Odd Machine’s L.A. office was in the driver’s seat for the production of a series of 12 commercial-length videos that captured the action of Fiat’s highly anticipated classic new vehicle, the Fiat 500 Abarth, for showcasing on Fiat’s website.
Agency was the Miami office of international internet marketing and creative design SapientNitro for whom Odd Machine L.A.’s office earlier had produced web videos for the European introduction of a diesel engine Jeep.
The car was inspired and named in honor of the rigorous performance standards of Italian racing legend, Carl Abarth, who engineered and built a revolutionary some of Italy’s most famous racing and sports cars
“It’s a powerful little car with a lot of torque, so it was important to do it justice on camera and convey just how exciting it is to drive,” says Elizabeth Collins, Odd Machine L.A.’s executive producer.
Shooting for the first half of the videos began in early April. Two cars were utilized for the action, driven by professional precision drivers. Paris-based, international car cinematographer Stèphane Vallée shot with the Red Epic, over two days on the streets of Las Vegas, the curves of Spring Mountain Raceway and the sands of the Jean Dry Lake Bed.
Three of the videos featured Italian supermodel Catrinel Menghia, whose appearance in Fiat’s 2012 Super Bowl commercial made her the overnight face of the vehicle’s beauty.
The final videos were shot at the April 26 Fiat introduction, the first “Fiat 500 Abarth Driving Experience” in which five automotive bloggers were by Facebook fans to team up with professional drivers in a series of driving challenges.
Odd Machine shot the event as the videos were updated throughout the day and posted on various Fiat social media networks.
SapientNitro edited all the footage internally into 30- to 90-second videos
The L.A. office has a current staff of three, Collins, Nav Singh, creative development and Alec Pinkston, also creative development who will move to the Chicago office as EF, replacing Kim Walsh, who left the company.
