Going Global

Several members of the Hothouse Inc. crew recently returned from a two-week-long shoot that took us to two vastly different places: Portugal and Poland. In addition to collecting passport stamps, group selfies, and a few tacky souvenirs, we passed through customs with a wealth of footage for a beloved global brand. Shooting across the pond is different from domestic efforts for obvious reasons, but some of the lessons learned surprised even this industry veteran.

1. Preparation doesn’t equal perfection.

Location scouting, prep meetings with key on-site stakeholders, reserving spaces ahead of time, and building a schedule around the venue’s preferred times. Mood boards and wardrobe lookbooks and finalizing scripts. You can do EVERYTHING ahead of time to anticipate or head off complications once you arrive, but chances are, SOMETHING will break. Whether it’s having to rearrange the shoot schedule on an hourly basis because of unexpected conflicts or visiting 5 Polish malls to add a pop of color to wardrobe, it’s best to assume Murphy’s Law rules the set.

2. Invest in your team.

Having the right team on set — not just your crew but also your client partners — gets you the best results. Though it can be tempting to limit the number of travelers for cost-savings, having the A-team on hand to react, adjust, fix, rewrite, approve in the moment is invaluable. From the second we stepped on set, each of the four Hothousers had a role to play, and those roles evolved as needed. One minute, I was dressing the set; the next, I was editing entire swaths of the script because the talent muffled words ending in “-ing.” Our clients rolled up their sleeves too. They stood in as talent, styled F&B props, and hung with us long after wrapping to finalize the next day's shot list. Their trust in our abilities and willingness to problem-solving on the fly created a set with great vibes and even greater results.

3. Things will still get lost in translation.

No matter how hard you try, there will still be moments when things are miscommunicated. Short, neutral, manicured nails were an important part of the lookbook, so when the talent showed up with long, hot pink ones, we had to request a fast redo by the next morning. We re-sent the actual lookbook. We sent pictures from Google. And when the talent returned, her nails looked…exactly the same. ??

4. The time zone struggle is real.

Leading up to the shoot, the eight-hour difference between the U.S. and Europe often left us feeling like we were chasing the clock. Add to that a set of stakeholders 12 hours ahead and “delayed response” became the norm. We had to be strategic about scheduling meetings and setting deadlines so that one team could make progress while the other slept. Unknown to us but observed locally in Portugal and Poland, several holidays impacted casting and wardrobe. And differences in what constitutes a work day required reworking the shooting schedule to avoid overtime. Luckily, working with a fixer in each country gave us the insider knowledge needed to adjust and keep the train moving.

5. Pace yourself.

The rest of the world doesn’t operate on American speed. From email response rates to meeting accessibility and even the speed of things on set, cultural expectations of work vary. We’re so used to immediacy that anything less can feel like a slight. It was a good reminder to chill TF out. It’s just advertising. It will get done. So shhhhh, here. Eat this pastry and come back when you're less hyper.

6. Please and thank you: important words in any language.

In the U.S., we’re all clamoring for our 15 minutes of fame, but in Europe, they could’ve cared less about the cameras and just wanted us to get out of the way. While we did our job of capturing content, others needed to do theirs. Remembering to say “please” and “thank you” went a long way in appealing to those who might be most operationally impacted by our presence. So did putting a room back EXACTLY as we found it. Pro tip: take a picture before you move everything around. It’s a lot easier to put the puzzle back together.

7. Take time to experience the world.

Do your job, then take advantage of every moment you can. Try that weird sardine taco. Take the post-dinner walk through Old Town on four hours of sleep. Turn down the alleyway. Go inside that antique tile shop. Sing The Chicks during Polish karaoke. Climb onboard a random trolley, even if it leads you back to where you started. The gift of travel is not to be wasted. It’s a true privilege to work and see the world.