“Work Where?” was the slogan for this Banana Republic shoot that we worked on a few months ago.  We just received the final spots from the production company and I’m wanting to share this amazing piece, especially since we are asking “Where Work?” and we are so ready to “Get to Work!”!   

This was a very ambitious project with an aggressive schedule, shooting 4 talent per day at 3-4 different locations.   Working from soup to nuts, we prepped for several weeks prior to the shoot and had 14+ hour days on set.  It was an absolutely professional crew and we had amazing talent to shoot, including Jon Boogz, Saint Sinner, Goapele, APEX, Jimmie Fails, Chinaka Hodge, Grady Brannan, Mari Swim and Lea Sabado.   I hope you enjoy results of our hard work!

Client: Banana Republic

Director: Len Peltier

DP: Kevin Phillips

Executive Producer: Deidre Levine

Production: Bauie Productions / Rock-A-Doodle Media

Editor: Davie Brodie

Set Design: Chime Serra 

Music: Underworld

Locations: Birdman Inc / Matt Reoch

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Our final days of this campaign were a bit different from the first several days of shooting in the city.  Our directive was to shoot a new Banana Republic ad for their new line of sustainable clothing.  The slogan is “What if we could make things better?  What if we could make better Things?”  We secured a ranch in Petaluma that had beautiful rolling hills and a serene and open pond, a California beach with a large rocks and a panoramic coastal overlook.  The results are just beautiful and outlines why shooting in Northern California is so desirable.  

Client: Banana Republic

Director: Len Peltier

DP: Kevin Phillips

Editor: Davie Brodie

Set Design: Chime Serra

Executive Producer: Deidre Levine

Production: Bauie Productions / Rock-A-Doodle Media

Music: Justin Stanley

Talent: Roos Van Elk Gabriel Vieira

Locations: Birdman Inc / Matt Reoch

We recently discovered this gem that we worked on with this amazing creative team.

Locations: Birdman Inc.

Production:  Pedersen Media Group

Director:  Dave Mackie

Visual Effects:  Core Studio

We recently worked with Kaboom Productions on a few Sparkling Ice spots.Funny, quirky, colorful.  Enjoy!

Client Name: Sparkling Ice

Photographer/Director: Erik Moe
Producer: Steven Sills

Agency: BreadnButter

With the holiday's quickly upon us, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.A fitting post for this holiday season... we are sharing a fantastic commercial for Levi's that we recently worked on with producer, Rena Fink and Director, Sandra Winther.  Shot in September, we provided locations to shoot multiple scenes of a family on a Holiday Getaway.  Complete with a mountain cabin, rolling hills, rustic roads (fire pit, disco ball and fake snow) we were tasked with providing the locations, maps, permits and location management for this large, client driven project.The end result was a 'shoppable' video that incorporates a newer experience, which allows the viewer to click on any of the products on screen to view and purchase that item. I have linked that shoppable video HERE if you'd like to check it out (Click on the 'Holiday Getaway' Video Link).Such an excellent crew to work with!

• Client: Levi's

• Producer: Rena Fink

• Director: Sandra Winther

A very Happy Holidays to you all!

Birdman now offers Drone Scouting to their list of services!We offer stills, video, 2d linked Google Earth mapping and 3d location modeling.Here are just a few samples from a recent drone scouting project we completed.Call us for more information.

