As popular as shooting in South Africa, Collette the Psychic, and regular visits to Shao Lan Zhao, forsaking a guaranteed paycheck and capitalizing on the freelance market tops the trends list in the advertising and commercial production community.

With the freelance producers pool expanding exponentially on the agency side, and more and more cameramen leaving production houses for dop representation companies, it’s pretty much an unrestricted game of mix-and-match to put spot teams together.

At the agency producers level, the freelance migration has been triggered by budget downsizing, making it fiscal suicide to employ a stack of in-house producers necessary during busy periods and deadweight during downtime.

Coming at it from a different angle, the sea change in cameramen representation is also motivated by cash flow and organization savvy with dop-focused shops better able to pack and co-ordinate schedules.

Collectively, the opening of the freelance floodgates is a shift industry execs say is having mostly boffo repercussions.

On the production house side, executive producers are piggybacking their reputations on freelance producers, widening their circle of industry contacts.

‘You do a good job with a freelance producer and you get introduced to other creative teams, ones we wouldn’t have otherwise met, when those producers carry on to new projects,’ says Jane Kessler, executive producer at Kessler Irish Films.

Rosnick MacKinnon’s Ted Rosnick, who can list the freelance producers in the industry 10 years ago on one hand (‘Willie Fahnestock, Dinah Liepa, Jill Wade,’) says the increasing number of freelance producers is maybe a more effective marketing tool than pitching new business in person.

‘One of the good things about freelancers is that they’re bringing different people to the party,’ says Rosnick. ‘Certain agencies that haven’t worked with us in the past have hired a freelance producer who has worked with us and has good things to say. It works especially well in the States because they not only move from agency to agency but from city to city.’

Second Unit, a rep house for freelance producers and the first of its kind in Canada, opened up Jan. 15. Executive producer is Winnie Alford who was formerly a longtime exec producer at Young & Rubicam. She says the economies of the industry created the market for her product.

‘At y&r, clients were getting really seasonal and the other half of the year was becoming untenable in terms of trying to keep the work flow going. It made sense to unbundle.’

Pat White, vp, executive producer for Ammirati Puris Lintas, agrees the so-called unbundling on the producer side is giving agencies the necessary flexibility to stabilize the bottom line.

But although the freelance producers pool is sizable, White isn’t sure the change in scope has changed the dynamics of how the agency positions producers and their accounts.

‘Clients like to know their producer, so I repeat them. I don’t think the client is comfortable with a new face each shoot, and besides that, if you’re going with someone different each time, you’ve got to train them on how the agency works, how the paper flows, what the client is like, etc. If you’re sticking with the same freelance producers, you’ve got some equity built up,’ says White.

Most experienced freelance producers have their own established client base and aren’t in need of a rep house for job placements, but according to Alford, who reps four in-house producers and works on a referral fee basis for several more, the industry is such that the demand for new blood comes around.

‘There’s always a time when the people you want first are busy, and at that point you have to try somebody new. For smaller agencies or jobs where some financial flexibility is necessary, we’re the only people representing junior producers that allow for that. In a climate that doesn’t allow for a big production staff, it’s very hard for the juniors to get any training. After they’re out there, it’s reputation that gets them the jobs.’

There’s a little general grumbling about having to do more hand-holding with freelance producers not as experienced as their in-house counterparts in the mechanics of production or the particulars of shooting with a certain client, but the advantages of working with floating producers far outweigh the disadvantages.

Even revisions coming up after the freelancer’s contract has ended haven’t generated glitches, says Richard Unruh, editor extraordinaire (see Dream Teams, p. 19) at Third Floor Editing.

First, there’s always another contact at the agency that is available if revisions come up. ‘But my experience with freelance producers is that they feel as much a part of the creative team as I do,’ says Unruh. ‘They go on to other projects, make contributions, and then come back around. To have as many ideas at the table has become particularly important. Because post-production has grown so much, editing as a whole has to contribute a lot more creatively and requires a much more intricate relationship between the creative team and the editor.’

The environment forces freelance producers to have that wide range of ideas and knowledge, adds Sarah Ker-Hornell, executive producer at L.T.B. Productions.

‘They have to be more knowledgeable because they’re all over the place. They have to deal with a wide range of accounts so their technical knowledge has to be greater than those with a finite number.’

If lack of experience on the freelance producers side ever plays a part in the production, it’s an opportunity for the production house, says Kessler. The nature of the beast is that problems can happen with anyone, ‘experienced or not experienced, and then we can support the agency producer and it makes for a positive collaborative relationship. If we can be the hero, great.’

If the freelance producers market Legos with agency business plans, the freelance dop market is being equally well received. Lesley Parrott, executive producer at MacLaren McCann, says the layout allows the agency its choice of superb cameramen and stems any concern that your director of choice may not come paired with a top-level dop.

‘It’s created a more open and responsible environment, makes the playing field more level and feeds competition, which is good for the industry.’

White adds that freed-up cameramen also make it easier for new and smaller production houses to get off the ground.

In the past, as soon as a dop went on staff, it was necessary to generate an enormous amount of work to keep him busy. ‘But now smaller production houses are more viable because they can hire dops on a per-project basis,’ says White.

Parrott’s only qualm is that freelance dops, who aren’t attached to a particular production company and don’t have a vested interest in its success, may balk at working with inexperienced directors. ‘Given it’s their reputation and only their reputation, there’s probably a greater risk factor,’ she says.

But Sesler & Company’s Dora Sesler says the cameramen are still very interested in working with a wide range of directors. The rate cards are pretty much established, and although a lower budget spot may skew the card, dops are as project-driven as directors.

‘I think everybody wants to work both sides of the street. Sure, it’s great to work with the big guys but the cameramen I represent love working with the new guys too. I’ve got dops that are developing so everybody’s building reels, and working with different levels of experience only expands what you know.’