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RFP for production companies – What would you want?
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Below, I asked a question about the line between charging for being a producer and just passing out numbers. The general answer was “when you think you can get paid for it.”
Sounds to me like you could be managing the preproduction (writers, creative directors, the agency, and client), the production (shooters, actors, makeup), and the post production (editing, VO, color correction).
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Great comments. Truly appreciate your input.
Creativity is almost impossible to put a dollar value to. As my financial buddy would say, personal work energy versus money. And that is the condundrum we face in our industry. We produce a product that is at first invisible, and is birthed from the creative mind. Clients just have a hard time attributing the value of that pesonal work energy.
I’m pushing the ad agency to produce a creative treatment first, and then use that for the RFP. We have talked at length about this issue, and they do have the option of going with a higher bid as long as they can provide a compelling reason to do so. That is my hope. As I mentioned from the very beginning, this is a new place that I find myself – in between the production company and the client. It is my hope to make it a win/win.
PS: What seems so wrong about this whole process is we are talking government money. They have the money budgeted. It has to be spent. I don’t fully understand that mentality, but it almost seems insane to worry about price when it’s possible to afford a good production company rather than the cheapest. Certainly makes you wonder where all the leftover money goes, doesn’t it?
The Visual Rabbi
TheVisualChurch.com
“Crafting Visual Messages to Engage and Persuade” -
I have no qualms charging top dollar for commercial production because I know my clients plan to generate millions of dollars in revenue from my stuff.
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I almost want to know which agency this is so we can avoid them. Sorry, but they do seem clueless about how to get great video production work. At least they hired you, and hopefully you can guide them.
We also laugh and throw away any RFP that won’t state a budget range or have any sort of solid parameters. I don’t know how you’re going to do your job in this case and give them a RFP that’s “apples to apples”, really. I think you’ve got a lotta work ahead of you, educating the client as well as doing all you can to do your job the best way possible in this situation.
And I have to say, I think over the last 15 years we’ve not gotten a single client by answering an RFP. Like the others, here, usually an agency or client approaches us based on what we’ve done, what we can do, etc. I’ll echo some others who’ve stated that great creative projects depend on building great relationships with excellent creative studios. I don’t ever want to get a job because I’m the cheapest guy out there.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
Patrick,
Believe me, I totally understand your perspective.Question though. How do you get clients if you won’t accept RFPs? In this case, we are talking State government.
Second ?: Is it not relevant to request an initial production company presentation of their experience, gear, and basic rates? If a company chooses, they can leave portions of it blank.
Save gigs where i personally knew the client, I’ve never won a project without going through some sort of proposal process.
The Visual Rabbi
TheVisualChurch.com
“Crafting Visual Messages to Engage and Persuade” -
Anyone who has been around for a while has been burned by this process. The only time I would consider going through a RFP process is if I had absolutely nothing else on my desk, and I mean nothing! There are companies/producers out there who can make a living doing this, probably a good one, but they have to have the personnel on staff to handle all the “BS” this process entails, I don’t, and many very creative and capable people don’t either, because they are in this “business” to do great creative work that is inspiring, not just punching a clock, making a buck.
Cable companies make commercials too, they just happen to suck, but they are cheap! And if cheap is the most important thing, that’s not my business. (what cable companies don’t give away is airtime, they charge a lot for that, while screwing independent producers)
“they have the money budgeted, so they have to spend it” I absolutely love this, no wonder the government is “going bankrupt” with a fiscal mentality like this we really are screwed in this country.
This has been a great thread, very informative, from the client and producer side.
Malcolm
http://www.malcolmproductions.com -
What Malcolm and others have said- through word of mouth and the previous work we’ve done, primarily. When clients come to us, they almost always have been on our website- which includes all the nitty gritty stuff, like what kind of work we do, the gear we shoot on, etc. Then, we always have them fill out a project worksheet to get an idea of the scope of the project.
One of the things in our worksheet we need to know is your budget range. We’ve stopped working with prospects who refuse to talk budget with us from the start, because far too many decisions- both creative and technical- flow from the client’s budget. If a prospect thinks that by telling us their real budget they’ll somehow encourage us to rip them off… well, they’re wrong, and like Ben Folds sang “if you can’t trust, you can’t be trusted”.
The client worksheet serves as the basis for an initial meeting, either in person (much preferred by me), or virtual. Usually the client is looking at a few other companies, and that’s OK. But I’m interviewing the client as much as they’re interviewing us. When we talk, I don’t do a dog and pony show. I listen to the client, talk about their project, and do my best to get a feel for what they’re trying to do.
That meeting is important- and every time I’ve skipped my gut feelings after an initial meeting, I’ve regretted it. I’m sure it’s the same on the other side, too, when you’re looking for a good director or video production company or whatever. You need to connect with each other. We’re not pumping out assembly line stuff, or at least we shouldn’t be. Like others here have said, there are companies that do that kind of work, and they’re the ones who typically do a lot of responding to RFPs. That go to the lowest bidder. And which pump out vast quantities of suckitude.
In the end, we give an estimate. Not a creative treatment. Not a mockup or anything that reeks of spec work. Just an estimate, along with perhaps some notes on things we’ve talked about in our meeting(s).
Deciding to take on a client is a lot of work for a creative studio, even if you do your best to screen out the bad prospects, as we do. So anything that puts a barrier between us and the prospect- like an RFP does- makes it a dealbreaker for us.
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PatrickOrtman, Inc.
Los Angeles Digital Agency and Video Production Company -
House painters charge by measuring, adding up a host of line items, calculating paint coverage factors, listing labor and materials needed – then add a profit margin or fee to cover their overhead.
Portrait painters NEVER charge for how much paint they use, or how expensive the canvas is. They charge for ACCESS TO THEIR TALENT AND EXPERIENCE. Period.
There’s a lesson in that for anyone who sees themselves as a creative talent rather than a simple business person.
You want to paint houses – go right ahead. It’s honest work and people need it.
You want to work beyond housepainter wages – you’ve GOT to learn to get out of the freekin’ line items and work on the big picture. Reputation and extraordinary ability earned through years of craft study and a constant inward evaluation as you push toward creativity and excellence.
Your call as to which level you are currently cruising at, and which game you want to spend your life playing.
Good luck.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Conner
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