Why The Bahamas is the best backdrop for any commercial production

Many are surprised by the amount of productions that happen in The Bahamas yearly. While we are not a large feature film destination anymore, gone are the days of Pirates of the Caribbean and Casino Royal filming here, countless commercials, TV Shows, and web series are filmed here every year. From Survivor to HGTV to Mr. Beast giving away an Island, The Bahamas has played backdrop to projects as far apart as black is to white. That brings me to why I write today, some of the biggest brands in the world have found the Bahamas as a go-to backdrop to highlight their unique brand aesthetics. However, what's interesting to me is how these brands and the subsequent ads created differ so vastly from one another. This has led me to conclude that The Bahamas must be the best backdrop for any commercial production. (Unless you need snow, we did have some hale this year though.) Yes, of course, I'm biased, I live here.

Let's take a look at two international commercials, that were filmed on two different Islands in The Bahamas. We had the pleasure of contributing to both of these productions so we have some first-hand knowledge of their respective goals.

BTS from Giorgio Armani Production

BTS From Lily Soap Production

Our first ad is one for Giorgio Armani. The agency was Publicis Luxe and the production company, Shake Productions.

This ad saw Chase Stokes and Jonathan Daviss, two stars from the Netflix hit series Outer Banks as ambassadors for Armani's new refillable perfume. This ad uses the Island of Eleuthera as its playground and evokes the idea of stylish fun with a hint of sophistication. With the black and white color scheme, you are removed from the traditional idea of the Bahamas as an island paradise and transported to what feels like an adventurous journey of freedom. The cinematography uses unique compositions with off-angles and seeks to have the stark contrast of black and white in every frame as an odd to the Giorgio Armani cologne bottle. As the 2nd AC on the set, I remember thinking, "boy you wouldn't think that this ad was shot in The Bahamas." It just shows how the Bahamas truly can facilitate the visions of any creative, once you're not looking for Brownstones that is.

No brownstones Here :)

The second ad we are looking at is for Lily Soap, a beauty soap brand from Remarks USA LLC. This is a brand from Bangladesh, and they came to the Bahamas to film their launch commercial with acclaimed Bangladesh Actor Shakib Khan and famed director Iftakar Chowdhury.

This film, shot in Nassau Bahamas, took the route of using the beautiful oceans and tropical landscape of the Bahamas to take viewers on the journey of a paradise love story. With rich vibrant colors, soft textures, and a beautiful Bangladeshi rhythm, this film desires to showcase Lily soap as your go-to beauty soap. The cinematography is simple with elegance, locked-off shots with strong composition and subtle movements in the approach. As the cinematographer on this production, I was tasked with ensuring that talent looked their best in every frame, Making for a more stylized glamour approach in contrast to the natural more suave feel in the Armani film.

Lily Soap highly stylized paradise vibes

Giorgio Armani Naturalistic, gritty vibe, with stark contrast

Do you know how two artists can have the same canvas, same brushes, and same tools, but create two stunningly different pieces of art? Now take those two artists and add in 700 different islands, over 200 miles of ocean, unique environments, hills, caves, beaches, blue holes, calm seas, rushing waves, sand banks, palm trees, swimming pigs, and urban architecture, the possibilities for stunningly unique imagery become endless. That is what we have here with the ads for Giorgio Armani and Lily soap. The Bahamas is more than simply paradise, it is the most unique film destination in the world. Yes, I am biased!

New Hill Productions supplied crew and rented equipment to both of these productions. If you are a producer looking for crew or production equipment in the Bahamas, send us an email at info@newhillproductions.com. We would love to connect with you.