Written by new-contact on Apr 12, 2013. Posted in Production News

Sonny London races football fan from Brazil to Wembley for Heineken

Sonny London filmed on location in Brazil for new Heineken spot The Final. Finding himself with a ticket to the Champions League final at Wembley, a football fan makes an adventurous trip from remote Brazil to London to catch the big game.

Nearly two months were spent searching for filming locations in Brazil. Hundreds of potentials were considered with the help of scouts Kleber Souza in Rio de Janeiro and Daniel Fontoura further west in Paraty.

“The script was challenging,” recalls Sweet Films producer James Lloyd, “in that it required many diverse locations - jungle, a resort on the water, a long road to mountains, a train station, favelas, a modern airport and a stadium - which needed to be relatively close to each other. Rio is one of the few places you can get all this.”

Locations for the more remote opening scenes were found in Paraty. The team had an advantage here as their scout had previously spent several months in the region for the Twilight movie franchise, so the team immediately had a good depth of knowledge.

“Paraty was a two-day shoot out of town and was chosen for the combination of logistics, beautiful nature and interesting houses and buildings,” Lloyd adds.

Remoteness caused a few logistical challenges in Paraty as the resort of the opening shots was only reachable by boat and the mechanic’s shop was in the middle of the jungle. Otherwise, the major work went into art direction, with each location carefully dressed to fit its function in the story.

The UK-set scenes were also filmed in Brazil. A local airport terminal was used once it closed to passengers at midnight and 300 extras were used in a closed stadium – together with plate shots from an actual game – for the final shots where the fan makes it to Wembley. “Curiously, they were the two locations we least changed,” Lloyd finishes.

Credits:
Client: Heineken
Agency: Wieden and Kennedy Amsterdam
Executive Creative Directors: Mark Bernath and Eric Quennoy
Production Company: Sonny London
Producer: Alicia Richards
Executive Producer: Helen Kenny
Production Service Company: Sweet Films, Sao Paulo
Producer: James Lloyd
Location Scouts: Kleber Souza and Daniel Fontoura
Director of Photography: Roman Vasyanov
Director: Fredrik Bond