international locations for production Dec 2011

"New Zealand: the world in one country." 

Locations in close proximity, diverse, epic, extreme and glorious. New Zealand has friendly people and is uncomplicated, cost effective and easy to get around, with highly skilled photo and film crews, world-class equipment and post production facilities. 

AJ Films offers high quality production service and location facilitation to international clients for photo and film commercial productions.  

The most important aspect of a successful production is excellent location scouting to find the perfect location to suit clients' needs. The company thrives on offering creative solutions to projects, providing location suggestions along with quick turnaround quotes, establishing new partnerships and "making it happen."

AJ Films is currently in production for Solarworld Germany with the new Solar Racer GT car, travelling from Auckland to Bluff with photographer Peter Keil and DOP Ben Ruffell. Clients include Nissan X-Trail, Nespresso, Decathlon, Quechua, Marie Claire, David Jones, Audi, Toyota Hilux, Vodaphone, Mercedes, Volvo, Porsche, BMW, Lexus and The World Gold Council. 

Call or email producer Amanda Jenkins to discuss future projects.  

AM Production Services offers still photography production across Central and Latin America.

The company provides an original and excellent variety of locations throughout South America with 12 years experience producing in the most remote and beautiful locations on the continent.

Latest projects include Neimann Marcus S/S catalogue in Brazil and Sol Beer produced between Mexico and Argentina, along with many others.

Worldwide photographers and clients rely on AMPS' experience and guarantee of finding the right spot for their creativity.

Visit the online location section or send an email to enquire about the digital image library.

"We turn your ideas into productions."

This year Artists Group has used several different locations rather than traditional backdrops, including off road locations for car productions combined with the usual clean mountain, city and country roads.

Stadiums are always a good option in Portugal, with a good variety having been built for the 2004 Euro Championships. This Autumn season has seen the company shoot on construction sites and in the container port of Lisbon. A productive shoot was completed at the La Varzea Polo Club, and Artists Group will soon be filming in one of the oldest and most beautiful Palaces in Lisbon.

Coming up will be roof-top parking lots, gardens and architecturally beautiful houses. 

"Portugal really tops the lists when it comes to finding the right locations, no matter how different."

bigshrimp represents a wide selection of locations in northern and eastern Germany, particularly Berlin. Throughout the year the company scouts interesting and suitable locations to ensure a constantly high quality location database.

To hit the requirements of its clients, bigshrimp has been assigned to a number of scouting trips in 2011. Operating as a full service photo production company since 1998, its location and model pools have grown extensively.

bigshrimp's comprehensive knowledge in casting and production services fulfil the briefs of every client - no matter how extraordinary their ideas may be.

Executive Producer Fred Fantun established his company in 1999 and has worked exclusively on his business for over 10 years.

Prior to starting his own company, Fred gained valuable production experience working for over two years with a long-standing British production company in Marrakech.

Fred’s nationality is French yet he was born and bred in Marrakech, Morocco, and has studied languages at universities in both France and Spain. He is fluent in French, Arabic, Spanish and English, enabling him to work successfully with production crews of any nationality.

Groh Locations is a location scouting and film services agency based in Berlin. It supports German and international production companies for TV, film, photography and advertising across all manner of projects.

The company's team of experienced location scouts and wide network of contacts in culture and politics enables the realisation of all inquiries.

Groh Locations specialises in locations in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne/Düsseldorf.

Advertising and film/TV clients include René Lezard, Boss, Wrangler, C&A, IKEA, Levi's, Gabor, Microsoft, Königs Pilsner, Commerzbank, Deutsche Post, ARIEL/Procter & Gamble, music video SIDO, Pro7 TV show 'Model-WG', RTL TV show 'Böse Mädchen', feature film 'Mr. Nobody' with Jared Leto and ZDF film 'Die Steins'.

Hi-Location is a young and dynamic location agency and production service, born out of the experience of Annalisa Bertoletti and Silvia Grittini.

The company provides amazing locations for photo shoots, commercials, TV, films, events and product launches and constantly searches for new venues and places to improve its archive. 

Besides locations, Hi-Location offers full organisational support and can handle every aspect of a shoot, from preparation to the wrap. The company collaborates with the biggest modelling agencies, hair and make-up agencies and equipment rental companies, and has excellent relations with accommodation and transport providers. Hi-Location also guarantees to keep budgets as low as possible.

