Production Paradise

Welcome to the Spring 07 edition of SHOWCASE ZURICH, featuring a selection of the best visual media companies hard at work in Switzerland's largest city. Our complete Zurich directory is at www.productionparadise.com.

Running until 15 April, is an exhibition at Kunsthaus Zurich by Erwin Wurm, a famous Austrian artist and photographer, who has created a series of images for the programme and booklet for "Hamlet", currently showing at the Schauspielhaus Zurich.

Our cover was shot by Juventino Mateo, represented by Nicole Zehnder Fotografen.

zrh photography/photographers: GüNTHER KATHREIN

Günther Kathrein works from his own studio in the heart of Zurich. He specialises in beauty and fashion photography.

2007 has started well with the following highlights: Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren and Odlo.

zrh photography/photographers' agents: AVOCADO

New in Switzerland, Avocado is a photographers' agency, representing international photographers in the areas of portraits, fashion, beauty, stills, cars and architecture.

It also offers full production services including art and creative directors, stylists, hair & make-up artists and retouchers.

The first Avocado company has been operating in Moscow since 1999. Their current photographers for Switzerland include:

• Serge Guerand - people/fashion/beauty
• Dimitri Tolstoi - stills/studio
• Urs Wyss - people/beauty/portraits
• Richard Booth - stills/studio
• Ivan Frolov - food
• Werner Deisenroth - cars/studio
• New entry: photographer from Hamburg Joerg Kritzer

zrh photography/photographers: SEB MICHEL

Seb Michel is back from Cape Town where he shot six editorial stories for the Swiss Femina magazine, and two stories for Forme and Fashion magazines.

This is the first, and the others will be published between March and July.

A making-of video is available at Seb's website.

zrh photography/photographers: SCHEFFOLD.VIZNER

Fabian Scheffold and Istvan Vizner say they have shared a passion for the visionary since first forming their creative partnership over twelve years ago.

Their "model of fine-tuned and well-rehearsed teamwork" uses their combined knowledge and experience. It fuses creativity, photography and graphic illustration, maximising the abilities of these two creatives into a very strong team at shoots, backed by their post production skills.

The recent samples shown here are for Peugeot, a portrait for a well-known architect in Tucson, AZ and a very unusual car shot for VW in the rain.

Fabian & Istvan work worldwide and are located in Zurich, Switzerland.

zrh photography/photographers: SANDRA SECKINGER

Sandra Seckinger has expanded her portfolio with XS (baby), M (kids) and XL (lifestyle/adults).

She is represented by three agents: in Zurich, Munich, Milan.

Here, you can see some of her latest jobs:

• For Swiss client Interhome she shot the new European campaign in Spain, organised through her Zurich agent Tina Aich.
• Car seat manufacturer Concord needed new images for their campaign, which Sandra shot in Munich, arranged through Munich agent Neubauer & Springer.
• Again in Munich, Sandra shot for her Italian client Chicco, arranged via Milan agent Photogroup.
• Fairy tales time shoot for Corbis.

Coming soon are the following jobs to be published: a people shoot for life-sensor ad campaign, and the worldwide advertising campaign for Milupa through Ogilvy+Mather Frankfurt.

zrh photography/photographers: CHRISTOPH LäSER

For photographer Christoph Läser, the year started with "verve".

He worked in Miami and Cape Town, where he shot a summer sports and a trekking catalogue for Manor as well as ads for men' fashion brand Colonial.

zrh photography/photographers: DANIEL INFANGER

Daniel Infanger's year has started very successfully:

• Photographed girl band The Delilahs for Disorder magazine
• Produced for the Magazine Piazza / Swisscom
• The new image for Crossklink Basel
• He just returned from a shoot in Dubai with Roger Federer for Nationale Suisse

Currently, he is booked for a documentary shoot in Luxor for the University of Basel.

zrh production/photo production: BRAZIL PRODUCTIONS

Brazil Productions is a German/Brazilian-managed full service photoproduction company based in Zürich and Fortaleza, Brazil.

For more than 20 years, Maciria has been working as a hair & make-up artist. During this time, she has organised numerous productions and established an excellent professional network between Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza.

Jorge Steinmann is an art director, creative consultant and photographer, cooperating with established agencies, brands, editors, artists and photographers. As a former freelancer in advertising agencies and the fashion business, he developed a good understanding both of clients' expectations and creative conditions.

From its experience and knowledge of most aspects of advertising and production, Brazil Productions offers cost-effective productions in Brazil and Switzerland.

Clients include OTTO, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Intersport, Bacardi, Johnson & Johnson, Vogue, Glamour and others.

zrh production/photo production: AVOCADOPRODUCTIONS GMBH

Avocado provides production services in Russia to international advertising agencies and offers the infrastructure to facilitate shoots by foreign photographers being produced in Russia.

The company was established in 1999 by Swiss photographer Urs Wyss for own productions in Moscow in the areas of beauty, portraits, fashion, stills, architecture, lifestyle and cars.

Among its clients are Coca-Cola Russia, BAT Russia, s.Oliver Germany, Siemens Russia, Philips Russia, Procter & Gamble Russia, Johnson & Johnson Russia.

zrh production/photo production: LUMINOSA PRODUCTION

Established in 1999, Luminosa Production is a full service production company based in Lugano, with an office in Munich. The multilingual team offers a personal, comprehensive service covering research, location scouting and shoot production for photographers and ad agencies from around the world.

