I'm getting in over my head.
Mr. and Mrs. Big have been in Amsterdam for almost ten days now. And it's go time.
In the first week, I let two quotes out of the bag - the largest at well over $50,000 for an advertising campaign that will include four different full page magazine ads, as well as a web campaign. It's a great campaign in itself, but has required that I procure quotes from a seemingly endless number of sub-contractors: casting agents, modeling agents, location scouts, hair and make-up, prop houses, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Even worse, it looks like it's in the bag - they desperately want us to shoot it. We'll know on Thursday, meaning I have to go back and HIRE all those people. And find suitable replacements when they're not available. For a shoot that HAS to take place next by the end of the week of the 16th so it can got to press by the 25th.
I know I did another quote last week... but I can't even remember what it was I'm so stressed out. I know she hasn't called, but I don't even care! Oh, now I remember. It was to shoot 7 major events in 5 cities across Ontario in five days. That involved calling travel agents, hotels, casting agents and everything I mentioned above in addition.
Today, the printing house one of our client's is using somehow managed to strip all of our embedded CMYK profiles from the images, making them a colour coin-toss on today's offset printing systems. It left our client's finished proofs looking jaundiced and yellow-shifted, after which she was told she would have to pay for each image to be colour corrected. Luckily, she's not stupid (or was pretty sure she wasn't) and had the sense to tell the guy to fuck himself first, and call to double check that she was right after. I told her to tell him to double check his workflow, and that if he can't provide us with an alternative profile specific to his press, he can't hope for any better than the industry standard for the stock that's being used. (Which is pretty effing good - by which I mean a monkey could adjust for any colour shifting that is press-specific.)
Another client has decided that the ten images we delivered last week? Only half of them are good. The others aren't going to work for this campaign. Could we please de-archive all the raw shooting from the last two campaigns and make a gallery for them to choose something they've used before? Besides the fact that this will take a large amount of time, and that all licensing fees will need to be renegotiated, and the participating modeling agencies will need to be informed and compensated, there is another problem.
We've shot for this company for three years now. Last year and the year before, it was done in the usual way. We were hired by a creative director at an advertising agency. The agency has a client, who is the company we are shooting pictures of. With my so far? I'll use examples of companies we're not affiliated with at all and never have worked for. Cosette is an advertising agency. World-wide. Their biggest client is McDonalds. McDonalds is launching a new product, so the advertising agency comes up with a great promotional concept and pitches it to McDonalds, and they love it. They say go ahead. Now Cosette hires Me and Mr. Big to go into McDonalds and work with them and take pictures to make the dream come true.
So for the last two years, that's how it went. The agency hired us to make the company look great. And we did. For two years. Then this year, the company inexplicably fired the advertising agency. Could be anything from budget cuts to bad blood. But the company still wanted us. They called us directly. Not wanting to be percieved as stealing the client - getting us essentially black-listed - we called the agency and talked it out with them, got their blessing, and shot the campaign as designed by the company without the agencies help.
And now the company isn't happy. They want to re-use pictures from the last two years. But we didn't take those pictures for them, and they don't own them or the rights to use them. The advertising agency does. So now I'm negotiating a very high very thin tightrope between two very valued clients; trying to prove the agency can trust us, and that we can give the company what they want.
I'm checking my work e-mail from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day.
Did I tell you how many fire-fighters are coming to be photographed at our studio on the 12th? For a non-profit thingy? Oh, at least 8. Tomorrow I get to find a special effects make-up artist to do bruising during what is probably the industry's busiest month of the year. I'm trying to find Tickle-me-Elmo on December 20th, kids. And I'm drowning.
In the first week, I let two quotes out of the bag - the largest at well over $50,000 for an advertising campaign that will include four different full page magazine ads, as well as a web campaign. It's a great campaign in itself, but has required that I procure quotes from a seemingly endless number of sub-contractors: casting agents, modeling agents, location scouts, hair and make-up, prop houses, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Even worse, it looks like it's in the bag - they desperately want us to shoot it. We'll know on Thursday, meaning I have to go back and HIRE all those people. And find suitable replacements when they're not available. For a shoot that HAS to take place next by the end of the week of the 16th so it can got to press by the 25th.
I know I did another quote last week... but I can't even remember what it was I'm so stressed out. I know she hasn't called, but I don't even care! Oh, now I remember. It was to shoot 7 major events in 5 cities across Ontario in five days. That involved calling travel agents, hotels, casting agents and everything I mentioned above in addition.
Today, the printing house one of our client's is using somehow managed to strip all of our embedded CMYK profiles from the images, making them a colour coin-toss on today's offset printing systems. It left our client's finished proofs looking jaundiced and yellow-shifted, after which she was told she would have to pay for each image to be colour corrected. Luckily, she's not stupid (or was pretty sure she wasn't) and had the sense to tell the guy to fuck himself first, and call to double check that she was right after. I told her to tell him to double check his workflow, and that if he can't provide us with an alternative profile specific to his press, he can't hope for any better than the industry standard for the stock that's being used. (Which is pretty effing good - by which I mean a monkey could adjust for any colour shifting that is press-specific.)
Another client has decided that the ten images we delivered last week? Only half of them are good. The others aren't going to work for this campaign. Could we please de-archive all the raw shooting from the last two campaigns and make a gallery for them to choose something they've used before? Besides the fact that this will take a large amount of time, and that all licensing fees will need to be renegotiated, and the participating modeling agencies will need to be informed and compensated, there is another problem.
We've shot for this company for three years now. Last year and the year before, it was done in the usual way. We were hired by a creative director at an advertising agency. The agency has a client, who is the company we are shooting pictures of. With my so far? I'll use examples of companies we're not affiliated with at all and never have worked for. Cosette is an advertising agency. World-wide. Their biggest client is McDonalds. McDonalds is launching a new product, so the advertising agency comes up with a great promotional concept and pitches it to McDonalds, and they love it. They say go ahead. Now Cosette hires Me and Mr. Big to go into McDonalds and work with them and take pictures to make the dream come true.
So for the last two years, that's how it went. The agency hired us to make the company look great. And we did. For two years. Then this year, the company inexplicably fired the advertising agency. Could be anything from budget cuts to bad blood. But the company still wanted us. They called us directly. Not wanting to be percieved as stealing the client - getting us essentially black-listed - we called the agency and talked it out with them, got their blessing, and shot the campaign as designed by the company without the agencies help.
And now the company isn't happy. They want to re-use pictures from the last two years. But we didn't take those pictures for them, and they don't own them or the rights to use them. The advertising agency does. So now I'm negotiating a very high very thin tightrope between two very valued clients; trying to prove the agency can trust us, and that we can give the company what they want.
I'm checking my work e-mail from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day.
Did I tell you how many fire-fighters are coming to be photographed at our studio on the 12th? For a non-profit thingy? Oh, at least 8. Tomorrow I get to find a special effects make-up artist to do bruising during what is probably the industry's busiest month of the year. I'm trying to find Tickle-me-Elmo on December 20th, kids. And I'm drowning.