Kaktus Production offers a full range of production services for the photographic and film industries on St. Martin / Sint Maarten, St. Barts and Anguilla. From stunning turquoise water and white sand beaches to luxury villas and picturesque Creole-style houses, the company has the unique, eye-catching locations that bring every clients'  concept and vision to life. Located only four hours from NY, three hours from Miami, and eight hours from Europe, its locations are not only stunning, they’re also highly convenient.  

Kaktus partners with leading photographers, art directors, producers and agencies to provide deep local, industry and technical knowledge while always ensuring the highest degree of comfort and convenience. By steadfastly focusing on clients’ needs, the company delivers results on time and on budget. Et bien sûr nous parlons Francais!

Services include concept development, casting, location scouting, team coordination, travel and accommodation, permits, equipment, vehicles, crews, post production services, and more. Editorial and commercial clients include Yves Rocher, Vogue and Princesse Tam Tam.

Visit the website, call +(590) 690 485 611 or email Kaktus today to discuss any upcoming location needs.

LocationScoutUSA provides comprehensive location scouting throughout the United States and Argentina, and is equally at home in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Buenos Aires.

The company has worked in 32 different American States but is based in California due to the amazing variety of locations, great weather and production support services. With 15 years of experience in the advertising industry, LocationScoutUSA specialises in a combination of understanding production logistics and good photographic composition. Service to the client always comes first.

Clients include American Express, Audi, Coors, Goodyear, Kodak, L.L. Bean, Progressive, Toyota, Victory and Volvo. 

Ad agencies include Carmichael Lynch, Goodby, Silverstein  & Partners, GSD&M, Idea City, Rubin Postaer and Associates, Saatchi & Saatchi, and others. 

Photographers: Anatol Kotte, Tyler Gourley, Michael Moore, Nigel Harniman, Hakan Ludwigson, Jan Steinhilber, Thomas Strogalski, Barry Hathaway, and many more.

Luminosa Production has been offering its services to international clients for over 10 years. Operating from Lugano, Zurich and Munich, Luminosa covers a large part of mid- and southern Europe, focusing particularly on Switzerland, the Alps, the south of France, Italy and Munich.

The company believes in providing a personalised service tailored to the various needs and requirements of each individual client.

Recent projects included:

• Bogner Magazine summer 2012 in Italy - Lago di Como and Florence.
• Christian Berg in Chamonix.
• German fashion chain store Peek und Cloppenburg in Italy and Munich.
• GANT in the French Alps.
• Madleine in St. Moritz.
• BRAX in Zürich and Austria.
• Elegance in Munich and Chamonix.
• Vögele in Munich and Kitzbühel.

Thrilling glacier shots from a helicopter, laid-back days on a chic river boat on Lake Como, the famous city of Florence and stunning Tuscan villas, wooden chalets in the French Alps, the well known coast of Amalfi, romance in Venice, clean modern locations and fake snow set-ups; Luminosa has the experience and knowledge to find the right spot for every project and transform it into a perfect and unique location

Mount Ray Thailand operates as a full service photo production company covering all production needs.

Providing professional production services to make any shoot as easy and effective as possible, Mount Ray offers accommodation services, location scouting, customs handling, organisation and technical support for productions in Thailand.

Visit the website for more information.

Production Istanbul organises and manages photo shoots for ad campaigns, catalogues and editorials worldwide, working in the studio or out on location according to clients' specific needs and requirements. The company optimises every shoot by managing budgets and respecting deadlines.

Thanks to a large network Production Istanbul can produce anywhere in the world, particularly in Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Morocco, Cyprus, South Africa, the USA, Israel, China, UAE, Egypt, Croatia, Macedonia, Thailand and Bali.

The company provides a full range of services, including casting, vehicle rental, equipment hire, experienced bi-lingual crews, full production service, hotel bookings, insurance, location scouting, permits, location management, lighting rental, medical assistance, special effects, stunt people, trained animals, on site catering, props sourcing, and more.

Marbella-based Santa Monica Productions is a full service production company for photo, film and video productions covering the entire Iberian peninsula. Established in 2000, the team - formed around Yiannie Lamb and Kirsten Fleig - are the best choice when shooting anywhere in Spain. With a location image-database of over 500,000 digital photos, Santa Monica Productions is the best partner for every type of pitch.

