Want sun, surf, and great locations for your commercials? Try Miami. Want postproduction assistance? Try Miami. Yes, that’s right, Miami. Once upon a time, the sun-drenched city was known primarily as a great place for location production.
More recently, however, the area is becoming familiar as a post stop, as well. When Native Films, Miami, created and produced six :30 and six :15 spots for Eritmo.com, the postproduction-as well as the pre-production on the graphics-intensive spots-was completed by Manhattan Transfer-Miami. Directed by Native’s Cosimo Zitani, and featuring Enrique Iglesias, two of the ads, "Fan" and "Drum," involve a series of animated logos and digital graphics. Those were actually generated during pre-production and projected onto the talent during the shoot. During postproduction, Manhattan Transfer added additional arms to the female lead’s body.
There are other post stories, too: Manhattan Transfer posted a Federal Express campaign in three languages out of BBDO Miami. And Deep Blue Sea, the design/animation/visual effects arm of Broadcast Video Inc. (BVI), a post operation with offices in Miami, Miami Beach and Coconut Grove, created "Waves" for the Pontiac Sunfire 2000 out of McCann-Erickson, San Juan. The spot was designed by David Woodward, creative director at Deep Blue Sea.
"The business is changing," observes Craig Whitaker, president/executive producer of Native Films. "People are coming from all over to do production and post. Business, overall, is definitely on the upswing, and it’s growing more in the international market. We get work coming in from all over; ranging from Europe to South America. A lot of that has been helped by the stable dollar."
"Production in Miami is growing," agrees Massimo Martinotti, director/president at Mia Films/The Mia Network, which opened offices in Miami in ’93. His company also has outposts in Spain, Costa Rica and Mexico. "There is an increasing interest in European and Latin American agencies about Miami’s possibilities. Little by little, our clients realize that Miami not only offers beaches and palm trees, but sophisticated productions and the possibility to shoot with the best directors…with more advantageous costs than in New York and Los Angeles."
Those impressions are supported by the latest figures from the Miami Dade Mayor’s Office of Film & Entertainment, which tracks, among other areas, the amount of commercial production and its economic impact on the area. "We are doing better on a month-to-month comparison," explains Jeff Peel, director of the office. "In May 1999, we did fourteen commercials with $936,000 worth of business; in May 2000, we did twelve commercials with $2 million worth of economic impact."
Miami has long been home to a number of production and post houses and those companies work on a mixture of national, regional, U.S. Hispanic, and Latin American spots. They also work on broadcast design, feature films, and music videos. Certainly, the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American sectors are booming. "The market has improved dramatically," observes Luis Weksler, president of Viva Films, Miami, which works primarily on spots aimed at Hispanic audiences. "People call Miami the capital of Latin American entertainment. That is not necessarily so, but it is close."
Still, many say the work mix has changed in recent years, with more U.S. business and more spots. Bob Corti, executive VP/general manager at Manhattan Transfer-Miami, reports that in the past, between 80 and 90 percent of his firm’s work had come from new cable networks, aimed at both the U.S. and abroad. No longer. "Today, we are ninety-five percent commercials," he says, noting that 30 percent of their work is for the U.S. Hispanic market, 50 percent for international Hispanic audiences, with the remainder of the work being aimed at English-speaking U.S. viewers.
"Part of [the switch to more commercials] was posturing, and getting a better focus on what we want to be," Corti explains. "A few years ago, we recognized that as they developed, the cable networks would become independent and not need us. So we decided to cater more to commercial clients."
"The world marketplace has changed," notes Rick Legow, president of BVI. "Globalization is taking place. With high-speed communication, it’s as easy to work next door as in the next country."
Many agencies are drawn by the climate, says Peel, but they end up staying for other reasons. There is a greater breadth of locations than is commonly recognized. "Miami offers different looks," says director Bill Randall, president of AFI/Filmworks, Miami. "In the commercial arena, we do a lot of generic America stuff. We have an extensive set of great locations." Along with sun-drenched streets and beaches, pastel buildings, blue waters and a unique skyline, Miami-Dade County also offers urban vistas and a serene countryside.
