Written by James Peak on Jun 16, 2009. Posted in Production News

Stella Artois chooses Mallorca

You would be forgiven for thinking that Stella Artois' latest spot, Tunnel, was filmed on the French Riviera as the ad continues to use creative agency Mother's classic 50's & 60's cinematic style.

However, this chic Cannes Lions nominee, directed by Ringan Ledwidge and produced by Rattling Stick, was actually shot on a stretch of road between Banyalbufar and Estellencs on the Spanish Island of Mallorca.

Ledwidge and Rattling Stick collaborated with one of Spain's biggest and most successful production service companies, Palma Pictures, to prepare the groundwork.

"When we saw the requirements of the script our locations department put together some great options for tunnel entrances, strips of road with sea views and restaurant terraces. All of which had to look like they were straight out of the 1960’s." Says Mike Day, Palma Pictures' Managing Director. "Ringan was very happy with what we offered up and in fact the final locations were all drawn from that first round of options."

Ledwidge and his team then went over for a recce in advance of the shoot. Formentor, on the North West tip of the island was one of the proposed locations but when they went there Ledwidge decided that it was just "too spectacular" to be the backdrop for the commercial as it would be too distracting.

Eventually a stretch of road between Banyalbufar and Estellencs was chosen to cover most of the driving shots - you can see it in the opening shot of the commercial. They filmed for four days and most of it took place in the roads and mountain top villages of the rugged north coast.

Palma Pictures, which has serviced over 750 commercials and 20 films since its creation in 1993, has also recently undergone a major rebranding. Mike Day said: “We're very proud of our new look. We feel this new logo is easily recognisable, striking, modern and unique – but we're still the service based company we've always been.”