Live Issue: The checklist for collaboration in production

'Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up in’, said Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of the greatest writers of the 19th century. There’s hardly any field in the business of ideation which is alien to the benefits of collaboration.

 

This phenomenon could be seen across adland where  production houses from UK are eyeing a collaboration with Indian production houses to produce skilled work. A collaboration of this nature is an uphill task, considering the discrepancy in the cultural nuances of the two countries. But Roopak Saluja, co-founder, managing director, Bang Bang Films, says, “Collaborating enables opening up of the market. It not only provides high-end production services, but also gives you a great opportunity to learn.” Bringing in a freelance international director to work for a project is a practice which has been followed in India for quite some time now (Andrew Hardaway was brought by Future East to work on Yamaha FZ, Ben Hartenstein has worked on ads like Volkswagen and Axe, Juan Jaramillio has worked for Hyundai Verna,  i20); the other is where you co-produce with international production houses (Crocodile Films partnered with The Mill, London for Audi A8 L 3D campaign).  

 

An Indian idea combined with the technical expertise of production houses from UK, can definitely enhance the quality of work. But is it that simple? KV Sridhar (Pops), national creative director, Leo Burnett, doesn’t think so. He says, “At this stage it is rather difficult to think about collaboration with UK production houses because of one critical factor, cost.” The production and post-production houses of UK are eye-wateringly expensive. 

Daniel Sapiano, global head, client services, Primefocus, shares, “In UK things work in a formulaic manner whereas in the last five months that I’ve spent in India, I’ve gauged that there’s supposed to be a quick turn-around reaction to everything.” Sapiano adds every new relationship brings in a lot of initial excitement but it is difficult to sustain the same for a long time. The initial verve dies down with time and rapid e-mail replies are reduced to weekly one line responses, in most cases. 

 

Simon Gosling, executive producer, Framestore (VFX company in London) adds, “For a post-production house the challenge gets graver because the agency, client and production house want different things, and the post production company has  find one solution for all of them.” Gosling admits having received projects from India but there’s been no progress on them because of the perennial problem of time and budget.

 

Tim Katz, managing director, Knucklehead (UK production house) says, “We have been facing these challenges for the last 15 years when we’ve gone into a new territory. If you’ve a good script, a desire to work and talented people, that’s all you need.” Katz mentioned how Amitabh Bhattacharya of Nomad Films is willing to work with good foreign production houses to raise his own game. Adds Saluja, “Indian market is opening up, post-production space is ripe for entry of foreign companies.”

  

As Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success”; similarly, despite different cultural nuances, paucity of time and money, one can always look at   collaboration as an opportunity to build relationships for future.