South America has long housed popular destinations, in particular Brazil and Argentina, for shooting–a favorable exchange rate coupled with a wide variety of locations attract productions from all over the world. “Both countries have made incredible strides within the last three-plus years,” relates Karen Watts, principal at Shoot Latin America, a company that serves as a liaison between producers globally and production and production service shops in South and Latin America. She notes that as the economies in the region dipped, global production came for cost-effectiveness. “[Producers] found great quality for that cost,” she states. :It’s impressive how each country has worked hard on building its infrastructure–service companies are not just experienced, but passionate.”
FilmBrazil, an organization that acts as a clearinghouse for top production, post and audio facilities in the country, reports that its members account for 80 percent of domestic film production. The organization promotes the Brazilian film industry overseas–they had a strong presence at this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival. Top agencies frequently shoot in both Brazil and Argentina. TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, recently shot a Sony PlayStation 2 spot in Argentina with the Buenos Aires office of Miami-headquartered Mia Films, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B), Miami, has lensed several jobs in Brazil.
Agencies from both Argentina and Brazil have long been known for their creative prowess. At Cannes this year, ad shops from both countries picked up their fair share of Lions. Brazil scored a film Gold Lion for Kleenex’s “Jinxed,” out JWT, Sáo Paulo, and directed by Jarbas Angelli of Ad Studios, Sáo Paulo. In the Cyber Lion competition, Brazil scored a Grand Prix for Henkel’s “Reality Advertising,” out of DDB Brasil, Sáo Paulo, as well three Gold Lions for Companhia Athletica’s “Run” out of DDB Brasil, adidas’ “Tall,” out of Tequila/Sáo Paulo, and FedEx’s “Just in Time” out of DDB Brasil. Agencies from Brazil also picked up some Silver and Bronze Lions in the film and Cyber competitions.
Argentina also fared well at the show, winning a Silver Lion in film for Pampers’ “Stairs,” directed by Luciano Podcaminsky of Pioneer Buenos Aires, and agency Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires. “Argentina has great possibilities–there are still lots of locations to discover,” relates Julian Vella, executive producer at Shoot Argentina, Buenos Aires. “There are a lot of European-looking parts of the city; you can easily [get the look of] Madrid, Paris, Italy and New York. … There’s great diversity, and good talent, as well as very convenient buy-out deals with no residuals.” Shoot Argentina has worked with shops like bicoastal/international @radical.media, Free Market Films, New York, and Czar.US, New York.
NEW BLOOD
In the film competition at Cannes, Jodaf Mixer, with offices in Rio de Janeiro and Sáo Paulo, tied for fourth place (with bicoastal/international Hungry Man) for the Palm d’Or. It was work co-produced with Hungry Man that in large part led to Jodaf Mixer’s strong showing in the race for the Palm d’Or: the company co-produced the Mini Cooper “Counterfeit” package, which included a spot, a long-form DVD and Web elements. The TV ad scored a Gold Lion in film, while the overall integrated campaign won a Titanium Lion. (That award honors ad work that spans different media). Over the past couple of years, Hungry Man has shot several spots in Brazil; in fact so much shooting goes on there for the Hungry Man helmers, that the global shop recently opened an office in Rio de Janeiro. Heading up the new venture is managing director Alex Mehedff, formerly of Jodaf Mixer. Mehedff notes that “Argentina was known as a production center before Brazil was, and then three or fours ago, Brazil started to be on people’s radar for production services.”
He says that when Hungry Man first started shooting in the area, “they saw a difference of flavor, texture, a different look, and talent-wise, they’re getting a lot out of it.” Mehedff related that the Brazilian agency community is excited about the new office, solidifying the country’s international status as a creative and production powerhouse.
The newly opened Hungry Man Rio has already produced some high profile work: Jim Jenkins directed a MasterCard package for McCann-Erickson, New York, while Buckley and Marcos Siega recently directed spots for Burger King and CP+B. Mehedff relates that the MasterCard job initially was to be shot in several countries around the world, but ultimately the entire package was shot in Brazil because of the location and talent variety.
