The Madrid-based agency's clients include Mitsubishi, Lynx (a German appliance maker), leprosy-fighting NGO ANESVAD, Coca-Cola brands Aquarius and Nordic Mist, Selftrade.com and on occasion, Nike. Commercials produced for these clients have included "Pregnant Cops," a Mitsubishi spot featuring "Charlie's Angels"-inspired moms in their mini-vans (directed by David Alcalde, who also directed "Jungle" for ANESVAD, see pg. 21); hyper-kinetic ping-pongers getting crazy before a comatose auditorium for Aquarius (directed by Nacho Gayan of Piramide); or a heroic refrigerator taking a bullet for its owner for Lynx (directed by Peluca). Gorospe, who has been with the agency for nearly three years, chalks up the agency's commitment to unrelentingly creative work in no small part to agency president, Alejandro Rojas.

"He is by far the most creative of all agency presidents I have known. He really bets on ideas he likes. We have presented many ideas already shot to clients, because he thinks that ideas the client wouldn't approve of should be shot," says Gorospe. "Many commercials would never have been done if the client had to imagine the film from a mere script, but on the other hand, many times the agency has lost money because of this."

A recent example of this is a six-spot "Nordic Mist" campaign produced in advance of client approval, with young director Yann Malka directing one spot. Gorospe loves the spot and offers up a hopeful but "what the hell" attitude regarding its eventual approval. When it comes down to producing the work, Gomez and Gorospe use each other as sounding boards to produce up to 35 commercials per year between them.

"This makes our work quite experimental and varied, says Gorospe. "When a script is approved, we are never happy with the first list of directors that crosses our minds. The creatives come up with really fresh scripts, but our clients usually have very little money and time - usually so little that Sebastien Grousset, Victor Garcia and Pep Bosch would send us straight to hell. Not to mention Michel Gondry, Frank Budgen or Spike Jonze. So we have to bet on that guy who did that funny short film, what was his name...?"

That said, the agency does work with top names on the Spanish and global scene, including Peruvian Allan Batievsky of Group Films, Stink's Ivan Zacharias, Italian Alex Orlowsky and American director Robin Willis. The Nike campaign produced in 2000 via Tesauro, directed by Fernando de France kept within a, shall we say, restrictive budget and won the agency a Gold Lion. In creating the "Pregnant Cops," Propaganda Producciones' Alcalde and DP Angel Iguacel created a retro-hip 1970s USA environment for the spot's "with child" stars during a three-day shoot in Madrid.

"We usually do humor and David has a great show reel, but with more aesthetics than anything, so we told him he should really go crazy. He put so much of his own into the casting and directing talent, he even did designs of the girls' fake nipples, and took care that they were perfect all of the time," says Gorospe. "As the for the silhouette graphics, they were made by Rafa Rodulfo, a famous Spanish painter. All the girls in the agency are in love with him, which is horrible."

The Lynx appliances campaign directed by Peluca through Wind offers an example of a like-minded agency and directing team finding an opportunity to work together after some trying. While the boards had a slightly longer timeline than the three weeks Gorospe calls typical, budgetary concerns kept the production from taking place in Peluca's hometown, Buenos Aires. Gorospe says pricetags on spots or packages produced by Remo Asatsu range from $25,000 US to up to $1,000,000 US for international clients. However, the agency does work abroad when appropriate and possible.

"Sonia went to Napoli to shoot for Mitsubishi and Brazil for ANESVAD, and I went to Colombia to shoot another Mitsubishi spot and to Finland to shoot with Victor Garcia. We've also been in Prague, Bangkok and Cote D'Ivoire," he says. "Travelling is always nice and the commercials definitely look different when they are shot in Bogotá or Manila rather than Madrid or Barcelona."

Speaking of Spain's two most important cities, Remo Asatsu is firmly Madrid-based and plans on keeping it that way.

"We don't have offices in Barcelona. We are a small agency and try to keep it that way," says Gorospe. "If you have seen any soccer games between the two cities, you can tell there is clearly a rivalry. But not in advertising. Sure there are more production companies in Barcelona, but most agencies and clients are in Madrid, so they have to come here for the PPM and post-production and we have to go there to shoot. I bet Iberia Airlines makes a lot of money from us."

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