Diego de la Maza: How Britney Spears, Nintendo and Mexican Cinema Built a Profound Love for Film Craft
The best way to understand a person’s career is to look at the work that made them. Their first campaign. The campaign that someone else did that made them jealous. The campaign that taught them some painful but useful lessons. And the work that they’re proudest of.
In partnership with Create This, LBB’s The Work That Made Me channel celebrates the work that shaped the lives and careers of some of the industry’s most well-known faces.
In this interview, LBB speaks with Diego de la Maza, head of production at Deutsch LA. When it comes to production, you’d be hard pressed to find a more energetic or accomplished advocate than Diego, whose career to date has featured head-turning work for the likes of Nintendo, Taco Bell, Dr Pepper, 7-Eleven, Hulu, Behr Paint, and countless others. In fact, Diego is an Emmy-winning film producer who now finds himself heading up broadcast, film, music, content, print and experiential production teams at Deutsch LA.
On top of all that, he also runs Steelhead, Deutsch's own 50,000 sq ft production company comprised of in-house directors, makers, offline editors, animators, motion graphics and VFX artists.
It comes as no surprise, then, that Diego describes himself as a ‘film buff’ with a particular interest in the history of Mexican cinema. Here, he reflects on his proudest moments, the perils of ‘inauthentic’ work, and why he’s so jealous of Spike Jonze’s production team…
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
I’ll never forget the first TV spot for Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers. Four people in mascot costumes of iconic characters like Mario and Pikachu, All of them frolicking in a field to The Turtles’ “So Happy Together”… until they start beating the living crap out of each other!
It felt very disruptive and unlike the happy-go-lucky universe Nintendo had created up to that point. If someone had told me then that I’d be making commercials for Nintendo today, my little teen mind would’ve exploded.
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time”. Hands down, I was obsessed. I watched it in my room (praying my parents wouldn’t walk in) while dancing and singing, over and over and over again. I remember going online to see who the director was and diving into all his videos.
As a gay kid in Texas, there was something strangely comforting to see that Nigel Dick could make videos for bands like Def Leppard and Oasis, but also create amazing work for Céline Dion, Cher, and yes… Britney. That’s when I started viewing content through a different lens, paying more attention to storytelling, craft and the people who put these projects together. I knew from that moment that I wanted to be involved in creating videos like that.
The creative work that I keep coming back to…
I’m a total movie nerd. I love film, but especially Mexican film and filmmakers. From the 1960s film noir I used to watch with my grandparents to the inspiring work that dominates today’s awards circuits, I find myself rewatching a lot of these films and feeling a sense of pride. Iñarritu, de Fuentes, Fernández, del Toro, Cuarón… I could go on. All of them are masterful storytellers with powerful perspectives and incredible range.
My first professional project…
My first agency project had me assisting a documentary shoot for the US Army. We were filming ROTC students who were transitioning to active duty. I had no idea what I was doing, but it was in Spanish and I could speak and write fluently, so they asked me to come along.
I didn’t care what I had to do- I was so happy to finally be involved in a production. I spent half the time prepping ROTC students who couldn’t speak Spanish very well. We would find a quiet place and we’d practise Q&As with me correcting their responses until they memorised some talking points. I nailed it.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Without calling anyone out, I get angry when I see performative and inauthentic work. Of course, there will always be badly executed and forgettable work, but I try not to be too harsh - especially knowing how hard it is to get something produced these days!
What I can’t forgive are brands that appropriate underrepresented groups just for sales. It’s easy to talk the talk but, but we need to hold more brands accountable for walking the walk.
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
I’d like to take the high road and say I don’t get jealous of other peoples’ work… but I’d be lying. I get jealous a lot!
I think the Kenzo World perfume short film from 2016 was perfect. The performance, the cinematography, the production design, the music track - all perfection in my opinion. Just so deliciously weird. I’m very happy for the team who got to work with Spike to make that happen - but I’m also very jealous.
The creative project that changed my career…
The “Hear What You Want” film series for Beats by Dre took me from a digital/integrated producer and thrust me into the world of cinematic commercials and narrative storytelling. It was the craziest time of my life - travelling all around the world and working with great directors like Paul Hunter and Max Malkin to shoot celebrity athletes, while working directly with Interscope Records on product and music needs.
It was just the absolute best (and brutally difficult) learning experience I could’ve asked for. Beats had an internal group of producers who were incredible, so I got the opportunity to learn and absorb as much as I could from them. Although it was an absolute grind at the time, I constantly look back and am thankful for such a unique opportunity.
The work that I’m proudest of…
I’m so proud of the Love Has No Labels “Skeletons” video I produced in 2015. It was surreal to make something with such a beautiful and simple message: at our core, we are all seeking love and acceptance. I think the entire team behind this film knew we were a part of something special, but then seeing it take off in real life and go viral was unreal. I still go back and read some of the comments on YouTube and get emotional. That film touched and inspired people all around the globe. I am so thankful I got to be a part of it.
I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
I’ve never had a cringe-worthy project. If anything, I sometimes cringe looking back at how I reacted to challenges on projects. Was I too harsh? Was I not being fair to my production partners? Did I take something personal when I shouldn’t have? I tell my team that every single production at every level in your career will have learnings. Some of them are a little uncomfortable to face, but if you take the time and do the work, it will allow you to constantly push yourself and become a better producer.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
While not a project, I am really excited for where the industry is headed. Change is always uncomfortable, but lately I’ve noticed that agencies and production partners are much more open to new and modernised ways of working. I see this a lot with Steelhead, our internal production company. We’ve completely changed what it means to produce something “in-house”.
Steelhead started as an in-house editorial department in a converted hallway and grew into a fully integrated production company that’s doing head-to-tail campaigns. We got there by “getting weird”; trying new models that better served the full needs of our clients, all while focusing on efficiency and craft.
We had to step out of our comfort zone and experiment with different ways of working, many involving partnerships with production shops that were also interested in doing things differently. Now Steelhead services all our agency clients and works directly with outside brands, scaling exponentially and producing everything from scrappy social content to polished broadcast TV and even podcasts. I think we’re just getting started, and am so excited for the momentum we’re building.