Client: Indian Motorcycles

Photographer: Dean Bradshaw

Producer: Kim Comeaux

Location: Northern CA

May 2015 we worked with the photographer Dean Bradshaw and producer Kim Comeaux on a project for Indian Motorcycles. Indian is the original American Motorcycle with roots dating back to 1897 and was a huge contender throughout the 1960's. The brand was resurrected in 2008 after being absent from the scene for decades and has been making a strong comeback. Owned by Polaris Industries since 2011, the new designs are fresh while honoring the brand's DNA. We turned a lot of heads while shooting these beautiful bikes on Northern California roads!Over 3 days we had 2 still crews and a video crew shooting the entire Indian lineup. We covered a lot of Northern California in a short period of time. On Day 1 we started before dawn with rolling traffic breaks over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge before moving to the financial district in San Francisco. The second day had us breathing fresh air and looking up at giant redwood trees in Bag Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The final day was the most ambitious! While filming the bikes on Treasure Island in the morning with the San Francisco skyline backdrop, Mayor Ed Lee happened to stop by. He sat on a few bikes and expressed his gratitude for our client choosing SF for their shoot. Around mid-day we headed for the coast landing in Stinson Beach. The bikes were shot cruising along CA-1 as the sun dropped to the horizon. Colin Ducey at Ducey Productions provided his expert driving skills on the Camera Car with First AD Michael Jordan calling the shots. The team worked hard long days to capture some amazing riding shots of the beautiful motorcycles!We spent a week scouting and another 2 getting permits for rolling traffic breaks on the bridge, lane closures in SF, ITC on CA-1 and traffic control on the roads in a state park. We were also hired to manage the shoot and Jason fell into a second AD role to help orchestrate the long shot list. Have a look at the images featured on Indian's website along with our scouting images.

TREASURE ISLAND

Final Ad

Scouting Image

Final Ad

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Final Ads

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RICHMOND-SAN RAFAEL BRIDGE

Final Ad

Scouting Image

DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO

Final Ad

Scouting Image

Final Ad

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Final Ad

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CALIFORNIA COASTAL HIGHWAY

Final Ad

Scouting Image

BIG BASIN STATE PARK

Final Ad

Scouting Image

Final Ad

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Final Ads

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Final Ads

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Final Ads

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Production:  Creative Chaos, Inc.

Photographer: Lachlan Bailey  -  Men and Women

Photographer: Benny Horne - Divided and Kids

Client: H&M

Agency: Wednesday

Local Production: Caribbean Crews

Location: Birdman Inc - Antigua, West Indies

Here are some more images captured in Antigua that are now on the H&M website! You will also see the really cool TV commercial below that was partially shot on the island while we were working there. To find out more, see our previous  post about our adventure in Antigua!

The TV commercial also filmed while we were on the island:

Producer: Jenny Friedberg, Creative Chaos, Inc.

Photographer: Glen Luchford

Client: Cole Haan

Agency: Wednesday

Location: Sun Valley, ID

This past spring we were asked if we had any prior experience scouting in Sun Valley, ID. The answer at the time was no. But that all changed in April of this year! Our good friends at Creative Chaos awarded us the opportunity to make several trips to the area to scout for a Cole Haan fall campaign featuring Dree Hemingway. Dree is the great granddaughter of Earnest Hemingway, her family has ties to the region and she grew up in the Sun Valley area. The scouting trips and shoot were a lot of work but really fun! The scouting mission was challenging as the seasons changed, but in the end we were able to  find exactly what the art directions called for. Including a late 60's Ford Bronco! Have a look at the results, they speak for themselves. Absolutely beautiful!

Here is what Dree had to say about returning to Sun Valley for the shoot.

Here are our scouting images next to Glen’s final images

Here are a few more shots from the campaign:

NYC Billboard

In the window of their store in Carmel, CA

Cole Haan Fall 2014 Direct Mail

Producer: Vann Friesen, Zephyr Photo Productions, Inc

Director: Tyler Gourley

Client: Subaru

Agency: Carmichael Lynch

Location: Private Dirt or Gravel and Paved Roads in Northern California

In the summer of 2013 we were asked to find private roads for an NDA car project. Producer Vann Friesen of Zephyr Productions was in search of paved and dirt or gravel roads for a couple of Subaru models yet to be seen by the general public. Luckily, Marin and Sonoma counties have some beautiful and expansive ranch lands. Over the years we have developed really strong relationships with these types of properties. A shoot like this is not right for every location. In the production world, we refer to the style of driving seen in these commercials as "spirited driving." We were able to secure 2 properties where the vehicles could perform to their maximum capacities both on and off road. As car enthusiasts, Matt and I are always excited about car shoots, especially when "spirited driving" is involved! Have a look at these 2 exhilarating Subaru commercials and some of our scouting images from this project!

