A few years ago, I had decided to not attend church anymore. I was angry about some circumstances in my life and chose to shift the blame to the church. Why? Because the church was full of hypocrites. Why would I want to go there? Eventually, I began to realize that if I never wanted to brush up against hypocritical people, then I also needed to avoid the movie theater, restaurants, the mall, street carnivals, state parks and pretty much anywhere people would be. Most damning of all, I should never look in my own mirror.

What does this fustian about hypocrisy have to do with “The Biz?” Stick with me. You’ll see.

Every year, Creativity magazine hosts a director’s roundtable in which a dozen or so top-flight commercial directors gather to chew the proverbial fat about the television ad game. I love to read it, because it reminds me that directors whose day rate is roughly 5-10x my own face the same problems. (Plus, they have the additional burden of trying to figure out how to spend all that money. Ha! Suckers!) One topic in the 2007 roundtable that really piqued my interest dealt with trends in editing. During that part of the discussion, director Guy Shelmerdine asked the question, “Isn’t the editing process for the agency, almost like going on vacation for three weeks to the edit company?” That almost made me laugh out loud.

It’s become almost an apocryphal tale in every decent-sized town in this country: certain ad agencies refuse to hire local directors and post houses simply because they want to live the high life of fancy hotel suites, high bar tabs and LA traffic. Okay, maybe not so much the traffic. This point-of-view is decidedly one sided, originating with those self-same spurned directors and post houses. Ask anyone at those agencies, and they’ll tell you the local talent simply isn’t good enough for their creative.

Before I go on, I should admit that, like the accursed frequent flyers of the agency world, I’ve been blessed to travel to some beautiful locales in my work. For example, last year I directed a spot that was set in Alaska. We shot the majority of it in North Alabama. The DP and I were the only ones to travel to The Last Frontier, and then only because I couldn’t risk trusting a freelancer up there to capture the backgrounds I needed to composite into the spot. Did I have fun? Absolutely. Would I have shot the entire spot in Alaska had the budget allowed? Probably, but it’s hard to argue with the results.

At what point does this become a self-fulfilling prophecy? Agencies believe local directors and editors aren’t good enough, so they don’t hire them. As a result, local directors and editors don’t get the best creative in town, aren’t challenged to grow as artists and their reels never reflect their actual talent… so local agencies don’t hire them. But there has to be more to it than simple population ratios. If it were really as simple as hanging your shingle in a major city, quadrupling your rate and then raking in all the jobs from the Birminghams of the world, wouldn’t more directors do just that? (Although I like to think it’s that simple, because it would mean there are a bunch of small markets where I’m a genius!)

I once heard of an agency shooting a campaign Down Under, justifying it by saying that the grass there was green in December. That’s right. They shot literally halfway around the world because the grass was greener on the other side.

It seems that no matter where I go, I hear this same complaint. As one friend in the business described it, Birmingham creatives want to work in LA. LA creatives want to go to New York. And New York creatives want to go to London — or something to that effect. (I wonder if this equation ever wraps back around on itself ouroboros style, with Tokyo creatives choosing to work in Meridian, Mississippi. Probably not, but it makes me giggle.) At a recent sit-down of agency, production and post types in Atlanta, a post facility owner asked the head of a major agency why he insisted on taking the work elsewhere. His answer? “Because we can.”

Is that all there is to such a huge decision on how to spend your client’s money? I don’t think so. Agencies are facing dwindling media budgets, an increasingly fickle client base, the rise of ad metrics and the wild, wild west of new media. And with layoffs becoming the norm in ad shops, the pressure is on to do not just good, but stellar work. As a creative, you’re only as good as your last campaign. But where does a sense of civic duty fit in the mix, if it does at all? Is their an implied duty for agencies to encourage the growth and maturity of local production talent?

My primary argument against agencies convincing clients that (YOUR TOWN HERE) isn’t good enough for their production has always been that, sooner or later, they’ll start to believe it. Then they’ll start to apply that same logic to their ad agency. I’ve seen it happen more than once.

The Bible tells the story of Jesus visiting his hometown of Nazareth and teaching in the synagogue there. The locals took offense at this. They refused to believe that the son of Joseph the carpenter had enough wisdom or authority to teach them. Jesus replied, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” I wouldn’t dare compare myself or anyone in production to Jesus, but the wisdom of that statement rings true in our industry.

What do you think? If you are an agency creative who hires out-of-town directors or post facilities, I’d love to hear what goes into your decision. And if you’re an agency creative in a town other than Birmingham, check out my reel and contact me. I can do a better job than the directors in your town. See? I told you I was a hypocrite.