Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/40055
Getting the Work,Making a Profit "A lot of it's repeat business.A lot of it is word of mouth," says Roebuck of the studio's client base. "It also helps that we have the production company. So many people want a one-stop shop, where we take a project through production and all the way through to post, and it's nice that we are able to offer that. Some of the projects come in through East- Pleasant, and we are able to intro- duce our editors." While Pleasant Post benefits from repeat business, gaining new business can be a bit of a challenge. Pleasant worked with J. Walter Thompson on this spot for Royal Caribbean. buck, who helps to bring in the work as an executive producer. "I think any EP is involved in a fair amount of business development — seeking out new projects," she notes."I myself was in advertis- ing, on the agency side, for years, so I have quite a few contacts." Pleasant has a head of sales — Alexandra Henry — who works to get the brand out there, and the editors have established their own list of contacts. A diverse clientele al- lows the facility to keep busy. "I think the traditional way of getting a job, you definitely are going up against a few other companies," says Roebuck. "For the most part, people like to triple bid.We try to keep things really simple for people.We do flat rate if we can. If people need to work a little bit longer that is totally cool, without getting into major OT. Our goal is to give people a really pleasant experience when working with us. Our interest is making sure a happy client walks away at the end of the day with a really great product." For editorial projects, Roebuck says the studio will submit a bid and a demo reel.A motion graphics job can be much different. "You are absolutely putting out story- boards and a fair amount of work before you get the business," she says of motion graphics bids. Pleasant was lucky enough to win a large job for Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals recently, in which they were tasked with creating an entire graphics pack- age for use in the stadium and for broad- casts.They worked directly with the client in that instance. The studio also worked di- rectly with the client on an X-box project. On the agency side, Pleasant Post has worked with SkinnyNYC on spots for Dia- geo and JWT for Royal Carribean. They were also working with Sid Lee/Jimmy Lee in Amsterdam on a project for Adidas that promotes a new soccer shoe and features footage of MLS teams that were shot in LA and Seattle. Rounding out their workload is a docu- mentary, shot in part by East-Pleasant's Damien Drake, titled Mission Blue.The film centers around award-winning oceanogra- pher Sylvia Earle. 38 Post • August 2011 www.postmagazine.com