Madrid-based production company Dos35 goes its own way without fear of success. It is the right choice when it comes to developing projects at the creative forefront and with great visual impact. Highly in orbit with current tools, it is renowned for generating productions using CGI technology, such as the latest campaign for McDonald’s “Vuelve McRib” or the “Fake out of home” advertising for Tanqueray 0.0, which could be enjoyed on the mythical Schweppes billboard in the middle of Madrid’s Gran Vía.
David Rodríguez, executive producer of the production company DOS35. Illustration by: Carlos Rodríguez Casado.
We talked to David Rodríguez, executive producer of the production company DOS35.
As we can see on your website, you seem to be a rock band, yes; how did the production company come about, did you know each other before?
Yes, each of us in “the band” has a very particular look, but the important thing is the attitude! The three partners in Dos35 met when we were studying film fifteen years ago. In 2015 we decided to join forces and start a project together called Dos35. And we’re still going strong today.
In that sense, what is the working dynamic, is “informality” the key?
No way! Formality is key in this profession, we wouldn’t have lasted a round otherwise. What is not convenient is to confuse formality with servitude, because something that is clear to us in the production company is that each production has to be taken very seriously, but by all the agents involved in it and on equal terms by the advertiser, agency and production company. If we value everyone’s work, formality comes by itself. Understanding that we are all colleagues who have come together to achieve the same goal is our only dynamic when it comes to work. And of course, this also happens with our technicians and suppliers, feeling that we are part of a family. Going to the set with enthusiasm is fundamental for the productions to come out, and that in the end is an atmosphere that is transmitted to everyone.
What does it mean to have in-house post-production?
A differentiating feature at Dos35 is having a strong team of editors and VFX technicians that allow us to reach any challenge we are given in a comfortable, agile and simple way. Whether due to complexity, time or volume of work, we can cover a very wide variety of projects and that gives us a really important independence when developing the post-production of our pieces.
You work with projects, brands and hyper-recognised figures, as well as different formats; is there any type of project that you are particularly interested in tackling?
We’re interested in all projects! So much so that we have practically a director and a photographer for each type of project, as well as digital units, young filmmakers exclusively for making TikToks, teams for projects that only require editing… But it’s true that we mustn’t forget that the three founders of Dos35 come from filmmaking, and that is and always will be there.
It is also striking that among the many different projects you carry out, you have a specific section on the area of health. Tell us about the Health documentaries.
Almost unintentionally, there was a time when we were suddenly contacted by many agencies that only handled health accounts. The advertisers in this case are mainly pharmaceutical companies and, although in practice it is the same, it has many particularities that make it different: the actors are usually doctors or patients, the advertiser does not pay so much attention to creativity but rather to content, many have never been on a film shoot… It is very interesting. Without a doubt, the most beautiful project we had the pleasure of doing in this section was “Hospitales Humanos”, a series of 30 documentaries that we produced in the midst of the COVID crisis, visiting almost a hundred hospitals and health centers all over Spain and listening to stories that still have an impact on many of the team that worked on this project for a year and a half.
When it comes to making a client’s project viable, do you think that you have to agree on the same creative horizon in order to develop it, or isn’t that something that limits you?
It should not limit us, on the contrary. The interesting thing about this profession is to get to know other points of view, to understand exactly what the client wants and how you can elevate their idea. If we were to focus solely on agreeing with the same creative criteria as the client, it would be very boring. What moves us is having challenges in front of us that you wouldn’t have thought of or contradictory ideas that suddenly open up a path that we hadn’t travelled before. I think it’s actually more interesting when the client is at odds with your creative criteria. However, when you start from that point of view, of course it’s an equally enriching experience and you enjoy it in a different way, it makes the process more pleasant.
Whether due to various technical or creative difficulties, which projects are you really proud to have been able to carry out?
Here it is very clear to me. I will proudly say that this project was our self-promotional campaign “El 7”, which we did for our seventh anniversary. A campaign with our own creativity, produced with a lot of love by each of the technicians who had accompanied us these seven years and postproduced, as it could not be otherwise, also in Dos35. Why did we do it at seven years old? You have to see the piece!
How do you see the advertising film industry in times of social networks?
It’s a fact, something that is already a part of everyday life. Surely we are not the only production company that has noticed that while in the past a piece was made that had to be adapted to 9:16 format and aberrant editing “fixes” were made, now 9:16 is a priority when it comes to filming and the panoramic format is increasingly out of use. As I have already mentioned on other occasions, we are connected all day long to a smartphone that constantly launches advertising at us in a frenetic manner. Here it is a question of using the current to our advantage, in the end we are talking about more immediate, more ephemeral advertising that allows us to have a greater number of productions even with tighter budgets.
Can you tell us what’s coming up next at DOS35?
The future is so uncertain in this profession that it is impossible to know what will happen tomorrow. But of course we do, we have several projects on the table and many internal ideas from the production company on the table. But for now they are just that, ideas.
Interview by Grisel Albóniga
