Bella makes San Antonio shine in new campaign

Agency Rest of the World, in partnership with Chamoy Creative, recently engaged full-service production studio Bella and director Rob Adamo to produce the cross-media brand films at the heart of this year’s national Visit San Antonio campaign.

Building on Rest of the World’s mission to bring multicultural spirit and creativity to the mainstream, Creative Directors Sergio Alcocer and Chamoy’s Alejandro Perez-Segnini developed two extended scripts for this campaign. With the envisioned brand films running just over two minutes apiece, each presents a novel approach: The Many Stories of San Antonio follows a visitor and a local (Anna and Amy) as they experience the city’s renowned cuisine, explore vibrant markets, and visit breathtaking parks together; while The Many Secrets of San Antonio highlights many individuals’ unique interests to showcase the city’s most beloved offerings and its globally acclaimed attractions accordingly.

In the hands of Adamo and the team at Bella, including editors Brandon Roten and Jonathan Rogers, these extended brand films came to life beautifully, along with a massive volume of world-class original print imagery. As further credit to the agency and production collaborators, their premium content also appears in numerous :30 and :15 versions, in both English and Spanish languages. Featured extensively across each of VSA’s social media channels, through the agency’s innovative media plan, the spots also continue to appear via CTV and online placements.

“Our campaign is about sharing unique stories where San Antonio plays a pivotal role as a vibrant protagonist,” Alcocer explained. “To achieve this, we needed to collaborate with a director who not only creates beautiful visuals but is also a master storyteller. Rob excelled in this capacity, doing a phenomenal job of capturing the spirit and essence of our campaign.”

“After working on so many tourism campaigns across the country, we are in awe of Visit San Antonio’s outstanding efforts to deeply involve all key parties early,” said Perry. “We are most grateful to their team for opening every door possible to make this campaign everything it could be.”

To use Adamo’s word, the agency’s scripts rocked. “They are so detailed and genuine,” he began. “I loved the adventure story scripted between Anna and Amy in Many Stories, and then we had the chance to do something totally different and anthemic, with a diverse set of characters in Many Secrets.

“While the two scripts are very different,” Adamo continued, “they share a common spirit, where the adventure, history, culture, and natural wonder of San Antonio is all on full display. These are experiences of a lifetime for these characters that inspire our audience to book visits for themselves.”

The production and post team from Bella was led by executive producer David Perry and also included director of photography Keenan Newman, live-action producers Amanda Dillingham, Cesar Velasco and John Rains, and post producers Erin O’Hara and Rockie Britzmann.

While the filmmakers’ dedication to meticulous research and preparation involved exhaustive location scouting, Adamo, his colleagues, and the agency’s team also worked very closely with Michael Druck Casting, CSA. “We always know that the more we plan, the more freedom we will have on set to embrace the magic of spontaneity,” the director added. “For our on-camera talents, we committed ourselves to finding people capable of transmitting real and raw emotions.”

On locations all across San Antonio, over several days and nights, Adamo, Newman, and their crew captured a virtual ton of live-action footage. In the course of detailing the team’s contributions, Newman first shared high praise for the project’s producers. “With up to seven locations per day, Cesar, Amanda, and John overcame one road block after another,” he said. “They had to move at light speed to set up the crew for success and still leave room for improvisation, ideation, and whimsy. They put us in situations where we could capture the most cinematic moments, experiences, and images.”

Next, Newman called out camera assistants Ryan Zarate (1st) and Ryan Sultemeier (2nd). “Their ability to attack creative problems in real-time allowed us to adapt to challenges we faced and kept us moving at an impossible pace,” he continued. “The beauty you see in the cinematography is a reflection of the preparation and focus The Ryans delivered on set.”