Our final Ford Fiesta mission: recreate scenes from a movie shot in your city. No doubt you've already guessed which movie we picked. Enjoy!
Did you recognize your Miami-Dade landmarks?
South Beach at Ocean Drive: The Palace Bar, Casa Casuarina (the infamous Gianni Versace gate) and the Carlyle Hotel, where another classic Miami film, The Birdcage, was filmed. As well, South Pointe Park, with a view of the behemoth condominiums. (And yes, that was Brad, fully-clothed in the water late afternoon when we had a slight cold front. Two takes.)
In Little Havana: the former home of Elian Gonzalez and site of such powerful political controversy, El Exquisito and El Pub restaurants, the sidewalk of stars, the Tower Theater and Maximo Gomez Domino Park. (And yes, filming that scene in front of Elian's house felt a bit like sacrilege!)
Although I only have a cameo in this video, I'm all over it, believe me. It was so much fun to play director for a change, instead of being in front of the camera. But of course, there was also much collaboration. Although Brad and I story-boarded our scenes, much of it was improvised on location, including dialogue. (Señor Gator also made a cameo. Remember him?)
This parody was a bit of a challenge because not only did it have to be done under five minutes, we had to keep it family-friendly. So instead of the word "fuck," which Tony Montana glorified in Scarface, we used the word "Ford" and instead of dealing cocaine, we went after the perfect cup of coffee.
We also didn't want to show any disrespect to Elian's family nor make fun of the Cuban wet foot/dry foot immigration policy ... but so it is.
Special thanks to local comedic genius Freddy Stebbins, who spent half a day with us shooting in Little Havana and let us use his kitchen for a location. This video would not be the same without his chongalicious performance and his manly voice-overs!
Thanks also go out to: Juan Coro of El Exquisito Restaurant, who warmly collaborated with us to let us shoot in "la ventanita" (window) of his iconic Little Havana restaurant; Ivan Mladenovic of Preemopc, who let us take over his living room one night so Brad could watch Scarface for the first time; and finally, to the Miami Beach Police Department for not getting in our hair when we double parked to shoot on Ocean Drive.
WHAT'S NEXT?
I'll be returning the car to a local Ford dealer at the end of the month. No word on whether I'll throw a fit and they'll have to yank my hands from the steering wheel. I will surely miss driving this car!
Ford is flying Brad and I out to Los Angeles next week for the LA Auto Show, where the Ford Fiesta will have its official U.S. unveiling. Three lucky agents will have a chance to win a car!
If you're in the area, come join us and a bunch of other agents for a free concert at the Hollywood Palladium on December 1st. RSVP required at Eventbrite.
If you miss the event, don't worry. Tune in to CurrentTV at 11:30/10:30 central time for a follow-up broadcast. And of course, no doubt I'll be tweeting with pictures and video live from @fordfiestamiami.
If you've enjoyed following our adventures, feel free to vote for "Maria D and Brad S" everyday until December 1st at the Fiesta Movement site. No prizes here -- it's just a popularity contest (which honestly, I don't care about, but there, I still had to tell you!)
The Fiesta Movement has been not only a brilliant social media project, but also one of the most rewarding and creative things I've done in my life. Although it sucked that I broke my leg, I wouldn't change a thing as it made it possible for me to work with Brad. We make a bad-ass, wicked storytelling crew of two! I'll be posting more of my thoughts on the subject after my trip to LA.
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