From the moment she won the Cholula hot sauce project that would be her first outing with US production company Easy Mondays, Latina filmmaker Alina Montero sensed there was more to “La Familia” than the title of the spot. “To team up with Easy Mondays is like being on a trip with a bunch of cool-geek-responsible-foodie friends who push everything to make the production process into the most perfect, unforgettable adventure you've ever had,” she says now. “They're careful and precise but also warm and always cheery.” “La Familia” – infused with warmth and laughter of its own, plus mouthwatering dishes – is one of two spots created via Fitzco and produced by Easy Mondays for Cholula (the other is “Shake”). The campaign celebrates Cholula’s authentic Mexican heritage, as its signature wood-capped bottle is passed from kitchen to kitchen, and table to table, in homes and restaurants.
“I'm a cook, my mother is a great cook, and my grandma was too,” relates Montero, who grew up in a filmmaking family (more on her background here). “Food is one of my main passions and part of my creative life. Food brings people together and always makes beautiful things happen on screen: laughs, jokes, tender situations, and even debates or controversies. All human feelings can naturally flow around the table, and capturing them is always a delight! My approach to shooting food is genuine and naturalistic; of course, it always looks delicious and mouthwatering, but what makes that happen is the magic of reality: not being afraid of crumbs and drips, huge bites, and beautiful accidents. The more authentic, the more delicious it will always be!”
“Alina’s commitment and passion is evident in every frame,” says Easy Mondays Founder/EP Asori Soto, who last week announced the addition of Montero to the company roster. “And it was wonderful to collaborate with the Fitzco team. They cared about the heart and soul of this spot as much as Alina did, and that's why we ended up with such a beautiful film.”
Montero says that working “with a team of clients and creatives diverse as America itself was, for me, a rewarding experience, where the vision of this project was enriched with different cultural backgrounds that brought to life a campaign that shares Mexican tradition from a very contemporary, diverse, and fresh look. This project was full of fun, laughs, cooperation, and a great effort to communicate and brilliantly share a fantastic product. It was a delight to be part of it. I hope this campaign brings flavor, color, and a little spice to anyone who sees it!”
Below, Montero shares some insights about the making of “La Familia,” which was shot on location in Mexico City.
The look.
“To establish our aesthetic look, some classic photographers like William Eggleston and the food photography of Stephen Shore came to my mind. But I was particularly inspired by Alex Webb, who has photographed Mexico in a genuine, colorful, and super attractive manner. The idea was to portray reality in an honest and simple but also suggestive way. In the images of Webb, I perceive a real vision of the Latino culture: his way of seeing the streets, the food, the homes, and the people naturally and spontaneously is something we reinterpreted and brought to life in our spot. We enriched his vision and continued our contribution to that language from another viewpoint – a fresh, fun, and Latino one, this time across America.”
Food and Family.
“The core of our piece had to be the food and, of course, the people having fun with the sauce, getting along cheerfully. The thing I love the most about food is its human side: the way it interacts with people and the reactions it brings to the table. To communicate that, we needed to find a balance between getting close to a perfect poached egg and going back to see a girl laughing and mouth watering with a shrimp taco.
“It was not all about people and not all about food. To fulfill this, we had a superb ally: Matt Chavez as our DP. Matt has shot for shows such as Netflix's Chef's Table and Street Food Asia and Latin America. He is part of the people still defining how we see and shoot food in the second decade of the 21st century. With only a key light, Matt can make a plate of tacos look like the most appetizing one on earth. Still, he is also a genius at capturing humane and engaging situations spontaneously and artistically! His instinctive and free language is definitely part of the natural look that we accomplished.”
Authenticity.
“The biggest challenge of the process was to portray the Mexican side of the US and make everything look as authentic and pretty as possible. And I think we indeed achieved that! Shooting this project in Mexico City was a blast of flavor, color, and textures! Something that definitely brought the authenticity that the Fitzco team and I were pursuing. The opportunity to shoot the campaign in the hometown of Cholula brought a legitimate essence to everything we see: from the face of an extraordinary contemporary Mexican abuela to a fabulous Latino food court where everything shines with life! In our search of locations, we looked for places with a Mexican flavor that could also be found in an American town or city. We also choose some areas with a lot of personality and history that are surely captured on the frame.”
A fusion of fiction, reality…and flavor!
“I inherited my cooking lineage from my grandmother and my film lineage from my father. For me, this game of creation and recreation comes with making hybrid films, where fiction and reality fuse, resulting in the aliveness of blending genres. I do this also with food. Why not add chili to a lasagna? Or chocolate to a salted tortilla? That's the path I took for the Cholula campaign, which is infused with authenticity in each and every aspect: from the locations filled with Mexican flavor and texture to the diverse and natural casting. The Cholula campaign results from a rich fusion, where America meets the Mexican flavor from its deep core.”
About Easy Mondays
Easy Mondays is a bespoke production company established by a bunch of creative gourmands, voyagers, and trendsetters. We circled the world more than a couple of times last year. We produced moving pictures about cars, food, beverages, health, rock and roll, fashion, social issues, we published trendsetting magazines on travel and the pleasures of life, we wrote and photographed books. In short, we spent countless hours devoted to finding the most cinematic experiences around the globe, and we brought our babies and dogs as witnesses! Our pursuit in the never-ending circle of life is to create the most engaging content for our clients. We are known for our high-quality productions and our taste at selecting excellent restaurants in the most remote regions. And we do all of it because we love it, because it is in our ethos, and because we shine the most when we are crafting astonishing stories together.
The Easy Mondays roster boasts an eclectic mix of comedy (from all-embracing to zany), storytelling, live action, documentary, VFX, and tabletop, General Market and Hispanic Market, united in its cultural diversity and the distinct imprint of each director and team: Biceps, Rocio Crudo, Luis Gerard, Kristian Mercado, Alina Montero, Peter & Annie, and Beatriz Sanchez. The company's talent pool also includes EM + Poster directors Sebastian Caporelli, Plastico, and Maca Rubio, as well as Easy Fridays director Matt Hranek.
