Armando Bo

Armando Bo began working in the film industry at the age of 16, where he worked as a production assistant, location manager and first AD before he began directing commercials at the age of just 22. The grandson of great Latin filmmaker, Armando Bo Sr., he is no stranger to the camera. His formal education includes studying cinema in New York, Art History in the Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, acting with Argentine star Julio Chavez and studies in Chromatics with architect Gaston Breier.

Armando has his own production company based in Buenos Aires, Rebolucion, and has already shot more than 90 commercials for top advertising agencies around the world. But in order to develop as one of the most exciting new directors of the decade, Armando Bo has had to become a master of making the unbelievable believable. His filmic sleights-of-hand are responsible for making a paramour’s beating heart destroy a resort (Axe “Quake”), a hookup at the bottom of the ocean (Impulse “Seaweeds”) and the friendship between a man and his fishdog seem like the most natural things in the world. But like many seemingly easy endeavors, Bo’s are actually anything but.

Of his approach, the Buenos Aires-native says modestly, “I just try to do what I think is right for the story and the commercial.” But his decision making reveals a director who takes pains to strike the right balance between the tone of the story and the demands of its technical elements. For Impulse “Seaweeds”, a smitten guy presents the object of his affection with a bouquet of seaweeds. The challenge for Bo was filming its underwater environment while retaining the narrative. “We shot in the only underwater studio in Buenos Aires,” explains Bo. “It is 10 x 10 meters, and two meters deep: really small. It was difficult to design the shots and tell the story underwater because we had so many issues to take care of. For example the quality of the water: we only could do wide shots in the first two hours each day.” The difficulties were compounded by the fact that the actors had to perform while holding their breath. “The actors spent 20 minutes under water,” he says. “They inhaled air at the beginning of the shot and when we finished we had someone there to give them more air. It was really dangerous.”

Dangerous it may have been, but if it’s challenging and has its own flavor, Bo won’t hesitate to dive in head first. “I look for good ideas that have something different,” he says. “I try not to always do the same kind of work, which is difficult when you work too much. But that’s the ideal – each job must have its own personality.” He has been recognized by Shots, Adcritic, and Creativity as a top new director to watch. He also sat on the D&AD jury in 2004. Amongst dozens of international awards Armando has been honoured with two Silver and 2 Bronze Lions for his Axe, Rexona and MTV spots at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.