Los Angeles 7/10
The spirit of Dionne Warwick's Psychic Friends Network alighted upon LA during our board flow calls there this month, with EPs polled offering predictions for what's ahead.

One exec cited the threat of a potential Screen Actors Guild strike as muddying the waters. "Agencies and clients are confused about the SAG contract and think they have to do things quickly because the actors may go on strike," said the EP, who then predicted that the buzzed-about rumor of an impending six-month extension to the commercials contract may soon become fact.

With gas prices hovering around the $4 per gallon mark, especially in car-centric LA, predictions about the car industry abounded. "We'll see a tremendous crisis coming up," asserted an EP. "Bottom line is they can talk about luxury and a good price, but there's been a shift in the market and they're behind."

Other EPs disagreed, saying that with gas-efficient hybrids rolling out in response to rising prices, car work shows no sign of slowing down.

Still, all EPs polled were optimistic about the fall. "Most clients are holding out until 2009," said an EP. "But they have so many projects that they need to get done by the end of the year, that they're predicting a roaring fall."

Toronto 7/10
No disrespect to the fine men and women who grow Ontario's wines, but on a global scale, some say that when measured against an Italian or a Spanish wine, an Ontario wine is something like comparing Kool-aid to ambrosia. It might be an unfair assessment, and probably altogether untrue, but it's one that popped into a metaphor from one EP, who, when asked about creative over the past month, scoffed: "It's the same old mish-mash, like an average glass of Ontario wine."

And while other EPs were equally unenthused about the level of creativity, there was a bright spot in the form of an increased level of scripts. "It's picking up" was the mantra, with EPs boasting about seeing upwards of a dozen scripts over various two-day spurts. Even budget talk elicited some pleasant responses. "I haven't gotten a lot of crazy requests for anything much under $100,000," noted an EP.

International work was on the rise, mainly from the UK, with scripts also coming in from France, Russia, and Poland for one prodco. That helped to bolster a few execs' attitudes about creativity.

"European work is more interesting in general," opined an EP. "But we just can't seem to break the mould here."

Financial work was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the sectors in the amount of scripts seen, with fast food, retail and packaged goods rounding out the pack.

New York 7/10
One would assume economic jitters and SAG strike speculation would be bad omens - but not in the world of advertising. In New York, gloom and doom seemed to fuel a busy August influx of boards, as clients rushed jobs through for September and October air dates. A few production execs compared the flood of scripts to the annual pre-Christmas push, albeit more relaxing since most people were still on vacation.

"August definitely does have its lulls, which I truly enjoy," said an EP. "But it's not the panicky lull. It's not like the board flow is quiet - there's just nobody around."

As always, the question of creativity divided production houses, with most producers either denouncing scripts outright or cautiously noting their "potential". "It's stuff that you initially see and want to gag over," an exec said flatly. "Or, it's a big money job and we can make something out of it."

"For the most part, it's been solid work," summed up another.

Furious bidding is taking place, with up to 10 directors bidding on some jobs. Finance, electronics, cable networks, Christmas retail and even Super Bowl boards were making the rounds in the dying days of summer. Though there are a few juicy jobs are on the horizon, unfortunately not everyone can partake. "The biggest job out there is for anti-depressants," said one exec. "That says something about the state of affairs."

London 7/10
Big brands kept London's prodcos busy writing up treatments for sought-after car and beer boards during a typically rain-soaked British summer. Much like The Big Apple, The Old Smoke was experiencing a lot of flow in August. Jobs were coming in from all directions - the US, France, Spain and Germany - and varied in scope and size.

"It has been quiet for three weeks and now it's absolutely fucking crazy," said one breathless exec. However, not everyone bothered to stick around for the excitement. Many exec producers opted to skip the summer drizzle for sunnier shores, and those left behind were scrambling to meet the demand. "I'm in bidding mayhem," said one. "I alone am bidding 10 jobs."

Creatively, scripts are getting better but budgets are (surprise, surprise) getting worse. "The moment you think budgets are going up, you're told a week before it's now £100,000 less," said one exec. "A job that would've been £400,000 a year ago is now at £200,000 - £300,000," added another. "But there are lots of large ideas out there."