A Spin Through the Continent
1999
IRIS Ohyama
Wisconsin is home to quite a few companies with global operations.
In 1999 one of them - IRIS – a Pleasant Prairie manufacturer of plastic storage units – was about to open their new facility in Tilburg, The Netherlands and they asked us to produce a marketing video for potential European customers.
Since the shoot was going to be the first trip to Europe for Joe, our videographer, we added a week to the schedule so we could show him a few of the sights.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
When we arrived, we dumped the gear at a hotel near the IRIS factory so we wouldn’t have to haul it around and took off by car toward Germany.
After a night in the Rhine valley, we drove to historic Rothenburg and then took a break for a mostly liquid lunch at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich.
Revived, we spent the next day in Neuchwanstein and the Bavarian Alps.
Yes, that is Neuchwanstein.
No, that is not Mad Ludwig.
Hofbrauhaus break
Prosit
Bavarian lake.
Mountain man.
This whirlwind tour continued with a night in Switzerland and then we were off to Paris.
When we checked into our hotel just off the Champs d’Elysee, we weren’t crazy about the room but the front desk said there was nothing else available except “her” apartment and that “she” would be returning before our stay ended so we couldn’t have it. We eventually managed to overcome this objection and we spent our stay in the City of Light in a lovely suite in the center of town.
Our apartment in Paris.
The Chateau Frontenac.
The two-bedroom apartment.
We never found out who the woman of mystery was but we certainly enjoyed both her Parisian apartment and the city itself.
Countdown to 2000
Arc de Triomphe
Tuileries Garden
Le Louvre
Joe on La Tour Eiffel
As the week ended we retrieved our gear in The Netherlands and went to work creating the presentation you’ll see below.
Chickita’s Sex Paradise
Shooting Rotterdam harbor
Finding the proper work-life balance can often be a challenge.
This project was a time when I think we got it exactly right.
Now here is a clip of the IRIS video we shot during this trip.