Luminosa invites you to discover "unexpected and unique" locations, such as fantastic and varied landscapes, as well as classic and modern architecture around Lake Lugano, Lago Maggiore, Zürich, St. Moritz and Zermatt, Chamonix and Megève in the French Alps, and from Lake Como in Italy down to Sicily.

2007 projects started with:

• Ansons in Marrakech
• GVM Gas Verbund Mitteland AG in St. Moritz
• Migros for "dipiù" magazine in Sicily
• Part of the forthcoming new campaign for Smart in St. Moritz

zrh production/photo production: CONTRA

Tessin: Photo shoot for Swisscom with photographer Andreas Pollok and CD Gabriel Peisker, AD Grit Wolany from agency Erdmannpeisker.

Wallis: Photo shoot for Mobistar Belgium with photographer Bjorn Tagemose c/o Katarina Vercammen.

zrh production/commercial production: NOVAVISTA

Novavista offers services in three main areas:

Production: Full service production company for commercial and fashion photo shoots in Switzerland and elsewhere.

Casting: Novavista handles the organisation of national and international castings with photo, video and street casting. The company has its own continually updated database with all kinds of characters.

Location: The company can find the appropriate location for your shoot and handles all aspects. Nova-Location has its own continually updated database with all kinds of indoor and outdoor locations.

zrh talent/model agencies: UNIQUE MODEL AGENCY

Recent news:

After model Raluca turned client heads in Milan, Paris and Los Angeles she worked for Swiss magazine Femina. The editorial was considered to be very successful and her clients commented on her professionalism.

Model Sara-Kristina, also regularly booked internationally, was chosen for the current Bluedog campaign, which was shot by Zurich-based photographer Patrick Mettraux.

zrh talent/artists & stylists: KARIN KERN

Karin Kern has been a freelance photo stylist for 12 years working in the areas of interior, still life and advertising. She is currently looking to expand her experience in food styling.

Using natural materials, she combines old and new and likes to give her work "cheeky accents".

In order to develop her clients' wishes carefully, Karin says that her watchwords are commitment, flexibility and team spirit.

zrh talent/artists & stylists: RUTH BUGMANN

Ruth Bugmann - r23 - is currently working on PostFinanz 2007/08's brochure, responsible for casting and styling. (Photographer is Michel Jaussi).

Other recent jobs include:

• "Fair Banking" image campaign for Kantolan Bank and Coop Bank - Ruth was booked for the casting
• On a recent trip to Dubai, she was booked for two jobs: the new print campaign and TV production for National Suisse with Roger Federer - Ruth was responsible for styling Roger Federer
• Styling for girl band The Delilahs for Disorder magazine and later display in art exhibition.

zrh event/advertising events: SHOWCASE INTERNATIONAL

zrh event/photo events: MUSEUM FüR GESTALTUNG

Two upcoming exhibitions at the museum:

Stuhl Haus Stadt - "Haefeli Moser Steiger", 30 March to 1 July
The Haefeli Moser Steiger partnership was one of the most important Swiss architectural practices of the 20th century. In Zurich itself, many milestones in the career of Haefeli Moser Steiger can be seen: the Werkbundsiedlung Neubühl and the Kantonsspital where they played a very important role, the Hochhaus zur Palme or the Kongresshaus, which is currently a subject of discussion.

"This Side Up" - Konstantin Grcic Industrial Design, until 22 April
Konstantin Grcic from Munich is a well-known designer with an international reputation. Along with his studio KGID, set up in 1991, he has made a name for himself through experiments with materials and a "constructive individuality". The exhibition shows works from the past decade, with fifty products on display. Visitors can follow the way the products were developed through drawings, models, prototypes and video films.

zrh event/photo events: FOTOMUSEUM WINTERTHUR

Two interesting exhibitions are currently showing at Fotomuseum Wintertur:

David Goldblatt - "South African Photography / Südafrikanische Fotografien 1952-2006", until 20 May
Documentary photographer whose photo projects are produced in South Africa covering the country, the people, jobs and social groups. He is the winner of the "Hasselblad Award 2006" for outstanding international photo.

Lanes of Implicitness / Wege zur Selbstverständlichkeit, until 14 October
For some decades, women where forced to engage mainly with female subjects. Only with intensive self-reflection and analysis of values were they able to be heard. This exhibition shows the progress of women and art in the last 30 to 40 years, dealing with subjects such as feminism, identity and gender.

zrh food/catering: BFINE RESTAURANT

bfine's philosophy is to contribute to people's well-being and health through healthy, tasty lunches and dinners. They offer meals that are right for the diner's taste and needs.

All menus are based on high levels of freshness and taste, with each and every meal being created by star chefs, with no compromises on taste. Meals range from traditional warm meals to high-end soups and salads with warm add-ons.

All menus are healthy and adapted to individual needs. The restaurant offers three different meal families: the regular (750 kcal), the low-carb (550 kcal) and the weight management (450 kcal).

Regarding speed, bfine says "whether you only have 30 seconds for lunch or would like to take it home as take-away, bfine allows you to enjoy our meals your way".