Director Rodrigo Garcia Saiz Makes a Run for the Border

Boxer Films' Rodrigo Garcia Saiz Makes a Run for the Border

 
The Mexican director, a partner in Central Films, has been exporting
his versatile directorial approach to the US market via Boxer Films.

Rodrigo Garcia Saiz has brought his award-winning touch to the US market.

What's on a man's mind in the instant before a fatal crash?  That's the question metaphorically posed in Director Rodrigo Garcia Saiz's bracing "Office" for AMIS, the association of Mexican insurance companies, which recently took a 2011 Gold Lion at Cannes. 
 
The award for this spot, created by Ogilvy Mexico, is the latest accolade given to the Latin American work shot by the prolific Saiz.  In the spot, a man is sitting at his desk in his office when the desk seems to slam into something, jerking him violently around, as though he's been in a car accident.  The spot goes on to point out that most accidents happen when people are thinking of something else rather than watching the road.
 
Since launching his career in Mexico City, the director has shot over 500 TV spots for a wide range of brands.   In 2009 he signed with the L.A.-based production house Boxer Films, in an effort to broaden his base in the US and bring his versatile directorial style - one that can veer from intense drama and emotion to goofy, offbeat comedy-to an English - speaking audience.
 
The Cannes recognition is not a first for Saiz, who also took home Bronze Lion in 2009 for "Mariachi" for Swinkles Sweets out of Leo Burnett, Mexico and a Silver Lion in 2010 for "Crash" for Hospital San José, also from Ogilvy Mexico.  The spots represent an interesting counterpoint to his style; one is a quirky visual sight gag, the other a shocking PSA meant to stop viewers in their tracks.

A man preoccupied by work becomes a metaphor for distraction in "Office."

His most recent Lion caps a string of honors for Saiz. For example, the "Mariachi" spot, in which two guys who are sitting on the shoulders of mariachi musicians play tennis using guitars for racquets, along with a spot for Lucas Chili Powder Candy titled "Trailer," in which an odd hitchhiker and a bearded truck driver bond over its intense flavor, were both rated with the coveted '8' on Burnett's Global Product Committee list, its internal global creative rating system. It's rare for a spot to exceed a '7' on the Burnett scale, the widely-accepted benchmark of success, but rarer still for two spots by the same director to accomplish this feat in a single year.
 
Saiz was also recently honored as Director of the Year for 2010 by a consortium of Hispanic marketing agencies, and won a 2011 Chicago Addy for his Allstate work out of Lapiz USA.

While Saiz's work often goes in for shock value, it's often marked with an eccentric sense of humor. An example is his spot titled "Population," one of several Saiz shot for the recent Cinelasamericas Film Festival in Austin, Texas.  It explores what the world would look like if all five and a half million Uruguayans in the world gathered in the same spot.  Saiz shows us by cramming men into a shower stall like they were sardines - soapy sardines, at that - or having them walk a dog that's tethered to eight leashes.
 
About his ability to cross effortlessly between international markets and cultural borders, the director says it's really more about the concept than anything else. "If a script is a good idea, I don't care if it's in Spanish, English or Chinese," he notes.  "I love working with actors and bringing some cinematic flair to everything I do, whether it's drama, comedy or fashion."

What if all the Uruguyans in the world came home? In "Population," it would be a dog's life.

This approach, he adds, is born of necessity, given his background.  "In Mexico, as a director you have to know how to do everything," he points out, "and whatever you do has to rise above a lot of clutter."
 
Saiz's "Office" PSA typifies the attention-grabbing side of his work.  It was shot entirely in-camera, a technique the director prefers, using a complex network of wires and pulleys attached to the actor to make the crash effects work on set.  The rig was later erased in post. 

The precision required to capture this effect is similar to the approach he used in the similarly themed "Crash."  But unlike the metaphorical accident that's seen in "Office," the one in "Crash" involved literally flipping a sports car in a violent crash on the open road. Saiz's conviction to shoot an actual car accident in-camera was so strong that he bankrolled the shoot out of his own pocket. 

In the wordless ad, a guy in a shirt and tie is seen driving his car along a winding, four-lane road. As he rounds a curve his tire blows out and the car does a massive somersault, parts flying. It tumbles to a halt and, after a second or two, the door opens and a young woman in a jogging outfit gets out, adjusts her headphones, and takes off on a run.  "Be an organ donor" then appears on the screen.

A fatal car accident gives a woman a new lease on life in Saiz's Lion-winning "Crash."

Saiz got his start in the industry through the production ranks.  He studied cinematography at CEUC (Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematograficos) in Mexico, while he spent his time outside of his studies creating short films.  Later, he studied direction at the International School of Cinema and Television in Cuba, and participated in acting and directing workshops at NYU in Manhattan.
 
Upon returning to Mexico, Saiz began working as an AD on feature films and commercials. In 2002 he followed his passion for commercial work by founding Central Films. The shop has since become one of the top Mexican production houses, winning awards at Cannes, FIAP, Clio, Circulo Creativo de Mexico and other top competitions.
 
Looking forward, Saiz intends to replicate his Latin American success north of the border.  While he's been repped in the States before, he now feels that he's in the right environment to make a mark in the US, and is excited about being on the Boxer roster and partnering with EP John Barreiro. 
 
"Boxer is the perfect size for me," Saiz says. "They can get absolutely anything done, but they're not so big and overhead-heavy that they inflate the budget."  Indeed, he adds, his connection with the company extends beyond what's in the pitch and what's on the bid. "More importantly, the people there are like family now."

Published 3 November, 2011