Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas is partner and executive producer for Thomas/Winter/Cooke in Santa Monica, CA. Mark has worked in commercial production for his entire professional career and has earned wide respect for his insight and industry trends and for his ability to develop directors.

Kathleen: Tell us about yourself.

Mark Thomas: I’ve been producing TV commercials for over 27 years. I started as a flunky in a production company editing ¾ inch video tape and one thing led to another.

KC: What accomplishments do you feel you are most proud of?

MT: This company, TWC. It’s 3 guys who came together from 3 different disciplines with a common bond of integrity and good moral compass. We thought maybe we could find a way to work together. TWC is essentially a commercial production company, but as we go forward we’re exploring some other alternative things to do. And it’s kinda fun.

KC: Can you tell us some of the commercials you have produced this last year?

MT: In the last year or so … Snapple, Skittles, Powerade, Electronic Arts, Alka-Seltzer, Comcast, Butterfinger, that’s just off the top of my head.

KC: How did you get started in the business?

MT: I grew up in San Diego, CA and was in junior high school where we had a TV production class. They had 2 really crummy black and white CC TV cameras that you can find inside most 7-11’s today, and what was called a dry switcher. When I got out of high school I got an internship at a local TV station. I was burning the candle from 13 different ends. I took the experience I had and got a job at a production company. They did a lot of what is commonly referred to as “industrials.”

KC: So how did you go from that to commercials?

MT: We were making commercials at the same time. It started low end and then we started getting larger and the company relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles. It was called Production Partners. I was there for 7 years. And then, some of the guys I had worked with at Production Partners had gone to a new company called Stifel and I ended up joining them there. I was there for 6 or 6 ½ years, during which time I short listed in the Palme D’Or competition in Cannes.

KC: And then you started your own company?

MT: No, I did a brief thing of consulting and got offered a job as an executive for a company called Area 51 and I was there for 7 years. Then I started my own company, TWC, with my partners Ralph Winter and Phil Cooke about 3 years ago.

KC: What part of talent plays a part in what you do?

MT: Everybody has their own set of gifts. The main thing is to do a great job and be seen as a trusted resource. I think what I’m trying to do is maintain my credibility as a good resource to people who work at ad agencies. If they know when they call here that we’re going to have interesting ideas, interesting thoughts, and the job is going to be well produced and handled correctly, they are going to go back to wherever they came from (and the vast majority of our clients are not from LA) and be very happy with the footage and service they got here. We have a fair amount of routine business.

KC: How many directors does TWC have in their company?

MT: The goal is to try and have around 10. Currently, the roster has 12, but that can flip over a couple of months. It could go back down to 8 and then up to 14. We have 6 directors who specialize in comedy. About 80 percent of what’s available in advertising are comedy scripts. Then, we have other people who concentrate on visual effects, or cars spots, or other things. Everyone has their specialty. We are extremely proud of the directors we have at TWC. One of our guys on the roster was the most awarded commercial director in the world in 2003 and 2004 and tied for 4th place in 2005, so the bar’s kinda high.

KC: When a director comes to TWC and wants a job, how do recognize the talent?

MT: That’s an excellent question. I make these decisions based on the two “I’s.” One I is instinct, and the other I is information. The information would be like the commerce part of my job, and the instinct is the creative part. Art and commerce right? At the end of the day, I’d like instinct to carry a slightly bigger weight than information.

The Bible says “there’s wisdom in many counselors.” I think what’s smart is to get people around you that have a vested interest in the opinion they’re going to offer you. Lots of people out there have opinions, but you want to listen to the people who have the vested interest.

KC: Is building integrity important?

MT: It’s everything. There are lots of people in my line of work that have less than sterling reputations and lots of them have really good reputations. The path is narrow, and eventually it becomes well lit, but integrity always has a price tag. I had a guy who used to work for me once, who went to church, but church never went into him. He would behave one way during the week and go to church on Sunday being someone very different. I’m not judging him, but it is the definition for “lukewarm.” That doesn’t mean the only way you get integrity is to be a Christian, but the two go hand in hand.

KC: What do you want to be doing in 5 years, and how is technology changing the business?

MT: TV commercial production is going through a very significant paradigm shift from how things were done in the past. Our industry is rotating from a “push” market to a “pull” market. The model for years was 3 or 4 TV networks with commercials and it was being “pushed” on you. Now, thanks to the internet and satellite and digital cable and cell phones, it’s a “pull” media market. I can get anything I want whenever I want it, including commercials. Lots of companies are struggling and are fearful of losing their business, so in the last few years we have been producing for the “pull” market more and more. There’s more money spent per second on TV commercials than any film that’s ever been made. This is the most expensive form of filmmaking. If all of filmmaking is surgery, we are in the neurosurgery business. You have 30 seconds to tell a story.

KC: Is there a book other than the Bible you would recommend?

MT: Yes, A Brand Called You by Peter Montoya and Swimming with the Sharks by Harvey Mackay. I would also recommend you read the trade magazines “Shoot” and “Boards.”