Until now, Spec Bank has been home to the greatest TV commercials never made. But now the website’s owner wants the viewing audience to see what his writers can do.

The El Segundo website provides a platform for advertising copywriters to post commercial scripts rejected by agencies or clients. Wannabe commercial directors who want to show their talent, or established directors who want to break into new types of commercials, can shoot the scripts for their demo reels. About 200 directors pay $8 a month for access to more than 700 scripts on the site.

Earlier this month, Dan Sorgen, founder of Spec Bank and an associate creative director in the El Segundo office of ad agency R&R Partners, decided to begin offering a custom script-writing service through the site. It lets small advertisers hire writers for about $100 an hour – the same writers who usually do freelance work for big agencies that charge clients $300 an hour.

“When you hire an ad agency, you pay for the talent, but you also pay for the overhead,” Sorgen said.

To use the new service, a small advertiser such as a car dealership brings a project to Sorgen. He contacts his network of about 60 writers, and those interested respond. Sorgen selects the writer and brokers payment.

He noted that TV show production in Los Angeles declined last year but commercial production rose more than 4 percent to an all-time high.

“We are in the center of the action because a lot of people are trying to get into commercials now,” he said.

– Joel Russell