We assist international productions discover the experience of shooting in Serbia and working with local film professionals. To address this issue in pandemic era becomes an even larger task and reason why we believe that examples of recent projects speak better than anything about the production infrastructure. Tuna+Icon delivered together with Biscuit Filmworks a beautiful piece of work for iShares campaign, a US financial service owned by BlackRock. We took their experience and trust in the project to be production serviced in a new territory. New client and award-winning creative team arrived to Belgrade last August. Ivana Antić, Managing Director of Tuna+Icon recaps the experience.
Being bold is what defines creative industry and this project shows it on all levels. What were the benefits of this project of coming and shooting in Serbia?
No one expected a year to unfold the way it did. The volume of international bids decreased significantly and it for sure wasn’t easy to “convince” potential clients that Serbia is the safe shooting destination and that you are that reliable partner to take on the challenge, especially if they have never been here before. We have been bidding with Biscuit Filmworks LA on couple of occasions and director Isaiah Seret was aware of the production potentials as well as locations Serbia has to offer. We were very excited that the decision swayed our way at the time to bring two extraordinary projects to Belgrade. It certainly went to our favour that Serbia was not under lockdown in that point in time and did not impose strict quarantine and testing laws.
What were the challenges when you started, and how they were resolved?
The challenges were obvious from the start and they concerned safety precautions to maintain a safe working environment for the crew and cast despite the raging pandemic at that moment. It presented a new layer of challenges for us and all productions that had to be overcome in order to produce a high end commercial such as this one.
Fortunately, we’ve have done two service productions (one with Stink Prague and one with Direct Media) beforehand and were already well versed with the new dynamics of remote shoots. For the commercial we did for Adrenaline Rush we have had only the producer and director of photography on theground, while director Marco Prestini was in LA and in remote communication with both the crew on set and clients and agency in Russia, so this was a good oeuvre and practice run for what was to come.
“Despite the intensity of these projects, we felt very much cared for by everyone in such genuine and sincere ways. The films will so much of what we wanted them to be and we all feel that coming to Serbia was the best decision we could have made. And now that we’ve developed a relationship, we really do look forward to coming back again.”
Jeff McDougall, Producer / Biscuit Films
What was the Covid protocol you followed?
We have created our own protocol that is in line with all WHO recommendations for a situation such as this one. It was of utmost importance to make the set a safe working environment for the crew and talents, therefore we delved into all recommendations for preserving a healthy environment. On the production side we minimized crew on set as much as possible,we introduced distancing between people on set,multiple checkpoints on set with disinfectants, masks and other PPE supported with additional Covid19 Coordinator on set that was making sure everyone was following the protocol.
Each crew member signed health and safety declaration form acknowledging safety protocols in place as well as stating that they have not travelled or been in contact with someone who tested positive to Covid19 in the last 14 days. On top of that frequent Covid19 testing of the key crew was essential. The medical tent with medical team in front was checking temperature of the crew upon arrival and issuing wristbands for each shooting days, so that only people with wristbands were allowed on set. This protocol has proven to be successful for all our projects as we have managed to go through all shoots unhindered by the virus.
You successfully incorporated locations into extensive studio sets with highly visual yet minimalistic design of Fiona Crombie. How does it feel to have an Oscar nominee on a set for a TVC shooting in Serbia?
Yes, for this one we had 2 shooting days on stage and 1 shooting day on location. The set design and set construction were both long, creative, filtering processes that were coordinated by Fiona Crombie. We also have to say that the local construction team headed by Rade Mihajlović was more than up to the task. Working with Fiona on two projects in a row was a riveting experience as her devotion to each aspect of the shoot was inspiring and her attention to detail was remarkable. So even though the circumstances were challenging and deadlines rather tight, the creative processes of set build and dressing on this one were truly absorbing. We had 6 different sets on stage and 2 locations for iShares and each set was meticulously thought through and therefore magically fits into the story that our director Isaiah Seret was trying to convey.
Shooting in studio environment has become in higher demand in pandemic. How much of the project was shot on an actual film set and how much CG was added? Who was in charge of VFX and the final look?
The majority of scenes were shot on set or on location, however some of the scenes required the use of chroma key as the idea was to create a couple of visually stunning virtual environments. Naturally, to create these, our sets were extended with a magic touch from the Jamm VFX team from Los Angeles.
Was there anyone from the Biscuit Filmsor DDB present during the shooting or you managed to have hybrid/remote video village?
We did have a “hybrid” video village, as you would put it, with the Biscuit Filmworks producer on set, along with his PM and, of course, director Isaiah Seret and director of photography Rina Yang. The agency and client were both present remotelyand following the shoot via the live stream feed.
Finally, who is Eleanor T. Fitzsimmons? How many concepts you developed during the process and was there safety issue that influenced the narration of having one main character alone in a shot?
Acquire a new perspective on your portfolio and find out. There were no adaptations of the initial script. The story was always revolving around the exceptional main girl Eleanor and therefore, there was no need to adapt it further for health and safety reasons.