Motion Theory's Mark Kudsi Directs Branded Music Video for Fiat 500

As the Fiat 500 rolls off the assembly line and into US showrooms, director Mark Kudsi of commercial production company Motion Theory is upping the excitement with a kinetic branded music video that tells the story of Fiat owner and car preparing to meet each other. Produced for Detroit agency Impatto, the 2:47 video “Get Ready” premiered at the New York International Auto Show April 22, and represents the first release of a larger North American launch campaign for Fiat consisting of multiple spots directed by Kudsi.

“Get Ready” re-launches the Fiat in North America after an absence of almost 30 years. Featuring Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major recreated by MassiveMusic to create the new track, “Get Ready” features slick documentary-style footage of an assembly line in the new Fiat plant in Toluca, Mexico. This footage, which captures cranes, robotic arms and other factory machinery as beautiful precise objects whose movements create a mechanical ballet -- are combined with four loose storylines of regular individuals getting ready in their homes.

Kudsi found inspiration in romantic comedies, in which the action is intercut between two characters eagerly preparing for a blind date with each other, uncannily matching each other’s idiosyncrasies via parallel montage. Said Kudsi, "Instead of ‘boy meets girl,’ it’s ‘driver meets car.’ We're so connected to our cars that we often name them, talk to them, and pick them based on how we think they'll match our personalities and lifestyle. We wanted to celebrate this connection by bringing this extraordinarily synchronized magic to the time before that first 'meeting.' It's all those things we don't see that lead to love at first sight."

Kudsi, a commercial director who has also made a name through music videos, including the Grammy Award-winning “Boom Boom Pow” for Black Eyed Peas, showed off his trademark interplay between music, visuals, style and concept – elements which laid the foundation for the larger Fiat campaign.

Kudsi and his Motion Theory production team spent two days inside the Fiat Toluca plant documenting the production line as the Fiat 500 was being made from sheet metal into finished product. An additional two days were spent on location in Los Angeles shooting the talent vignettes. All told, Kudsi accumulated 36 hours of footage, which was edited in-house by Mirada’s Lenny Mesina. Kudsi deployed a variety of cameras on the shoot, including the RED, Canon 5D and 7D and two GoPro cameras mounted onto robotic arms and inside cars as they were being assembled.