Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/10459
TheChanging Business of Post larly — we provide editorial through finish- ing, design, sound mix and sound design.The idea of using all four services, starting with Dictionary Films shooting, is relatively new but growing all the time.” MCGINNISS: “Between the recent downturn in the economy and the changes in technology, staying profitable is a daily challenge.We have a published rate card, but we’re always open to accommodating clients’ budgets; they can always talk to us. We will be adding a new in-house producer who will attract new business by packaging shows from the post end to include full-ser- vices, from writing and producing through editing, graphics and sound.We also have dedicated specific editors to our NBC, USA, Syfy,A&E and Bloomberg accounts; we love those franchises and the ability to provide everything under one roof.We have a lot to offer broadcast clients and feel that we can give them what they need faster, better and easier than they can get elsewhere.” CURREN: “Digital Service Station lends itself to hourly billing, but pretty much everybody wants a package price for finish- ing services.We do packages that cover a certain amount of time: anything over that goes on an hourly rate.You can’t do flat-rate packages only or the client would have no incentive to ever finish.We try to keep costs as low as possible by staying on top of tech- nology; we got in on the Red workflow in beta, so we were really familiar with it when clients were ready for it. But I’m not a build- it-and-they-will-come kind of guy. That’s a gambling model. I’m more about if they’re pounding the door down for something we’ll put it together.” HENNINGER: “At its core, the post model is still fee for services.We see more work done on a contract basis around esti- mates of time, but there’s still a lot of inci- dental work, too. But the old concept of a published rate card has disappeared en- tirely. We have a more consultative ap- proach with our clients:They tell us what they need and we find the best and most cost-effective way to do it.We’ve also done script-to-screen production for over 15 years, which is all contract.” Calabash looks back… and forward CHICAGO —In 1985, Ronald Reagan was president, Back to the Fu- ture was the most popular movie, Michael Phelps was born and the biggest song on radio and MTV was Wham’s “Careless Whisper.” It was also the year Ed Newmann and Monica Kendall launched Cal- abash Animation, the Chicago-based anima- tion studio, and com- pleted its first spot for Coors Light beer. With nearly 25 years in their rear-view mir- ror, Calabash remains (to quote David Byrne” “same as it ever was”— creating animation for the world’s leading brands, including the above Icons spot for Mas- terCard.However, how they do it and what drives their creativity has changed a lot. “Obviously, technology has changed things for the better, mak- ing how we work faster and more precise.That’s the easy an- swer,” explains Sean Henry, Calabash’s executive producer, who took over the day-to-day management of the company, along with creative director Wayne Brejcha, in ‘04.“We’ve also seen a cul- tural shift at the agencies.Today more and more creatives have strong understanding of the animation process and in some cases come from an animation background.” For Calabash that’s been a plus because nowadays more cre- atives are fluent in animation and thus are better able to articu- late their vision, sometimes even using in-house resources to cre- ate animatics. Of course, animation isn’t done in a vacuum, there are other companies involved in the process — from live action to editorial to finishing — and changes in those sectors of pro- duction have positively impacted animation. “There are so many tools available to us today that we didn’t have years ago,” says Henry.“Technology allows us collaborate better with post houses and streamline the animation process.” 20 Post • May 2010 www.postmagazine.com T R E N D S