Project: a 60-second spot, "PS9" for Sony PlayStation 2.

Ad Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles

Production Company: Believe Media, Los Angeles, with Erik Ifergan as director. Salon Films serviced the shoot in Hong Kong.

Mandate: The elaborate spot, which takes place in a futuristic city, required both ultraslick modern architecture as well as older buildings and streets. In addition to a fight scene and a motorcycle chase, the spot also called for an underwater sequence in which a woman turns into an octopus.

The Solution: While Rio de Janeiro was briefly considered, Hong Kong was the obvious choice because of its extremely contemporary architecture, in addition to the fact that it is not particularly recognizable to US audiences.

Executive producer Liz Silver of Believe Films had worked successfully with Charles Wang of Salon Films on a previous spot for Budweiser and he was an important liaison in doing everything from securing locations to obtaining crew and solving shooting problems.

Casting in Hong Kong for the lead actor and octopus woman, producers were frustrated by the lack of a diverse ethnic talent pool. "We actually cast our hero talent in Sydney, Australia," says TBWA/Chiat/Day senior producer Jill Andresevic, who says extras were easily found in Hong Kong. "We wanted to have a range of talent and we chose Australia because it was close. We actually did the casting there twice before we found who we wanted."

As well as Ifergan and DP Darius Khonji, Believe brought over the production designer, producer, stylist and make-up. Santa Monica's Method handled effects and director of visual effects Alex Frisch was involved in the job from pre-pro, through the shoot and into post.

The bulk of the crew was provided through Salon. "I will say that the Hong Kong crew was amazing," says Silver. "Darius normally travels with all of his keys but he agreed to come alone. He was very impressed by the local film community and said they were fast and hardworking and as professional as any crew anywhere."

"There are no unions," adds Silver, who indicates there was at least a 25 percent savings on crew costs compared to the States. "Overtime is negotiated on a job-by-job basis and is not necessarily a set figure." Silver also notes there weren't the same restrictions with stunt people as in LA. "We were able to achieve many dangerous stunts you couldn't necessarily achieve elsewhere, like having someone step off the fifteenth storey of a building," says Silver, who adds that the stunt crew was extremely experienced. "Again, because there are no unions, the same restrictions didn't apply, but they were very aware of safety issues." The bulk of the equipment was easily rented in Hong Kong, also at substantial savings. The only thing unavailable was a camera car, so they jury-rigged a flat bed.

Hong Kong was difficult to shoot in because street closure isn't allowed. "It's an extremely crowded city so when you have no street closure and big scenes, it's tough and we were constantly being interrupted by people walking by or traffic trying to get through," says Silver. Wang has worked on several Jackie Chan pictures and is a seasoned producer. "Charles pulled some strings with permits," says Silver. "There was a motorcycle scene that we ended up doing in the parking lot of a building and Charles got that through his contacts which was great because we couldn't get any streets closed."

The production team had their hands full with various challenges. They got Formula One motorcycles from Australia for the chase scene, which were stripped down and painted to look modern. In addition, a deep swimming pool was needed for the underwater scene, the logistics and timing of which forced them to shoot a 25-hour day to get all the footage they needed.

While Hong Kong's modernity was essential to the spot, Ifergan only used particular elements from the city, relying heavily on effects to create a spot which looked futuristic. "Alex Frisch at Method was so instrumental in making this work," says TBWA/Chiat/Day producer Jennifer Golub. "In the opening scene, he added a building in the background, a subway, and a sky bridge that moves across. The scene is virtually unrecognizable from what was originally shot. It's the city of the future." Music/sound was done by Mit Out Sound; editing by Angus Wall of Rock Paper Scissors.

Agency Credits:

Executive Creative Director: Chuck McBride

Associate Creative Directors: Scott Wild and Eric King

Copywriter: Scott Wild

Art Director: Eric King

Senior Producer: Jill Andresevic

Producer: Jennifer Golub