Written by new-contact on Jul 15, 2010. Posted in Production News

Travelers Insurance commercial shoots in South Africa

A new Travelers Insurance commercial has been filmed in South Africa. Watering Hole shows a collection of wild animals that would normally be eating each other co-existing peacefully on the plains of South Africa.

Anne Flavin, an Account Manager at Fallon, said: “The spot was filmed at two locations in South Africa. Brookers Farm near Johannesburg [was the main location]. This was chosen in order to maintain the look and feel of a real watering hole. In addition, with the number of animals in the spot, it made sense to shoot in South Africa where the animals were readily available on the farm.”

The wide-angle shots were filmed at an animal rehabilitation centre called Moholoholo in the country’s Limpopo province. The production formed two units as there was more cloud cover than expected and they needed to wait for the optimum shooting conditions. Steve Watchorn, the Location Manager, said: “We shot in summer so had a few rainy days. Winter is the best time to shoot there, from May to August.”

Working with the various animals wasn’t too challenging. They were all filmed separately and then put together in post-production. Donald Taylor, the Line Producer, said: “Animal welfare was obviously the top priority from the start. Ostriches especially can be very skitty. You have to give them all time to acclimatise to the situation. It’s not training as such, but rather nurturing their instincts.”

Mr Watchorn added: “At Brookers we used Vicky Brooker, who’s great with her own animals like elephants, wildebeest, lions, leopards and so on. We also had Luke Cornell from Cape Town with baboons, though he is great with all animals and is an Assistant Director as well.”

Click here to view the ad.

Credits
Client: Travelers Insurance
Agency: Fallon
Production Company: MJZ
Executive Producer: Jeff Scruton
Line Producer: Donald Taylor

Production Service Company: Made In Africa
Location/Unit Manager: Steve Watchorn
Director: Dante Ariola
Director of Photography: Robert Elswit