Once bankrolled by big-budget film ads, client demands for faster, cost-effective production put many independent production companies under existential threat in 2024. Agencies ramping up their own production departments didn’t help matters, with some bypassing production companies altogether to produce the ads in-house, in some cases pitching against them for the work. Plus then there’s the rise of generative AI.

Naturally, the pressures boiled over into hostility, with accusations of bad practice flying around, namely from the Advertising Producers Association (APA). It neatly wrapped up its outrage in a report accusing agencies of gatekeeping information on prospective production company partners. Tensions also seeped into the Ciclope Festival in Berlin, with Florence Jacob, the chief executive of Caviar Paris, airing her grievances about competing for work, stating that only production companies elevate craft.

Away from the headlines, the reality is more nuanced. “We don’t look at it [with] anger, because it’s just industries evolving,” insists Sandy Haddad, executive producer of LA-based production company London Alley. Haddad’s only qualm is transparency, noting a time when London Alley unknowingly bid against an agency for a job. It now insists on knowing all the bidders: “Because nine times out of ten, you’re going to lose.”