Recent productions included:

• Actimel '7th Heaven' TV commercial.
• Bavaria film for BMW in Ronda with Andrea Grassi.
• KIA automobiles with Igor Panitz in Benidorm.
• Bentley GTC south of Spain.
• Fitflop worldwide campaign in Valencia with Steve Hiett.
• Migros Switzerland in Malaga with Eric Schmid.

Other clients include Porsche, Burberry, Volvo, Jaguar, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jamesons, G-Star with Anton Corbijn, Hugo Boss with Peter Lindbergh, Vodafone, Laurel, Husqvarna, Stihl, Suzuki, Schick, Lipsy with Pixie Lott, Philip Morris, S. Oliver, San Miguel, Duplo, and many more. 

Shoot in The Alps is a film and photo facilitating company operating in the European Alps. With the region straddling five national borders the company works between France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia as if they were a single geographic entity.

The company's database includes year-round snow locations, mountain chalets, modern architecture, extreme sports locations, magical forests and breathless scenery that it can make accessible to any crew.

Providing solutions to every possible logistical need for film and photo productions, Shoot in the Alps handles everything from location scouting, specialised crews, stunt people, mountain safety experts and helicopters, to warm cups of espresso at the top of a glacier. Its strength lies in detailed knowledge of the alpine territory provided by a network of professionals who live and work in the region throughout the year.

The company's connections and expert knowledge allows clients to make the right decisions when planning, choosing locations and the equipment required.

With 18 years in Cuba and 12 in the production world, Take me to Cuba tries to get beyond the typical image of Cuba with its old cars and old men playing guitar. Cuba is a young and vibrant country that is not too far away from stepping onto the international ladder.

There are a number of misconceptions that make clients discount Cuba and its great beaches, amazing cities, wonderful people, empty roads and no traffic jams. For instance: Americans are not welcome. Wrong!! Americans are very welcome and according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the US is the second largest issuer of tourist visas after Canada.

Take me to Cuba has completed many successful productions over the years, including a secret car campaign for Mercedes-Benz, Nivea, Olympus and Audi, but the company's strongest asset remains its fashion productions, be it advertising, editorial or catalogue. 

The BigMama is a production service company specialised in obtaining excellent quality audiovisual materials with cost optimisation. Its young and slim company structure, which also relies on a network of individuals throughout the country, allows for speedy feedback and location proposals.

The company's philosophy lies in the belief that production, much like cooking, relies on the quality of the ingredients: locations, people and technical equipment are therefore carefully selected according to every client’s requirements.

The BigMama is based in Milan but operates throughout Italy and is the most skilled team to work with for projects on the beautiful island of Sardinia, covering all kinds of scenario from wonderful beaches to amazing landscapes for car-shoots.

Colombia is by far one of the most underrated production destinations. Many areas and cities are worth taking a second look at, and the number one amongst these locations is Cartagena de Indias, next to Havana the best-kept former colonial city in the Caribbean.

Cartagena-based Two Brothers Productions has probed for many years and is now the only real photo production services company in Colombia, even though their local producers have been in the film location business for most of the last 20 years. It's not just the great beaches, modern and old parts of town, boutique hotels and amazing architecture that make Cartagena a fantastic destination; security is very high, permits are easy to get and its doors are wide open - the temporary import regulations for collection and camera equipment are much easier to handle than in other Latin American destinations. 

Yucatan Productions is a full-service production company located in Merida, Mexico. The company produces catalogue, advertising and editorial work across Mexico, from the Caribbean Coast (Riviera Maya, Cancun and Tulum), to the Pacific Coast (Los Cabos, and Baja California).

Mexico provides an ideal all-year-round environment for photography, with consistent weather, a wide variety of locations, professional crews, reasonable production costs and many outstanding and as-yet undiscovered sites.

“Yucatan Productions brings the locations to you, and then you to the locations!”

Clients include Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Tommy Bahama, Elle, Sports Illustrated, C&A, Glamour, Getty Images, Pacifico, Otto, Urban Outfitters, Esquire, Next, Neiman Marcus, Jockey, Printemps, Nu Skin, Free People, Merrell, Hewlett Packard, Martha Stewart Prod, Etam, Projek, Beco, Fedex, Private Member, Camaieu, Delia's, Image Source, Condé Nast, Corbis, Quelle, Verena, Jolie, Poetry and Wrap, Vogue, Grazia, Apple, Sofft and Look Magazine.