Cibolo Films, a production house specializing in Hispanic advertising, has opened in San Antonio. It will be co-managed by creative director Jim Riche, executive officer Michael Bowie, and executive producer Gerard Lodico.
The corporate parent to Cibolo is 1080 Inc., which is also the holding company to post house Match Frame, San Antonio. Cibolo and Match Frame will operate independently.
Cibolo will target Hispanic advertising in the U.S., Latin America and Mexican market. Riche related that they formed the shop to cater to the Hispanic market, which is large and-at least in the Texas region-largely untapped by local production houses. "Some of the largest Hispanic agencies in the country are in Texas," said Riche, who moved to San Antonio two years ago after many years of working in New York, where his affiliations included fly/Films and the now shuttered firms Exit Productions, Little Caesar Productions and Broadcast Arts. He spent the last six years of his New York tenure as a freelancer, including a stint in which he worked through Video Works.
Said Riche, "And there aren’t that many production companies serving those agencies here in Texas that focus on Hispanic-a couple in Dallas but none down here [in San Antonio]. Bromley Aguilar & Associates [in San Antonio], along with [New York-based] The Bravo Group, is one of the largest Hispanic agencies in the country."
"We want to be able to do work with them," continued Riche, "and offer them production locally-not that we would actually shoot here, but having a production company here would be an advantage to them and the community. We feel you really have to split up the way you market to the Hispanic [versus] general market; there are different sensibilities to the advertising and to the way you produce it."
Directors on the Cibolo roster are: visual effects/live-action specialist Riche who will be repped for Hispanic projects; he maintains his affiliation with Dallas-based Big Fish Films, which handles him for general market work in the Southwest, and Champ Films, Chicago, which handles him in the Midwest. His recent credits include spots for Continental Airlines and Amoco out of Bromley Aguilar & Associates, and Coca-Cola out of McCann-Erickson, Mexico City.
Cibolo will rep director/cameraman Bowie for Hispanic work; Bowie was formerly partnered in the now-closed San Antonio-based shop Ashe-Bowie Productions. Known for slice-of-life work, Bowie has recently helmed spots for Sprint and Alleve, both via Bromley Aguilar and Afore Garante bank out of J. Walter Thompson, Mexico City.
Also under the Cibolo banner are directors Jorge Ulla and director/cameraman Cesar Vera, who will be marketed for Hispanic projects in Texas, Mexico and South America. Both continue to be affiliated with Ulla’s New York-based LaCasa Films elsewhere in the U.S. Among Ulla’s credits are spots for Philip Morris via Young & Rubicam, New York, and Kmart out of Castor Advertising, New York. Vera has recently directed spots for Budweiser via Castor and Lucky Dog Phone Company for The Bravo Group.
Tabletop director/cameraman Gary Perweiler will be handled by Cibolo for Hispanic market projects in the Southwest and in Florida. Perweiler will continue to work on general market projects through his own New York-based shop DC3 Films. His recent projects include spots for V-8 out of The Bravo Group; El Torito out of Grey Advertising, Los Angeles, and Goya Foods via Avrett, Free & Ginsburg, New York.
The roster is rounded out by L.A.-based director/cameraman William Molina, a Mexico City native whose credits include two low-budget features: Where Truth Lies featuring Malcolm McDowell, and Dusting Cliff Seven starring Nancy Allen and Lance Henrickson. Among Molina’s credits are promos for the UPN and CBS networks. Cibolo additionally reps Mexico City-based director Alejandra Moya, whose ’95 short film Ponchada won several awards from foreign film festivals.
Cibolo has also struck up a "loose affiliation" with director Robert Rodriguez-who has directed such features as El Mariachi and From Dusk ‘Til Dawn-for Texas-originated Hispanic jobs. Riche related that Cibolo will work in conjunction with bicoastal and Minneapolis-based A Band Apart Commercials, which handles Rodriguez nationally.
Cibolo executive producer Lodico spent the last seven years working in that capacity at LaCasa Films. Previously, he worked at Exit Productions, which was also the former production roost of Perweiler. Mauricio Jemal has been hired as Cibolo’s director of marketing and sales.
Riche related that they are looking to add other directors based in the Latin American market, and are currently in negotiations with a "major player" in the Argentinean market. Cibolo plans to open an office in Mexico City in the near future. Once the company solidifies its base in Texas and Mexico City, said Riche, Cibolo plans to add reps and production offices in Miami and Los Angeles.