SUBARU STI COMMERCIAL (CLICK THE IMAGE TO VIEW THE VIDEO)

SCOUTING IMAGES

SUBARU WRX COMMERCIAL (CLICK THE IMAGE TO VIEW THE VIDEO)

SCOUTING IMAGES

Producer: Patrcik Van Maanen, Moxie Productions

Client: Ralph Lauren

Location: Northern California

We have had the pleasure of working with Patrick Van Maanen at Moxie Productions for many years. Our most recent project had us searching for some epic locations for Ralph Lauren. We are very proud to have been part of this beautiful and amazing work! Check out the final product below along with some of our scouting images of the locations!

SCOUTING IMAGES

In August of last year we were contacted by NZK productions to help with a location need for an ABC reality show. At the time, nobody knew that The Bachelor would be coming to San Francisco so we had to keep thIngs as quiet as possible. What were we asked to do? Shut down a block of Filbert St, cover it with snow and convert it into a temporary ski slope! All while keeping it a secret.. Our response, let's do this!We worked closely with The San Francisco Film Commission to conduct the the community out reach and assist with the timing and logistics of pulling this off in one day. They started at 5:00 a.m. and were to have everything cleaned up by midnight. After several weeks of planning, drawing maps, knocking on doors, hiring a bilingual location professional (Saisie Jang) and knocking on more doors; our signature survey of the local residents was complete and we were all set to make it snow!Not being regular viewers of the program, we didn't know what to expect. When Episode 3  aired on January 16th we were very proud of our work, a little surprised and well, definitely entertained. Here are the results of our hard work.

I stopped by that morning to watch the snow fall in San Francisco!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Oh! So that's how they do that...

Being from upstate New York, I always wondered what would happen if it snowed in San Francisco...

I had to get a shot of myself with the San Francisco snow!

Clip from Episode 3

Screen captures

Producer: Emily Miller Productions

Photographer: William Hereford

Client: Anolon

Location: Private Residence in Mill Valley, Ca

Last fall we worked with Emily Miller, a local producer new to the San Francisco Bay Area but not to the industry, and photographer William Hereford. This was a combo still and motion shoot for cookware industry leader Anolon. William has a unique style of capturing motion from a still photography approach. Watch the behind the scenes video, shot by Leonard Nelson, below to see him in action. Emily is simply great to work with! She is professional and very personable, we are excited that she is in town and we will be happy to work with her again soon. The results speak for themselves, check it out!

Final Print Ad

Scouting Images

Producer: Michael Cifarelli, Industry Productions

Director of Photography: Michael Rothman

Client: Rockport

Location: San Francisco, Ca

Last year we teamed up with Industry Productions out of New York for a Rockport still and video shoot in downtown San Francisco. The first 3 days of the 4 day shoot was all still (Shot by Regan Cameron), on the fourth day all of the motion footage was captured. We were lucky to have a great video crew that moved quickly and kept the impact to a minimum. Here is the final video, all shot in one day!

Producer: Lisa Ilario, 2D Photo

Photographer: John Urbano

Client: AerieLocation: Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Birdman Inc teamed up with Lisa Ilario and 2D Photo this past fall, providing location scouting, permitting services and location managing for their Aerie Spring 2011 campaign. This four day shoot took place at the beautiful Big Basin Redwoods State Park.  Everyone was so great to work with and we highly recommend Big Basin to any production.  They were very accommodating to all of our needs.  A big THANKS to Lisa and 2D Photo!  We can't wait to work with you again!

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