There has been a great deal of interest from various Parkinson's groups
regarding the two public service announcements (PSA's) that the
Parkinson Coalition of Houston, a joint effort of the Parkinson
Foundation of Harris County (PFHC) and the Houston Area Parkinson
Society (HAPS), developed with the help of McCann-Erickson Southwest.
Much of the interest expressed was on the Parkinson List. The Parkinson
Coalition of Houston has been working out the details on how to make the
PSA's available to any Parkinson group that can use them to benefit the
Parkinson community.
The PSA's were produced for the Houston market. When we began receiving
requests for the PSA's we found that making them available on a national
basis presented unanticipated challenges. For that reason, it may be
helpful to present a brief history of the Parkinson Coalition and how
the PSA's came into being.
PFHC and HAPS joined together to sponsor the Muhammad Ali Gala in
January of 1997. Both organizations are proud that they were able to act
together for the benefit of the Houston Parkinson community. One of our
goals was to use a portion of the proceeds from the gala to make a
strong effort to reach the local minority communities. We recognized the
need to inform them about Parkinson's disease and the support offered by
both local organizations. To that end, we were fortunate that
McCann-Erickson Southwest offered to produce the PSA's on a pro-bono
basis.
McCann-Erickson provided the following for the PSA's.
1. Advertising concept, storyboard, commercial copy and art direction.
2. Overall production coordination including extensive search for
production companies and other vendors willing to work with limited
cost.
3. Direction and strategy for music, voice recording and editing.
4. Seven members of McCann-Erickson's staff donated a total of 588
hours.
It is estimated that the total charge for the production of the PSA's
for a regular commercial account would have been approximately
$160,000.00. The Parkinson Coalition paid "hard costs" of $18,930.00.
We are happy to make the product of our efforts available. It is our
belief that anything creating a public awareness of Parkinson's Disease
is in the best interest of the PD community. However, the PSA's were
produced for local broadcast. A number of additional requirements
present themselves if the PSA's are to be used in other markets. These
requirements, as well as information regarding the reasons they are
discussed below.
McCann-Erickson must use equity talent for the voice-overs. The talent
was paid regional rates, which means the PSA's can only be broadcast in
Texas for a limited amount of time. If the market or time is extended,
additional fees may have to be paid.
The cost for making the necessary changes and talent fees for equity
talent for the national market is estimated to be $3,300.00.
Unfortunately, the Parkinson Coalition of Houston is unable to fund the
required changes. Therefore, if other groups use them, it is necessary
to find a way to pay for those changes. One possibility is for all
interested groups to join together to participate in the costs. Another
possibility is to find an underwriter or underwriters to fund the
necessary changes. It is possible that these costs could be reduced
substantially if non-equity talent of equal quality can be found to
rerecord the voice-overs. However, it is of great importance to the
Parkinson Coalition and McCann-Erickson that the creative integrity of
the spots is maintained. There will be an additional cost incurred to
prepare the tape for specific markets.
Again, while this project was and is a local effort, the Parkinson
Coalition of Houston will be happy to share the PSA's with any other
groups if they will be of benefit to the Parkinson Community.
For further information regarding the PSA's please contact Ann Martin:
email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 713-874-1010
Fax: 713-942-7349
Sincerely,
Bob Martone Joe A. Brown
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