Videogenics Plots Course From Corporate to Commercials

By LEO SMITH

Oct. 14, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Business partners Dan Brockett, Randy Bickler and Elizabeth Creighton have produced in-house corporate videos through their Camarillo company, Videogenics Video Productions, for the past six years.

In that time they have acquired some sizable clients--among them Kinko’s, Amgen and Farmer’s Insurance. Nevertheless, the artistic and budgetary constraints of the corporate world have been frustrating.

“The work we do now is very gratifying--we’ve got great clients. We’ve done very well at it,” Brockett said. “But corporate clients don’t pay you to be artistic. They pay you to get the point across.”

To flex their artistic muscles, the Videogenics partners have launched a second company, Big Little Films, which will concentrate on commercial projects for television and other media.

The new company will begin by pursuing regional commercials, Brockett said, with plans eventually to progress to national jobs.

“We will have more creative freedom and more resources,” Brockett said. “I really pondered documentary filmmaking, feature filmmaking, music videos, but I basically keep coming back to commercials. Where else would you get this kind of budget for 30 seconds [of film]?”

Brockett said the production cost of a commercial venture ranges from $20,000 to $300,000. Corporate videos average about $18,500.

In addition to monetary differences, the worlds of corporate and commercial video differ in the way they function, Brockett said.

In the corporate community Brockett sold his services directly to potential clients. In the commercial arena, he said, clients--such as retail chains and restaurants--have agents who handle the transactions.

“The toughest part about the commercial business is it is very tight,” he said. “If an ad agency is awarded a new client, they will go to somebody they went to school with who owns a production company or they will go to the president’s cousin’s production company. We are in the process right now of trying to land an agent who will go out and represent us in the right way.”

The owners of Big Little Films also formed a branch for audio production, Big Little Sound, that they hope will distinguish them from other commercial producers in Southern California.

“It’s a very hypercompetitive business,” Brockett said. “By bringing sound in-house, we can give a signature look and sound to our commercials.”

Even though there are a couple of thousand commercial producers in the San Fernando Valley area, Brockett said, there should be enough work to spread around.

“With all of the new media, with the Internet, with 500 [television] channels, with digital television, with high-definition television, the market is going to be astronomical,” he said.

“The marketplace is definitely crowded, but within the next three or four years there will be a huge amount of opportunity.”