You can dance and I can sing and your dad has a barn

I've been conversing (actually email dialoging) with Steve McNamara here. (www.adcracker.com). I've talked to him about some of my ideas about creative and production and mentioned that I use improv actors to come up with potential ideas for t.v. or radio spots or even potential full-on campaigns. Steve suggested I might want to share this on here.

Having a little background of being a stand-up comic and also screwing around with improv performing for 25 years have been ways of keeping my sanity or perhaps just from going completely insane. Since one of my hats is as an actor (mostly voiceover), I know a lot of hams and hamlets who just love any excuse to work out their chops. This turned into a once in a while, get a bunch of actors into a room, throw out some simple premise, turn on the microphones and see what happens.

So, I'm sitting on a ton of good concept and ideas, with actually few outlets to use it. With a limited client base, most of whom already have creative and shop me for production, I find myself with more ideas than I could possibly use. I've turned some of it into ficititious spots, if for no other reason than to show what this process can produce. I'm not into the big, convoluted pitches. I'm too old and don't have enough agency background to get a real job at an agency and I gave up ghosting a long time ago. So the question is, what do I do with these ideas that I may never have an appropriate outlet to present?

I put a short edited sample of a session online at http://www.filefreak.com/pupload/view/2433

Comment by Steve McNamara on May 18, 2007 at 1:23pm: J - I don't think you have a blog or site. That might be a place to start. You might also consider re-positioning yourself careerwise. You do seem like the kind of person who could crete a job and sell it, perhaps part-time or as a consultant. About the idea thing, to be honest, most people want to create their own. Cordially, Steve

Comment by J.S. Gilbert on May 22, 2007 at 12:39pm: Thanks Steve,

I guess what I'm saying is that I have a bunch of what I think is really good creative for t.v., radio, across media. Mostly humerous and highly engaging, this material could be fashioned into campaigns or used to shoot some life into the advertising arm of an emerging or tired brand.

While I am hired to come up with creative, I either couldn't possibly begin to exhaust all of the concepts that I've developed and/or my client base isn't right for much of what I have developed.

Sure, I could put it up on YouTube or enter competitions or contests, but then I become like a million other people giving it away for free.

I plan on putting togetehr a blog/site soon and perhaps this will help. On the other hand, it might just be another site started by someone who should really be on medication.

Comment by Mary Baum on July 14, 2007 at 9:14pm: It seems to me there are a number of specialty radio production houses built around particular characters and voices -- the one that comes to mind fastest is the Radio Ranch (http://www.radio-ranch.com/). They work with agencies and clients alike, plus they have a production school.

There are others, in both radio and television, who are making big money in prefab commercials that small clients can buy the rights to use in limited markets for a limited time -- all you do is edit in their name and information.

What if you execute some of your concepts with these potential clients in mind, and put them up on your site as demos? Then use direct mail (at least a thousand pieces, and I'd put actual CDs in the package so they get opened) to get people to the site.

Set the usage fee on the stuff they buy low enough to be a deal for these local advertisers but high enough that you break even on the mailing with a half-percent response.

My guess is you already know what to put on the outer envelope (and on the CD) to make this business plenty profitable the first year.