Written by new-contact on Oct 29, 2010. Posted in Production News

Pfister doubles Croatia for southern Italy

Swiss home furnishings supplier Pfister has filmed a new commercial in Croatia, doubling the country for southern Italy. Journey shows a young man in a rural town of the 1940s/50s saying goodbye to his family and friends as he sets out on an ostensibly long motorcycle journey. He arrives back minutes later to a jubilant crowd.

The spot’s opening establishing shot shows the town of Buzet in northern Croatia, but the actual scenes in the town square were filmed in Lovrec in the country’s southern tip.

Mira Um, a Producer with Stink Berlin, said: “We chose to film in Croatia because of the great scenery and because it proved cheaper than shooting in Italy. Then we used Buzet for the wide shot because there weren’t any good views of Lovrec from far away.”

Erika Milutin, an Executive Producer with Embassy Films, explained that many Croatian coastal towns are popular shooting locations. They’re truly Mediterranean but costs are reduced because they’re not in France or Italy.

Discussing the shoot, she said: “Our main challenge was getting the right talent. We had the main talent come in from Prague and the rest was Croatian. Extras were all local and we had to cast all neighbouring villages and towns to get 30 extras.”

The production shot using an Arri digital Alexa camera, which had to be imported from Germany, while a couple of technical crew including the camera operator were brought in from Prague. The rest of the crew and equipment were sourced and hired locally.

Credits
Client: Pfister
Agency: Walker AG, Zurich
Creative Director: Pius Walker
Production Company: Stink Berlin
Executive Producer: Susa Ehlers
Producer: Mira Um
Production Service Company: Embassy Films
Line Producer: Erika Milutin
Director of Photography: Stepan Kucera
Director: Martin Krejci