's getting really, really busy right now," said another. "My biggest problem is selling the directors, not the agencies!"

Indeed, with "temperamental December" now a thing of the past, Los Angeles's producers returned to work only to find the phones buzzing more than Lindsay Lohan's Sidekick. Big retail, beer, beverages, cars, European jobs and some Winter Olympics boards dominated the calls, with budgets ranging from "tragically underfunded" to "in the $2-$3 million category". As for the creative, well, did we mention there were some big jobs out there? Complained one exec: "I've probably got $20-30 million worth of jobs sitting here, and maybe 5-10% of them are good."

As reported in Toronto as well, South America proved to be a frequent force in January, with Brazil and "out of control" Argentina resting at the top of the dogpile. The problem with those budgets? "They all seem to have zeroed in on what it costs to shoot abroad these days."

Toronto: 8/10

The good news: Toronto saw about three times as much board flow in January than it did snowfall. The bad: EPs practically needed Deloreans to deal with some of the tight shooting schedules. "Board flow's coming down the pipes insanely, it's great," enthused one sales rep. "The shitty thing is everything is hurry up and shoot."

All of which meant that anyone looking to get off to a good start in the new year had to make like a tree and scramble. With "the North American car market trying to save itself", prodcos saw a lot of automotive work this month, with beer, beverages, retail and packaged goods following far behind. Creatively, things were pretty ho-hum, but the dearth of good ideas was mitigated by the fact that a few bigger-budget boards were available to be had.

January also saw runaway production continue unabated, prompting one exec to threaten a move to South America. "I've put away my winter clothes and I'm only wearing Speedos this February," he said. "We're chasing lots of work that's going away."

Even those who couldn't work Argentina or Chile into their February schedules agreed: this was the steadiest January in years. "Things are a lot healthier than I thought they would be going in [to this month]," said one EP.

So, to sum up: a January with plentiful boards, decent budgets and no snow? Hard to argue with that.

New York: 7/10

Nothing lasts forever, thus the rampant board flow that marked the end of '05 has eased somewhat in the early days of '06. "If you called me three days ago I might've been crying into the phone but the last week has been great," said one exec about the New York state of mind. "In January everyone was shooting and there was a bit of a lull, but now there are a lot of boards starting to come across again," reasoned another.