Auric: The Good Life

The concept

STUDiiO reached out to Auric first. We told them their space would make a beautiful backdrop for a project we had in mind and asked to shoot there. As we talked it through, the idea changed. Instead of using the location as a backdrop for something else, we pitched turning the whole project into a film for Auric, something they could put on their website, YouTube, Instagram, everywhere.

We walked their marketing team through it on a call. The brief we set: do not just showcase the amenities. Anybody can float a gimbal past nice furniture. We wanted to show the space with a story running through it, so the viewer pictures themselves living there, rolling their bike into the workshop, watching the game from the Prickly Pear Club, sitting out by the pool taking in the view. Not bare structure. Real life in the space.

We respected that people actually live there. We told them we would keep a small footprint, no shutting down amenities, minimal disruption. The only thing we asked was to attend one of their resident events so we could meet people who might want to be in it. We gave them shoot dates that fit their calendar, not ours, and kept them updated the whole way, never letting more than a few days pass without a check in.

At the resident ice cream event, we introduced ourselves, explained the project plainly, you would be interacting with the space, no big script, nothing heavy, and collected contacts from the ones who were interested. A couple fell through, so we reached out to other people we knew to fill the roles. That is how we work: we do not write people off over old friction. A project is bigger than that. If someone can help make it great, we ask, because the job is for the client, and the client comes before ego.

The production

Two days, and day one did not go to plan. The talent we were set to work with never showed and went quiet all morning. Instead of burning the day waiting, we shot everything we could get without them. That is the reflex we bring to a set: when something breaks, we do not spend time on why, we spend it on what now. By the time we had to wrap, we had salvaged real footage, but roughly the chunk we had planned for day one was still open.

So day two became the whole shoot. All the talent showed, and we ran. A near minute commercial's worth of coverage in a single day: Prickly Pear Club, then the bike shop, then the pool, then the bar, then the lobby, then the gym, back to back, 30 to 40 minutes a location, wardrobe changes throughout. Tight on time and light, but the talent was flexible and patient through all of it, and we made it.

The post

Post was clean because we had gotten what we needed. We had planned the film longer than it ended up and cut it down on purpose. We would rather deliver something short and packed than long and padded. If a shot looked great but did not earn its place, it came out. Message first. Auric's team saw it and loved it, and it opened the door to more conversations.