Recently our Florida video production company had the chance to work with Grand Villa, a resort style senior living community with multiple locations throughout Florida, to film a TV commercial campaign at one of their communities. We went to their St Petersburg, Florida location to learn more about the services they provide to their residents, take a tour of the facilities, and brainstorm ideas for the commercial.
Director Christian Cashmir and grip Sasha Sebesta film with our Dana Dolly and Sony a7S II.
Tampa video production services
Once we had a chance to sit down and speak with the marketing team and get a feel for the community, our production team was excited to draft a script for the project and provide our Tampa video production services. With multiple communities throughout Florida, Grand Villa is one of the more popular retirement communities among seniors, hosting a friendly staff, resort-like amenities, and high quality assisted living services.
Makeup artist, Nikki, puts final touch-ups on makeup before filming the 60’s flashback dinner scene
The video production process
Working together with Grand Villa marketing team’s Ben Rizzo and Clint Dockery, Litewave Media founder Christian Cashmir and writer Mike Garland planned out a fun, emotional story to film. Over the course of a week, the team transformed the idea into a fully developed commercial production- complete with storyboards, costumes, cast, and crew. The concept of the shoot was to journey through the life of a woman at milestones in her life, shown through various decades encompassing the 1950’s, 1960’s, and present day. Our Tampa video production crew was ready to begin filming!
Steadicam operator Eric Coughlin, director Christian Cashmir, and Grand Villa’s marketing guru Ben Rizzo review footage in between takes.
Stocked, locked, and ready to rock, we drove our St Petersburg grip truck to Grand Villa to begin our first day of filming. Their St. Petersburg location was a great choice for production as it boasts tennis courts, a pool, coffee shop, multiple hair salons, and a grand dining room complete with its own cafe. With multiple areas perfect for cinematic storytelling, our crew began filming with our Tampa video equipment rental package. Using our Canon C300 mkII and Sony A7sII video cameras with Canon cinema lenses, director Christian Cashmir helmed the production, bringing his technical skill and directing expertise to the project. Alongside Steadicam operator Eric Coughlin, our Tampa video production crew flew in our Arri and KinoFlo 4 Bank lighting kits, and also filmed scenes on our Dana Dolly.
Our Florida video production crew films a scene on Steadicam for the Grand Villa commercial
We recorded a little time lapse of one filming location (shot by grip Sasha Sebesta):
On day two of the shoot, our Tampa video production crew planned to travel in time to the 1950’s. But, since our time machine was out of batteries, we decided on the next best thing: Johnny Rockets, a 50’s-style diner. Our crew loaded up our grip truck and set forth. With a vintage theme, leather seats, and decor reminiscent of the 1950s, Johnny Rockets was the perfect place to film a scene for the Grand Villa TV ad campaign. The quiet restaurant was transformed and set ablaze with colorful costumes, laughing actors, crew members, and of course a classic dish of ice cream. (The crew may have had refills)
Actors Lexi, Linda, and Chris during the second day of filming at Johnny Rockets, a 50’s-style diner.
Post Production Time
After a lively, creative shoot it was time to head back to our Tampa Bay video studio to begin the editing and post production process. We hired a top notch voice-over actress, who we captured in our sound booth and Tampa recording studio. Our post team even created a visual effect sequence to augment the great work our production crew started.
The cast and crew at Grand Villa St. Petersburg celebrate completing the first day of filming.
Our Florida video production crew had a great time working with the Grand Villa team on such a fun project. The TV commercial will air regionally in Florida. You can also watch the finished commercial below!
Have you heard of the most prestigious dentists in the 7 kingdoms!? Litewave Media, one of Tampa’s leading video production companies, had the absolute pleasure to film a series of commercials inspired by the hit HBO TV Series, Game of Thrones (with a little bit of King Arthur sprinkled in). A group of dentists, 3 brothers from Spring Hill, known as Shuayb Dental partnered with Litewave Media to write and produce the spots titled, Game of Dentists. The TV ads began airing last week all throughout Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Check them out below!
Game of Dentists – 60 Second Version
Game of Dentists – 30 Second Version
Game of Dentists – Sword of Destiny – 30 Second Version
Our crew filmed the TV ads right here in St. Petersburg, FL at the Sunken Gardens. It may not be Westeros, but with some custom set design and intricate costumes, our crew worked to bring the medieval commercials to life. Our production company brought out our Tampa grip truck to the location where filming took place for the day. Our valiant cast and crew endured heat and a tropical storm, but we powered through it all with umbrellas and tents to ensure the whole production was completed on time!
