Is a Communist Commercial a contradiction in terms? Director Kit Kittle, owner
and Executive Producer of Roundtrip Productions, has just wrapped China's
first commercial television production ever in an effort to promote tourism to
China in the United States. This is the first time that a Chinese government
agency has undertaken a commercial shoot with an American production company.
And it comes at a time when tension between the two countries is rising. The
:30 second spot, which started airing in prime time on CNN and Headline News
on March 13, was shot in locations all across mainland China.
Following a growing trend to both control costs in commercial production and
work personally with the creatives on a project, Mr. Liuyin Yang, the U.S.
Director of the China National Tourist Office, decided to work directly with
Roundtrip with no intervening ad agency.
"Two ingredients made this job successful: the high degree of trust between
Mr. Yang and myself, and a really dedicated crew," said Kittle, a veteran
travel film and commercial director.
The creative approach to the spot evolved through almost two years of
conversations between Roundtrip and the China Tourist Office. The goal was to
grab the attention of experienced travelers and show them the diversity of
cultural and natural wonders in China. Roundtrip created the tag line "You
haven't seen the world until you've seen China" as a challenge for viewers to
reassess their own travel experience in light of an often overlooked
destination.
This creative approach required an efficient, streamlined production to cover
more than 6,000 miles around China in a brisk three-week shoot. The locations
ranged from central Beijing and Shanghai to a snowy perch 15,000 feet up on
Black Dragon Mountain in the Southwest, to the tip of a tropical island in the
South China Sea that is known in Chinese as "The Remotest Corner of the
Earth."
"It was thrilling to help shape China's image for American audiences," Kittle
said. "The pace of the transformation in China is breathtaking. It's an
exciting and surprisingly sophisticated place to travel."
Kittle said there were no serious bureaucratic or logistical snafus with the
production.
Kittle and Roundtrip also helped review media buys for the spot, working on
instructions from Mr. Yang and the Chinese Government. He noted that the
recent tension between China and Taiwan took everyone by surprise, but may
have piqued interest in the spot and Chinese tourism, as evidenced by the
increase in visits to the Tourism office's website.
Before making the transition to spot directing, Kittle worked as a travel
photographer for clients such as The New York Times, Crystal Cruises and The
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, and has conducted still shoots in more than fifty
countries and Antarctica. His directing work includes travel films for
Ireland, Venezuela and Bonaire, as well as commercials for clients such as
British Columbia Tourism, the RVIA, and the Outdoor Life Channel.
For more information on the new Chinese travel spot, including reels, stills,
and interviews with Kit Kittle or representatives of China National Tourist
Office, please contact Roundtrip Productions at (914) 939-2133 or Flack P.R. at
212-673-6908.
