On location for an American Airlines Cargo shoot

Catherine Balston • 7 October 2019

A fruit farm in rural Brazil was the setting for a video showcasing American Airlines Cargo's logistics operation in getting papayas from farm to market in the USA in just four days. A Story Productions crew provided on-the-ground support for the Brazil shoot

Learning how to plant, grow and harvest papayas was all in a day’s work for the Story Productions crew the week before last. We have clients all over the world who get in touch wanting to film a mind-boggling variety of people and places – sometimes with little more than a day or two’s notice. It keeps us on our toes and we’ve yet to get a request that we can’t handle!


This particular shoot was at a papaya farm in the interior of Espírito Santo – a small state wedged between Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. Our client was Recreation Dallas, a US advertising agency. They commissioned Texas-based Equilateral Films to shoot an infomercial showing the seamless and speedy logistics involved in getting fruit from a Brazilian farm to market in the US in just four days.

The film’s protagonists are FERMAC, Brazil’s leading cargo company, and American Airlines Cargo. The shoot was split into four stages: at Miami Airport; at the FERMAC headquarters in Campinas in the interior of São Paulo state; at the fruit farm in Espirito Santo; and the fourth at São Paulo’s international airport, capturing American Airlines Cargo loading the crates of papayas onto a US-bound plane.


Story Productions organised all the shoot logistics in Brazil and provided a fixer and production assistant for the shoots at FERMAC and at the fruit farm. At FERMAC, the Equilateral crew shot interviews with the company's CEO and commercial manager, as well as B-roll footage at the company.

For the shoot at the fruit farm, the Story crew flew with a photographer, the Equilateral Films producer and director, as well as representatives from American Airlines Cargo and Recreation Dallas to Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo state. From there, we arranged van transport to Linhares, a small town nearly 100 miles north of Vitória, for two days filming at Doce Fruit – a 175 hectare farm that ships out tonnes of papayas for the domestic and overseas market every day.


On the first day of the shoot, the challenge for Equilateral Films was to capture on camera the whole process that the papayas go through from start to finish, from planting the seeds to harvesting, washing, storage, refrigeration, laboratory inspection, packaging, labeling and lastly shipping. The focus of the second day of the shoot was interviews and B-roll footage at the farm.

Besides arranging the on-the-ground logistics for the shoot in Brazil, Story Productions also removed the bureaucratic headaches for the shoot in Brazil, obtaining the ANCINE (Brazilian Film Agency) authorisation to film in Brazil. The finished film will be part of an American Airlines Cargo microsite and branding campaign due to launch in early 2020.

The Story crew not only learnt more than they ever thought they would about papayas, they made sure the shoot ran smoothly and had a great time with the teams from Recreation Dallas and Equilateral Films. The feeling, it seems, was mutual!


"We loved the Story team so much! They did a perfect job, and we miss them already!" Jessica, Executive Producer at Equilateral Films.


Here is a sneak peek of the final product:

Planning a shoot in Brazil? Need a Brazilian fixer? How can we help you ?

Share this story:

Get the latest news straight into your inbox!

Sign up to our newsletter and we'll keep you updated on all the important news around filming in Brazil with a few highlights from us.

Contact Us

Read another story

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park has officially been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th

Film Brazil’s 8 natural world heritage sites

by Story Productions • 14 August 2024
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park has officially been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The designation ceremony was held in New Delhi, India, on July 26 2024.
Story ProductionsLIVEU crew to interview Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer.

LIVEU ENG crew Rio de Janeiro: CNBC taps Story Productions for G20 interview with UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer

by Story Productions • 5 August 2024
CNBC Europe teamed up with Story Productions to source our Rio based LIVEU crew to interview Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, during her first international trip in office.

RAI uses Story Productions LIVEU crew for live broadcasts of Italian president's tour

by Story Productions • 23 July 2024
RAI reporters collaborated with locally sourced LIVEU teams during Italian President Sergio Mattarella's visit to Brazil in July 2024. The Presidential visit marked the first state visit to Brazil by an Italian president in 24 years.

The importance of casting and the role of the casting director

by Nick Story • 19 July 2024
This interview with Eduardo Pradella, Story's casting producer, sheds light on the intricacies of casting and the nuanced approach required to excel in this profession.

"Baby" - Anatomy of a Brazilian success at Cannes: the co-Production route for Brazilian Filmmakers

by Story Productions • 17 July 2024
At the 3rd Spcine Forum held from June 26 to 28 at the Cinemateca Brasileira in São Paulo, Marcelo Caetano and Ivan Melo, respectively the director and producer of the film, detailed the process of securing international financing and co-production involving professionals from Brazil, France, and the Netherlands.

"Cangaço Novo": a decade-long journey to success

by Story Productions • 15 July 2024
At the 3rd Spcine Forum, held from June 26 to 28 at the Cinemateca Brasileira in São Paulo, Mariana Bardan and Eduardo Melo recounted how the idea for the series Cangaço Novo came about and the ten-year process until its distribution.
Show More