DP Eric Coughlin films with the Steadicam and Canon C300 mkii as the Knights of Shuayb enter
Our crew included makeup artists, Nikki Stefansic and Ginny Dworchak who created a prosthetic beard for a wizard and dirtied up a group of peasants; set designer Don Knight who created a real life-sized sword-in-the-stone prop as well as large stone columns; and costumer Josh Todd who created peasant outfits and custom leather armor for the three Shuayb brothers known as “The Knights of Shuayb” in the commercials.
Our Tampa Production Company’s crew after wrap on the Game of Dentists commercials
The spots were written by Mikey Garland, Mario Graniello, and Christian Cashmir. Christian and Eric Coughlin co-DP’d the commercial with Christian Cashmir, Litewave Media’s founder, directing.
The rest of the crew included Johanne Castagan as prod. coordinator, Andrew Ortoski as gaffer, Mark Farag and Jake Jalbert as ACs, Sasha Sebesta and Mikey Garland as grips, Jason Henne on sound, Jona Prenga as PA, Delon Epps did catering, and German Ponce on VFX. Christian Cashmir edited and colored the spots at Litewave Media’s Tampa post production company.
The Litewave Media crew films Game of Dentists with a Princess and the Knights of Shuayb
CAST
Mohammad Shuayb – Lord of Shuayb
Mujib Shuayb – Knight of Shuayb
Omar Shuayb – Duke of Shuayb
David Hershman – Wizard
Vanessa Tompkins – Tooth-hurt Peasant/Princess
Micah Popp – Skinny Knight Arthur
Zack Vazquez – Sir Magnus
Monster Washburn – Giant Death Knight
Heckler Peasant Boy – Chris Cavalier
Heckler Peasant Girl – Samantha Maguire
Peasants – John Archer Lundgren, Payton Booker, Jeff Sheppard, Josh Todd, Vivian Hauck, Thelma Duff, David Koepfinger, Jason Adkinson Walsh, Brian Ballance
Director of the spots, Christian Cashmir, with the Knights of Shuayb in their Tampa TV commercial production
If you’re looking for Tampa TV commercial production for your business, contact us today for a free consultation. Be sure to like us on Facebook to and catch up on our latest videos. Or follow the Litewave Media blog to stay up-to-date on all of our St Petersburg video production company’s news!
A few weeks back, our Tampa video production company had the chance to write, shoot, and edit a Star Wars fan film for the official competition sponsored by Lucasfilm and Disney! The challenge, put on yearly, encourages filmmakers to write, produce, and edit their very own fan film set in the Star Wars universe. There are various categories in which filmmakers can garner recognition: best visual effects, filmmaker select, audience choice, and more. When our Tampa video production company heard about the competition, we just had to throw our lightsabers into the mix!
Our Tampa film crew getting a low angle shot of young actress Lennon Brock (just 5 years old!).
We started out with an idea from Litewave Media founder Christian Cashmir and developed it into a short story with the help of writers Mike Garland, Mario Graniello and Steffen Thiel. We wrote in a bit of mystery, intrigue, sprinkled in some tragedy, and of course an epic lightsaber battle (what Star Wars fan film is complete without one?)!
An professional team of stunt choreographers and performers helped to plan out the intricate battle scenes. After a few days of choreographing in detail, our Tampa video production crew were ready to capture our fight scenes on film.
Director Christian Cashmir, actress Mary McDonnell, and camera operator Jake Jalbert review footage on the set of our Star Wars fan film. (Photo: Courtesy of Anthony and Estelle Brock)
With scripts in hand, prosthetics and makeup on, and fight choreography fresh in our minds, the Litewave Media team drove our Tampa grip truck to our first location in Dead River, part of the Hillsborough Wilderness Reserve. Using our Tampa video equipment rental package, our fearless crew hauled gear through the dense woods to our filming location. Miles out, in the middle of a swamp, not unlike Dagobah, our crew setup camp for the first day of principle photography.
Working alongside park rangers, our Tampa independent film production went off without a hitch. Working around the clock, we were able to successfully film all scenes and finish the production on time despite the many challenges presented by the location.
