I was enthusiastic about the color "Soul Red Crystal Metallic" right from the start... the name itself is fascinating and when we took our first test shots with the customer, I noticed how ambitious it would be to get this color right. But let's start from the beginning...

After we had already realized two projects for Mazda - a studio project and a shoot in Barcelona - the new task was on the table: the launch film for the new MAZDA CX-5. The Avantgarde agency from Cologne was again responsible for the concept and we were supposed to realize it. The task was to stage the different target groups of the car and to tell emotional stories. Since the cars would land in Barcelona by ship, it fell to me as production manager to find an environment nearby that was at the same time varied and emotional enough to stage the car... and the color as well.

Of course, Barcelona was the obvious location, but we quickly realized that in this urban cosmos we wouldn't be able to produce the images adequately and at reasonable cost.

Through the contact to a well-known production service we got the idea to shoot in Ibiza. Hmm, party and hippie island - that was the first thing that came to my mind, but the first pictures from Ibiza already taught me better. To be sure, I had to go there myself, get a feel for the island and find the spots.

So at the end of March 2017, I went to the island for the first time for this job. Together with Scout and Creative Director, we spent two days in the middle of nowhere - and found everything we needed. It's amazing what you see when you're on the road with your "film glasses". May I confess that it was fun? Yes, I think I may... admittedly, it was exhausting, but highly rewarding. Although the island is small, it offers extremely different locations in the shortest distances; whether urban environment or artist studio, whether dream beach or motorway, whether big city architecture or fishing village - everything was to be found within one hour of travelling time.

After a second tour with Director and DoP at the beginning of April, we shot with two teams simultaneously on five days at the end of April. What can I say, Soul Red Crystal Metallic was a dream on Ibiza. We were turning everybody's head and that wasn't only due to the rigging and the actors ...

The only problem was: the weather, contrary to all experience. According to our scout, it was the first two rainy days of the year, just in time for our planned final scene. When you look out of the window of your hotel room in the morning and it is raining cats and dogs - that's a moment you won't forget (by the way: even in the rain the red was just awesome).

But no matter, we were well prepared and very flexible thanks to our two teams. On the overall, things worked well and the key scene, where our three cars meet at an off-road intersection, was just great.

Conclusion: Ibiza offers fantastic locations within the smallest spaces for shooting great pictures and it was simply made for the CX-5! The tourist infrastructure (flights, hotels, rental cars etc.) is great and the cooperation with the authorities went smoothly as well. But beware: better avoid from May onwards because that's when Ibiza becomes a hotspot for others. For us filmmakers, Ibiza is interesting from October onwards again.