Los Angeles 8/10
Trying to gauge board flow in LA last month was a lot like battling a strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

On the one hand were the EPs who were buried in work and willing to brag. "Board flow is roaring right now. We are at capacity," beamed one. "Let's see: one... two... five... six," counted one EP. "I've got 10 jobs in-house right now! The quality is medium to medium-plus and things are well-funded."

On the other side of the coin were those who reported a less-than-stellar flow, in more ways than one. "It's not flowing with creativity and it's not flowing with large budgets and it seems that clients want to try to flow these web films that we produce for very little, and then we find out that they want to pick them up for TV, which is rather sneaky," groaned one exec.

Still another reported an increase in the number of jobs that were getting the axe, the result of everything from clients changing their minds to shuffles in upper management.

Sectors shooting included banks, alcohol, packaged goods, telecom and automotive.

Toronto 7/10
The coming of the new year brings with it news of a tragic loss: the death of the Canadian oddball comedy spot. EPs dropped hints of its demise all last year, but the frequency and vitriol with which they spoke about it during this round of calls made it seem as if they dug the grave, dropped the lid and pounded the nails in with their fists.

"Wacky for the sake of wacky ends up being stupid; there's no real idea there," fumed one EP. "Seeing a bunch of limp guys sitting on a couch, staring straight ahead gets tiresome after a while."

"That sort of weird, wacky, doesn't-make-sense humor is not as prominent," said another. "We're going toward what people can understand. Everyone knew it would be a fad." Ouch.

Judging by the scripts seen, EPs note that spots seem to be leaning toward witty storytelling. There's also been an increase in the demand for visual spots.

Flow was increasingly busy, with the first week of January being a write-off. Budgets bandied about included some in the $400,000 range; however, they came with the usual "let's squeeze blood from a stone" request from clients. Packaged goods, food and banking made the rounds.

New York 7/10
Board flow is keeping New Yorkers busy these days despite the increasing likelihood of a recession (or depending on which economist you talk to, the recession that has already begun), the possibility of an upcoming SAG strike and the ongoing writer's strike.

"We're tightening our belts - it's just the fear of what's out there," said one exec. "We expected this year to be lousy, that we'd have to hold on tight and wait until 2009."

Though EPs say the gloom and doom hasn't affected advertising, companies have adopted a "take whatever you can get" approach to bidding that has seen top directing talent chase after dodgy creative in pharmaceutical boards, household goods and, uh, laxatives: "All the high-end guys are right in there."

Still, busy is busy. "Actually, it's been super busy," said one exec. Cars, beauty, healthcare, toothbrushes, web brands and cell phones were in the mix this month, as was interesting web film work. "There, the creative is awesome, but of course there's no money," said an exec. "A minor detail."

Some were more optimistic than others about the year ahead, although the general consensus seemed to mirror the words of one EP - budgets "won't get better, but at least they'll probably stay the same."

London 7/10
Depending on whom you asked, there were either big, juicy car boards floating around London last month (with some good budgets attached) or there was nary a vehicle in sight. In December, the UK board flow consensus was that the weeks leading up to Christmas 2007 were crazy for producers, but about this month, there was little agreement.

"It's manic," said one exec, during a brief and breathless telephone exchange. "It's all the big stuff - some have proper budgets and some have stupid budgets, considering they're for blue chip car companies."

"It's scrappy, quite slow," said another. "It's a fight for jobs at the moment."

Car boards aside, the rest of the flow is a mixture and money is, on the whole, pretty tight, meaning even the more established directors can't afford to be fussy. With so little to choose from, directors are forced to look hard for the positive points in a script and try to work it that way.

As such, producers who have stayed busy since New Year's despite the slim pickings weren't particularly jazzed by the creative offerings. "In general, the quality of the creative is better than it has been but the quality of account management has been fairly toss," noted one EP. "The creative is great and then some tronk in a suit comes along and ruins it for you by editing it into oblivion."