Steffen Thiel, in his (potentially award-winning?) American film debut, as Stormtrooper TH-137.
Director Christian Cashmir and Cinematographer Eric Coughlin worked together using gear from our Tampa video equipment rental package including the Canon C300, and C300 mkII, SteadiCam, MoVi M5 with Sony A7s mkII, and plenty of lighting to give the film a cinematic look. We even brought out our portable generator to the forrest so we didn’t have to stop at Tosche Station to pick up more power converters!
Actor/Stuntmen M. Joshua Todd and TJ McDonnell ready themselves for battle during our Star Wars fan film shoot. (Photo: Courtesy of Anthony and Estelle Brock)
After a successful shoot, it was time to head back to our Tampa post production suites to start the editing process. We had a ton of excellent footage, but we needed to add in lightsaber effects and, of course, the epic sound design and music that makes every Star Wars film so unique. We utilized our Tampa recording studio to record ADR for the main characters, replacing their dialogue with studio quality recordings of their voices – much like the original Star Wars did.
Next, we reached out to our friend Angelo from Panetta Studios to partner with us on the sound design for the film; He and his team created soundscapes, brought the lightsaber battles to life, and transformed the swamp into a character in its own right. They gave our antagonist a unique voice effect as well! Our editors and visual effects team put in a few sleepless nights to make the deadline, and with the hard work of our dedicated team, our film was ready to compete!
Our editing and special effects teams work to finish our Star Wars fan film.
Finally, we submitted our completed film to LucasFilm and Disney for the Star Wars Fan Film Awards, and it was time to celebrate! aarrragghuuhw! That was Wookie for “Partaaaaay!”(seriously, we looked it up). We had the whole team over for a cast/crew screening of the finished film, which we projected on the large white cyc in our Tampa video production studio. What a blast!
Two young padawans (Zack with actress, Lennon) practice lightsaber skills during the cast/crew screening of our Star Wars fan film.
Check out the finished film below:
Do you have a feature film or Tampa short film you would like to produce? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest independent films. Be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!
Over the last few weeks, our Tampa video production company has been busy shooting new TV shows for Netflix and Discovery Channel as well as TV commercials and Florida corporate videos right here in our own Tampa video production studio. We’ve also had the opportunity to work on an independent feature film with some pretty amazing actors.
Our Florida video production crew recently worked with the one and only Burt Reynolds! We were able to operate a teleprompter for Mr. Reynolds for his entire time on the production. “It was a great opportunity to work with Mr. Reynolds. I used to watch his movies, and now we are filming together”, says Litewave Media crew member Steffen Thiel.
Our Tampa video production crew member Mike Garland with acting legend Burt Reynolds.
On another recent project, we were happy to welcome the team from the Special Operations Warrior Foundation(SOWF) to our Tampa video studio. SOWF is an excellent group dedicated to supporting the families of wounded and fallen Special Ops Heroes. “The foundation is great! They help these families both financially and spiritually to get them back on their feet. They’re just an incredible team of caring people who know what it’s like to lose a family member like that and want to help in any way they can,” says our own Tampa video crew member and Air Force veteran Mike Garland. Litewave Media founder, Christian Cashmir was on set for the TV commercial as 1st camera assistant as well as Andrew Ortoski who gaffed the shoot. Litewave Media’s own Johanne Castagan, Rich Brito, and Steffen Thiel also worked on the shoot. Look out for it on ESPN where it will air nationwide!
5 Hour Energy’s TV commercial production filming at Litewave Media’s Tampa video production studio.
Check out the commercial below:
Our Tampa video production team also had the great opportunity to work on a new Netflix series called “Captive” which will be airing this summer. Director of photography Christian Cashmir operated our MoVi M5 camera gimbal for the show with our Sony A7s II on-board shooting in 4k!
On the new Netflix show “Captive,” Litewave Media’s Christian Cashmir operates our MoVi M5 camera gimbal with Sony A7s II
Our next shoot brought us down to beautiful Anna Maria Island. Litewave Media’s Tampa video equipment rental and Tampa grip truck packages were on hand for this national TV show for Discovery Channel. Christian Cashmir served as director of photography on the show “Stranger Than Florida”, while Sasha Sebesta and Steffen Thiel worked as grips. The Litewave Media camera crew provided lighting, video, and audio gear for the high-end broadcast production of this national TV show.
