Electric Company taking chance on representation model for commercial work

A new media startup in Toronto is billing itself as the first production company to make a business of brokering a roster of artists for commercial work. Electric Company, started by executive producer David Chant, has been aggressively adding to the list of new media artists represented by the firm, with a particular emphasis in the latest round of signings on blending broadcast and digital media. Chant, whose background is in advertising, including with Maclaren McCann Interactive, says the firm is running lean with no staff other than the producers. In recent weeks the shop has added iamstatic, James Paterson, Play Airways, Norma V Torava and Steve McArdle to its existing roster of Grant Skinner, Joshua Davis, Glyn Thomas and wefail to the list of new media artists it represents. The most recent raft of signings reflects a strong focus on broadcasting for Electric. Executive producer David Chant says the day is coming when there will no longer be a line between TV and new media. "Interactive and TV are all going to be one thing one day. We bring on people who can get us there," he says. Chant says the company has already been winning some undisclosed "fair-size" contracts. It’s likely a safe bet that many of those are in Toronto where Chant has based the company, pursuing "low-hanging fruit" in the Toronto broadcast sector. While the company is headquartered in Hogtown, where Chant has his roots, the company has an international focus. Artists on the roster, he says, are operating from the U.S., Korea, the Netherlands and elsewhere. The individuals and groups now being represented by Electric produce high-end work, but Chant says there is little difficulty reconciling the artistic aesthetic of its directors with the commercial requirements of clients. The company recognizes that corporate customers will more often than not exercise creative controls over the projects, but that is something its artists are used to. Having a foot both in interactive design and in broadcast, he says, gives directors a chance to broaden their, and their clients’, horizons. " artists in new media, their goal is to explore. Online, if you don’t keep moving and exploring, you’re dead on the sidewalk." Chant says the broker concept should appeal to commercial clients for the variety Electric can offer. He says many web shops can only offer the same look and feel for every project, but with a representation model, clients can choose from directors each with their own individual styles." Chant says the model is untried, to his knowledge, but he is hopeful enough work will come the firm’s way to keep the various directors loyal. Toward that end, he is currently using the networks he’s forged in his own advertising career to promote the shop.

Electric Company taking chance on representation model for commercial work

Broadcast | June 9, 2004

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