Three Chinese admen from McCann Erickson Shanghai were in Chicago last week supervising Accomplice Media’s two-day shoot for Cadillac’s 2015 XTS luxury sedan.
But why would the Chinese shoot in Chicago for spots that will air in China??
“Because they wanted a typical, urban American city but not identifiable as such and Chicago was the perfect location,” explains Mel Gradigo, EP of Accomplice, STORY’s Santa Monica-based sister company.
Filming on downtown streets took on an even more international flair, as the director was Eric Will, known for his brilliant automotive photography, who lives in France and DP Eric Treml came in from LA.
The car commercial was also distinguished by its use of the computer-controlled Russian Arm System, rented from Tim Bomtrager’s Midwest Camera Car. The system combines a gyro-stabilized 3-axis remote camera head, attached to the head of a gyro-stabilized remote-controlled crane arm that’s mounted on the roof of an AMG ML 55 Mercedes.
Mark Androw, STORY executive producer, says, to the best of his knowledge, Cadillac/Shanghai is the first Chinese-based commercial to be filmed in Chicago. It’s also the first time his companies have shot in the US for a Chinese client.
The commercial starts airing in china early in 2015.
