The Argentine filmmaker, Facundo Españon was born in La Plata. He is a fan of Estudiante, prepares very good gin tonics and spicy curries and didn't miss a single Rolling Stones concert whenever they went to Argentina. He has worked with big brands like Coca Cola, Adidas, Samsung, Jeep, Budweiser, Toyota and YPF among others. He also published a book of photography titled 2000 Light Years From Home. Today, he is working as a director at Casta Diva Buenos Aires.

1. What lessons has the pandemic taught you?

That as a species we are very vulnerable and if we don´t urgently change production and consumption mechanisms there will surely be more and worse pandemics.

At a personal level, he has learned to value human relations much more. I very much miss not seeing my family, my friends, and also everything that had to do with my work. Traveling, meeting people, meeting at the production company and sharing ideas with the team, the scouting talks, and of course, the set.

A few months ago I joined the Casta Diva Buenos Aires team and was lucky to be able to work a great deal remotely. I shot three projects with the production company without leaving home, and albeit I am very grateful, it is not the same to do it via Zoom compared to how it used to be.

2. How did you start directing?

I was a director's assistant for a few years, but always with the idea to start directing. I worked with great directors and learned a great deal from each one of them. And at the same time, I shot short films and a bunch of videoclips. That is how I earned people's trust and some space until I had the opportunity to shoot my first commercial. Then, I quit being an assistant and delved into the world of direction.

3. What projects are you currently working on?

At Casta Diva I have a commercial via remote for all LATAM that I will shoot in a few days and I was shooting several interesting projects these months. One of them was for Bayer, a very good experience we had remotely for the first time.

4. Do you have any fiction or documentary projects outside advertising?

Yes, I have the first version of a script for a film, a biopic I hope I can shoot soon.

5. How do you see shootings, filmmaking, in the new normal?

I don't like the concept of new normal very much. I truly prefer to think all of this is going to pass and that as intelligent beings we are, we will have learned the lesson so we don't make the same mistakes again. All this has to do with what I told you at first, evolving as a species so we live in a more sustainable manner. Not long ago I read a very nice note that spoke about one single health that is the planet`s health. All of this we are experiencing comes directly from the way humans obtain and cultivate food, how we commercialize and consume animals, and alter the environment. We must choose to continue on the same path or change.

6. Where is Facundo Españon heading?

It is a very easy question to answer: To infinity and beyond...