Compass Rose Answers 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions

Pavla> Compass Rose serves as a ‘concierge’ service and an umbrella structure in key strategic markets to a very tight group of best-in-class service production companies. The people behind Compass Rose – Amy, James and myself – have a huge wealth of experience working as producers, heads of productions, MDs and EPs, we have all been in the business for a very long time and have a lot of personal experience working in all of the countries that we have under our wings. We are also strategically very well positioned with Amy in LA, James in London, and me in New York – so we are literally at the production companies’ fingertips - whether they just want to quickly pick our brains about where best to shoot a project that just landed on their desk or seek help to facilitate multiple country locations, talent research, and bidding. 

Pavla> The service production companies which are part of the Compass Rose family can be found in hand-picked destinations and currently include Stillking Prague and Cape Town; Entity Films Slovenia and Croatia; Icon Films Bulgaria and Romania; Tuna+Icon Serbia; Spectrum in Mexico; and 24/7 Spain, Portugal and Chile. With this roster, we’re able to cover almost 90% of all the scripts we receive and, due to the variety of our locations, studios, climate options and skilled crews, provide creative solutions for any size of production, big or small.

James> We are a team of experienced producers and, what’s more, we bid our regions constantly so remain fiercely up to date and on point with the goings on in each territory. As producers find themselves with shorter deadlines for bidding and increasing workloads, our input can be utilised not just to advise but sometimes to challenge perceptions of where and how things work. More often than not, we help validate decision making processes and enable producers to focus on the options that will give them the best chance of winning the job. We can handle much of the nitty gritty of bidding overseas, bringing provision parity between competing bids so that accurate value judgements can be made about the merits of each option. All this goes on behind the scenes so the producers and MDs that utilise us just get the relevant info, sorted, ordered and ready. 

Amy> Production companies are so busy, with deadlines ever shorter and budgets ever tighter, and quite frankly, scripts ever the more complicated. Being as it is a big part of our mission is to work as trusted partners with our clients. Of course, we streamline and facilitate offshore bidding (and on our client’s time zones) but more than that, we really partner with our heads of production and EPs to help hone the brief, break down the script, figure out an approach, and offer our recommendations on where the script works best, creatively and financially. 

We come to the table as experienced producers - so no matter if we are working with our EP and producer colleagues in the various countries within our close-knit group, or an EP, HoP or bidding producer in North America, UK or Europe - we spent time in their shoes, we understand where they are coming from, and we are all in to help solve the production puzzle.

Pavla> Nothing! We are fully financed by our service companies, we do not cost production companies anything, nor does our service add any costs to the service budget. 

Pavla> We’re very lucky to have worked with some of the best production companies out there on multiple award-winning projects over the years. Two spots picked up prestigious Cannes Lions awards at this year’s festival while B&Q’s ‘Flip’ was one of the most high-profile spots that we worked on last year. 

AICP | 1 Win & 4 Shortlists

D&AD | 2 Graphite, 1 Wood & 1 Shortlist

The One Show | 1 Gold, 1 Silver & 1 Shortlist

British Arrows | 3 Gold, 1 Silver & 5 Shortlists

BFDG | 1 Win

Shots EMEA | 1 Silver & 2 Shortlists

Ciclope | 2 Shortlists

Shark Awards | 2 Silver

Cannes Lions 2022 | 1 Bronze & 4 Shortlists

Cannes Lions 2023 | 1 Bronze & 2 Shortlists

AICP | 1 Win & 4 Shortlists

D&AD | 4 Shortlists

The One Show | 1 Bronze & 2 Shortlists

Shots The Americas | 2 Gold & 2 Shortlists

British Arrows | 1 Shortlist

Ciclope | 4 Shortlists

Cannes Lions 2023 | 1 Bronze & 5 Shortlists

AICP | 1 Win & 1 Shortlist

D&AD | 1 Graphite, 2 Wood & 2 Shortlists

The One Show | 3 Silver, 1 Bronze & 4 Shortlists

Clio Awards | 2 Silver, 1 Bronze & 2 Shortlists

British Arrows | 5 Shortlists

Amy> The fact is, every country in our group has their own really special offerings that set them apart from all others. Top of mind there are some wow factors that people may not know about.  For example, we have some amazing backlots within our group: Bulgaria has an incredible New York/London backlot and fantastic water tank. Romania has the backlot recently used for Tim Burton’s ‘Wednesday’. In Prague, hands down, we have the best art department and model makers outside of Hollywood. We have countries with stunning coasts and beaches. We have countries that offer every kind of architecture you could want, from baroque to brutalist. If the desire is to film in Europe, we have bountiful options. If there’s desire to stay close to the US, Mexico City is just a short flight away. If summertime looks are needed in the dead of winter, we have options in South Africa and Chile.

James> Can we? It’s our forte! We are totally unique in that while the companies we represent will compete fiercely with each other to win a job, we engender a level of cooperation between them that is unrivalled. All the companies know that such cooperation strengthens their offering, creating a robust support network. Any labour shortage or equipment availability issue can be solved speedily by turning to other companies in the group and we will move fast to alleviate any issue on this level. Such close cooperation creates the perfect environment for multi-country shoots where we and we alone can create a continuity between countries that is impossible for others to replicate. 

Pavla> We also have companies in our group that are so well positioned geographically that with the same set of crew, we can cover multiple regions. Great example of that was our recent VW multi-van commercial that was produced out of Slovenia, but we travelled with the same crew to shoot in neighbouring Croatia, Austria and Italy. I do not have to explain that covering multiple countries with one set of crew becomes hugely financially beneficial!

Pavla> We collectively work with Green The Bid, we use their resources and follow guidelines. At the same time, all of our offices have always been very sustainability conscious and have had green practices in place for some time now. There are obviously differences in what can be done and some countries may be more advanced than others in various practices like composting and recycling, but everyone has sustainability close to their heart and does the best they can within the limits of their country.

Recently, we helped with the launch of Green the Bid’s new sustainable production manual. It was born out of a collaboration with service companies around the globe and it clearly demonstrates how committed we all are to making sustainability a priority in our markets. Because the source of the guidelines, templates and examples stem from this international collaboration, the information within the manual is that much more practical, authentic, and inspiring for service companies who believe in the importance of sustainable practices.

We take these issues, whether it’s addressing sustainability or diversity and inclusivity very seriously and we’re aware that it’s a global problem. I believe that generally everyone in the industry wants to do the right thing. 

For us, doing the right thing in this context means looking at diversity and inclusion through a local lens. In other words, addressing a global issue locally. And it’s not for the sake of ticking a box. What we want is to make a real difference to underrepresented groups in the countries we’re working in. To us, diversity and inclusion need to actually help underrepresented and minority groups within specific regions. For example, in Spain, people from Morocco need to be better represented and in Eastern Europe, it’s the Roma community.

Amy> Spectrum Mexico, our office in Mexico City, was entrusted to create magical, beautiful puppets and suit builds right out of the imagination of Jesse James McElroy for Honor Society’s Philo campaign. On an extremely tight schedule, and with the dedicated efforts of our amazing team, we were able to produce an incredible number of builds that were absolutely stunning and other-worldly.

In Bulgaria, Icon Films Sofia built a massive and heart-stoppingly tall gimbal for Oscar Hudson’s B&Q Flip with Pulse. The spot itself is so beautiful, and to watch the ‘making of’ with the house literally being flipped upside down with the most talented crew you can imagine making it all happen. That was really something else.

James> Ahhh, if you work with us, you’ll find out!