The APA’s primary objective is to create the best possible business environment for our members to operate in.
Our Commitment
We are committed to providing a plethora of services; standard contracts, templates, production advice, insurance consultation, recommended crew rates, training and members promotion. We also help our members access new business opportuinites by connecting them to UK and international markets.
How It Works
If you are interested in joining the membership, please get in touch. An in-person or virtual meeting gives us the chance to learn about you and your business, whilst we present our services, in order for you to maximise and utilise the benefits of our membership. Membership costs are entirely dependent on the size of your company and your discipline.
Member Promotion
The APA promotes its members through the members directory (a hub for companies and directors information), along with local and international events such as the The APA Show and Future of Advertising in one afternoon showcases our members thus, creating new business opportunities.
Production Advice
We are available in-person and virtually to answer all local and international production queries from contracts, copyright, insurance, logistics, legal queries, anything from the seemingly obvious to the uniquely complex.
Standard Contracts
In partnership with the Agency Association, IPA, Client Association and ISBA, we have created contractual documentation that serves as the legal framework on which our members and advertising agencies work together. APA/IPA Contracts within our Members Resources are only available for our APA members.
Check out our APA/IPA Contracts within our Members Resources. This ensures that all parties are clear on who is responsible for what in the production of the commercial and complex areas such as insurance responsibilities are set out in detail, based on industry-wide experience. This is a great help to members because they understand their obligations and do not have to spend time negotiating terms for each production, meaning they can devote that time to making the commercial as brilliant as possible.
Specialist Groups
We have special groups and meetings for our diverse members; VFX, editing, animation, immersive, stills, music and sound design companies. These invaluable forums identify and resolve issues within these areas, along with developing promotional and learning opportunites to the wider industry.
Recommended Crew Terms
We consistently publish recommended crew terms and rates. Showing how overtime and other payments additional to the basic daily rate are calculated Hence, productions can be budgeted quickly and accurately without negotiating with individual crews allowing you to stay up-to-date and competitive amongst your peers.
Contract Templates
Our comprehensive template library provides beneficial information to APA members exceeding the industry standard documentation. Our library contains contracts with international agencies, clients direct, directors, artists agreements and many more.
Industry Insight
We keep members up to date with new issues and opportunities for their businesses through members meetings and update emails – whenever anything interesting happens – which is often.
Training
Since its inception in 2001, the APA Masterclass has trained over a thousand commercials producers. It is deemed as the industry standard that guarantees a successful career in commercials production.
Each year industry experts bestow their knowledge to the next generation via lecturing and interactive sessions. It is hugely popular and always over-subscribed. We also offer a series of Direct to Brand training, enabling our members to develop their in house skills and offerings in order to succesfully working directly with brands or to strengthen pre-existing relationships that our members might already have. This takes the form of basic level on demand webinars, Level Two interactive training sessions and an additional option to purchase a Mini-Clinic where you will receive a one-to-one business consultation with our expert direct to brand trainers. Learn more about our Direct to Brand training, APA Masterclass as well as all the separate ad hoc training sessions and seminars we hold throughout the year for all our members to attend on a myriad of subjects by heading over to our Learning Platform.
Avoiding and Resolving Problems
We help members find satisfactory solutions to challenges. We discuss production issues with the agencies’ association, the IPA, and partner with them to resolve disputes informally. Conflicts are also settled using the mediation/arbitration process set out in contracts, saving members time and legal costs.
Additionally, we ensure that through our representation their advisors understand contracts and the intricacies of how commercial productions work.
International Events
Each year we organise multiple events in Cannes in partnership with the Lions festival, which are free and beneficial to APA members.
We collaborate with the producers associations in Europe (the CFP-E) and the USA (the AICP) to organise the World Producers Summit and introduce and showcase our members in multinational markets by leading regular international trade trips (Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Silicon Valley and Mumbai). These events set up the foundation for relationships from which significant productions have emerged. Find out more on all of the above here.
Website
This site is a highly valuable resource for members, providing updated information, draft agreements, green production guide, comprehensive advice on health & safety, visas, engaging children, and a host of production essentials. It is a portal to our members’ sites and showreels that is valued by the UK and international advertising industry.
