Jamaican company films top-rated show in LatAm for Amazon Prime
Collaborates with Visceral Productions
Published:Monday | August 28, 2023 | 12:08 AM
Jamaica has long been a bucket list tourist destination for beach lovers, carnival revellers and the throngs who have come to worship at the altar of all things Marley; however, added to all that now is the island’s allure as a film destination, and the GDP is loving it.
In the summer of 2022, up-and-coming M-1 Productions Ltd landed the chance of a lifetime: an invitation to collaborate with Visceral Productions to film the Mexican reality show De Viaje con los Derbez. This series centres on the family of Mexican actor and comedian Eugenio Derbez, one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most recognisable stars. It ranks number one for Amazon Prime in Latin America.
The premise of the show centres on the Derbez family vacationing in Jamaica and trying to ground themselves in the culture. They traversed the island filming at scenic locations like Dunn’s River Falls, Glistening Waters, the Waterland Art Walk, the School of Vision, Rasta Village, and even made it up to the Blue Mountains. The series promises to expose Latin American viewers to Jamaica’s culturally rich tapestry beyond the beach.
Javier Williams, who is senior vice-president of 3Pas Studios in Los Angeles and CEO of Visceral in Mexico City, was also on the ground in Jamaica, leading the team and directing the show.
“After two extremely successful seasons of the Pantaya and Prime Video show De Viaje con los Derbez in Morocco and in the US, we were looking for an interesting place not too far from Mexico that would offer exciting possibilities to explore our travel stories with our cast,” Williams explained.
“We wanted a place that combined natural beauty with a cultural experience and social scene that could help creative activities and situations where the travelling family would flourish, while at the same time taking the audiences on an enticing journey with us. Also, we were looking for a beach environment, at least for a part of the trip, to have our cast travel to a different environment than they did in the previous two seasons,” he added, noting that Jamaica came out on top owing to the beauty of its natural enclaves and its unique blend of culture, vibrant music, counterculture, and history.
Visceral reached out to M-1 more than a year ago about being the land company in Jamaica. In addition to line producing and production fixing, M-1 provided daily logistics and meals, and also rented equipment to Visceral, provided audio engineers, and supplied crew to assist with lighting and audio recording.
“They were always on top of things alongside us, patiently explaining to us the local processes and opening all the possibilities that the island offered to our production, while at the same time helping us in solving the unavoidable issues in any production, moreso in an unscripted one. We are happy that with the help of Jamaica’s film commission we met M-1, and to have them as our guides in the local sensibilities and landscape and our key holders in the island was quite fortunate,” explained Pablo Calasso, COO of Visceral.
Apart from the production and technical support, M-1 also provided some creative input by acting as a cultural ambassador, exposing the cast and crew to the very best of Jamaican culture.
While the prospect of giving the tourism sector a boost is exciting, Saeed Thomas, CEO of M-1, was equally enthralled by the cash injection which the local economy received during the filming process.
“The Rok Hotel had just opened when we booked it out for weeks to film. That’s where all the foreign crew stayed and where we set up our production base. Visceral hired a 30-person local crew and engaged caterers, food trucks, drivers and transportation companies for the duration of the project. When we filmed at different locations, those places were paid location fees and will benefit from increased exposure once the show airs.”
This experience has expanded Thomas’ vision about filming with foreign companies in the future.
“Most of our experiences have been with English-speaking foreign companies, but working with Visceral allowed us to tap into a completely different market. We realised how big that market is, and we hope to be able to partner with Visceral again, as well as other Latin American production companies that want to harness Jamaica’s vibrant culture.”