Cinestudio, mon amour
there were real people behind those voices
Andrea di Gregorio – Copywriter
I first got in contact with Cinestudio way back in 1986. I was still a junior copywriter doing my best to figure out what was going on in the phantasmagorical world of advertising, commercials, and video production of a leading Agency in Milan, when I was given the opportunity to follow the production of a children’s commercial for a range of Mattel toys.
I was thrilled at the idea.
It was almost midday when I reached the courtyard of that legendary address in Milan (No. 10, via Macedonio Melloni) where Cinestudio has its offices. I was intensely curious to see, smell, and get the drift of that highly attractive and yet still mysterious world.
An actor was dubbing a video. His face was new to me, but I did recognise his voice! I had heard it so many times… it was true then: there were real people behind those voices…!
I was immediately struck by the control and postproduction room: highly sophisticated equipment, with lots of lights, reels, levers… (most of all I remember betacam recorders… featuring awesome control panels, full of buttons and mysterious switches: not far from those featured in a Star Trek episode). Then I noticed a pleasant smell, and two smiling people welcoming me: a girl called Marlise and a tall, grey-haired man. I was struck by his kindness. He was Sandro Bertoni, Mr Cinestudio.
They showed me around the premises, where the TV production set had already been prepared and they invited me to eat something with them. I immediately fell in love with publicity film-making, with the food, with the actress interpreting the mother of the kid who was the commercial’s main character, with Sandro and Marlise Bertoni, and with Cinestudio.
We have often been working together since. I also began working for another agency, doing some free lancing work, and then I started to work for the publishing industry … time has sped past.
I have always enjoyed going back to Cinestudio’s offices, or visiting their impressive (400 sqm!) studios, even only to say hello. I’m still deeply fascinated by the control and post-production room, with its leading-edge equipment and looking like a super modern spaceship, featuring devices I can hardly fathom, like Avid DS, Nitris HD, Protools HD, with a pleasant smell lingering all over the place, and the expertise and kindness that Marlise and the entire Cinestudio’s team bestow on their visitors.
All these years, Cinestudio has kept on producing toy commercials for boys and girls, jingles, and doing localization of feature films. However, of all their many different activities – all carried out with an eye to excellence –, I was particularly impressed by the unparalleled know-how they have acquired in food advertising: a highly appetizing, unique style, for which, I learned, they have also earned a few awards at Food Porn festivals in the US…
“Food Porn”:not bad at all for a production company specializing in kids ads