“There were a few reasons [for opening in Brazil],” notes Stephen Orent, partner/managing director of Hungry Man. “The first and most important was for Hungry Man to continue growing globally and creatively–to continue to push the brand [while] being able to offer clients new locations, talent and textures you just can’t get in the states. Hungry Man is always looking for different approaches. New isn’t always better, but it gives you the opportunity to start with a fresh palette, and financially, we can put more in front of the lens for less.”
The new office will be a full-fledged production shop–in addition to facilitating production for Hungry Man’s roster of stateside and European directors, the office will represent those directors in Brazil and the rest of South America. There are also plans to sign some Brazilian talent to the roster; those directors would be “universal to all of Hungry Man,” reports Orent. “The hope is to introduce our Brazilian talent to the States and Europe.”
DIRECTING TALENT
Awards for agencies weren’t all that was on display at Cannes: Mateus de Paula Santos, who heads up the directorial and design collective Lobo, was selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase, which was unveiled during the Cannes fest. (Lobo is repped stateside via The Ebeling Group, Los Angeles.) Also in the Showcase were Andy Fogwill and Agustin Alberdi of Landia Productions, Buenos Aires. (The directing duo’s work for VH1’s “Parents” via la comunidad, Miami, scored a Silver Lion at Cannes.) And the aforementioned Podcaminsky of Pioneer was also included in the Showcase.
Lobo works on projects both in Brazil and internationally, and positions itself as a design and animation studio. “The team has now reached a solid set up,” explains de Paula Santos, ” with designers, animators, illustrators, editors, plus a writer and a sound designer, all coming from varied backgrounds. This provides Lobo with a strong foundation for a broad range of projects.” De Paula Santos relates that the local agencies have been using the company more, having developed an interest in motion graphics and design–he estimates that the split between work Lobo does locally and internationally is about 50/50. On the international side, Lobo work primarily on U.S. projects, although they have worked with shops in Italy, Germany, Spain and Australia. Some of Lobo’s recent U.S. jobs include: Coca-Cola’s “M5,” which was done client direct, and “Liquid Gold” for Budweiser, out of Modernista!, Boston. The company also worked on “Kluger,” for Toyota out of Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney, and “Melissa in Wonderland” for agency WBrasil, Sáo Paulo.
GREAT ATTRACTIONS
While Brazil offers plenty of great local talent as well as creative hot shops, the country, largely to its very favorable exchange rates, is popular with U.S., Canadian and European producers. “Sáo Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the centers of the creative climate, with Rio taking a larger slice of the international production,” reports Justin Bird, executive producer at Utopia Films, Rio de Janeiro–the shop also has offices in Miami and Los Angeles. The company has a roster of seven directors who work primarily for the U.S. Hispanic market and in Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico. About 90 percent of the work done in Brazil by the shop, however, is production services–Utopia has worked on jobs out of McCann Erickson, New York, Quantum, New Jersey, and Young & Rubicam, Madrid. “”Rio de Janeiro can double for many cities in the world,” notes Bird. “[Nearby are] has waterfalls, rainforest, varied beaches, sand dunes, modern and old buildings, and rolling hills–all in a 50 mile radius.”
Another big attraction for Brazil is its ethnic diversity, as well as the fact that understanding and speaking English, at least conversationally, is pretty common. Mehedff notes that Brazil has one of the largest Japanese populations outside of Japan, while Bird relates that it’s possible to find Italian, French and German-speakers in the region.
Karen Stuckenschmidt, international executive producer at Film Planet, which has offices in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Chile, Sáo Paulo, and Los Angeles, explains that in addition to the locations, crew and talent, international producers find value in the region because, like Australia and South Africa, the seasons are opposite from the Northern Hemisphere. Film Planet, which has six directors on its roster, has a split of about 60 percent local, and 40 percent production service. Some of their recent projects include Nokia’s “Collections,” directed by David LaChapelle of bicoastal HSI for Bates, Singapore; Motorola’s “Transformer,” out of Ogilvy & Mather, New York, and directed by Bruce St. Clair of bicoastal/international Chelsea Picutres; and Bacardi’s “Signs of Life,” out of agency Böning & Haube Werbeargentur, Hamburg, Germany, and directed by Martin Werner of 539090, Hamburg, Germany. “Brazil’s creative is always innovative,” says Bianca Corona, of 02 Filmes, Sáo Paulo. “Both agencies and production companies [in the region] are getting respect and admiration all over the world.”