Our Tampa video production company shooting an interview for the Discovery Channel show “Stranger Than Florida”.
Quite a few of the projects we film go to LA, New York, or elsewhere for editing and finishing, but many stay right here in St. Petersburg, Florida to work at our full service post-production facility, Litewave Studios. Our Tampa post-production suites feature state-of-the-art equipment, voice over booth, and modern editing programs to service large scale productions.
It’s been a busy few weeks at our Tampa video production company, but that’s just the way we like it!
“You want some blood?” Zombies and gypsies reigned supreme this Halloween at our Tampa video production company. Earlier in 2015, Litewave Media partnered with director Iris Saunders to produce the short film “The Pirate Gypsies.” Litewave Media’s founder, Christian Cashmir and Iris Saunders co-wrote and produced an original song called Walk Like a Gypsy for the movie. And so, this Halloween, our Tampa video crew got together to film a 60’s throwback, zombie inspired music video for their original song, Walk Like a Gypsy.
Our zombie gypsies are ready to start shooting (or eat our crew)
We filmed the music video over the course of three nights, one night at our Tampa video production studio and two nights at a forest near the studio in St. Petersburg, Florida. Before the first shoot day, choreographer, Johanne Castagan, rehearsed with the dancers at our Tampa video studio. Costume designer, Bridget Bartley Desjarlais, met with the team and designed costumes for the music video.
The dancers practice their choreography one last time before filming
On our first day of shooting, with a little inspiration from Michael Jackson’s, “Thriller”, we filmed a gypsy zombie dance sequence in a forest near our studio. With 12 performers dancing, fog machines blowing, and three cameras filming simultaneously, the scene came together quite nicely.
Our special fx makeup artist, Ginny Dworchak, and hair stylist, Jane Figuera, transformed the dancers into flesh-eating zombies! The lighting team including, Rich Brito, Andrew Ortoski, Harold “Pinky” Hood and Chris Plourde lit the forest with some HMI’s and Jokers from our Tampa video lighting equipment and Tampa grip truck rental package.Our Director of Photography, Kenny Strawn, filmed with our Canon C100 mounted on our EZ FX jib. We also filmed with our Sony FS100, Sony A7s and a Canon C100 Mark II on a Steadicam to get a variety of angles of the performance.
1st unit DP, Kenny Strawn, gaffer, Andrew Ortoski, and PA, Chris Plourde, mount the camera on the EZ-FX jib
For the second shoot day, our set designer, Don Knight, transformed our Florida video production studio into a 1960s performance stage, inspired by The Beatles’ Ed Sullivan Show performances. Our very own Christian Cashmir was the male vocalist and guitarist while Ann P aka Ann Poonkasem was the female lead vocalist. Alissa Schneider and Jenique Hendrix played as backup singers, Ricky Fernandez kept the beat as drummer and Grant Johnson layed the beefy licks as bass player. Bridget and Jenique Hendrix outfit the band members with 60s period clothing while Jane Figuera and Ann P styled hair and makeup.
Our studio was lit by the 2nd day’s DP and gaffer, Andrew Ortoski, with our key grip, Sasha Sebesta. Andrew filmed with our Canon C100, Canon & Zeiss Cinema Lenses, and skateboard Dolly from our Tampa camera equipment rental. Our SteadiCam operator, Eric Coughlin, shot with a Canon C100 Mark II and Canon L Lenses.
The Jypsies are ready to debut their new single Walk Like a Jypsy!
For our last shooting day, Litewave Media’s Tampa video production crew travelled back to the forrest. John Jones lit the location with the help of Chris Plourde and Maxime Puister. The team used a Joker 800 and LED lights to create the look of moonlight in the woods. In this scene, the fog machines rolled again while Ann P’s Mother Zombie Jypsy lured Christian Cashmir and Alissa Schneider into the darkness. John was the director of photography for the scene, and he filmed with the Sony A7s which was great for the low light look of the scene.
The crew films on a skateboard dolly in our Tampa video studio for Walk Like A Jypsy
Editing and color correction were all finished by our Tampa post production company at our HD/4K editing suite. Check out the “Walk Like A Jypsy” music video BELOW!
Our Florida video production company wants to thank everybody that worked on this shoot and helped us bring our vision to life. It was one of the most enjoyable and creative shoots we’ve been a part of!
