In an attempt to appeal to the next generation of travelers, filming was underway last week at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live on an action movie – in which the hotel is the star.
In the 20-minute promotional film, “Two Bellmen,” actors portraying hotel staff save the day when an art show is raided by bad guys. It is set to debut on YouTube, Facebook and other platforms in March.
“The brand’s idea here is to engage a community of next-generation travelers with entertaining content and use that community to drive commerce,” said David Beebe, vice president of creative and content marketing at Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International. “We picked this setting from the 4,100 hotels in our global portfolio because of its cinematic look and location in L.A., the home of the creative community.”
He added that close to $1 million was being spent on production and promotion of the movie, which is the first in a planned slate of “Two Bellmen” films designed to attract business to the company’s hotels.
Visitors to the hotel have seen a succession of bizarre sights from filming, including drones flying above their heads in the lobby and stuntmen racing down staircases.
“This is a great setting for a film and it’s been exciting for the guests, too, because they have checked into a hotel in a city famous for movies and experienced a movie being made all around them,” said director Daniel Malakai Cabrera.
Heading the cast is William Spencer, who was Andrew Garfield’s stunt double in the recent “Spider-Man” films.
“This is something different for me, and not just because it meant I wasn’t wrapped in spandex,” he said. “It’s a project about commerce, but is also about entertainment with the opportunity to try Jackie Chan-style physical comedy.”
For Spencer, who plays one of the two bellmen who foil the heist, getting into character did not involve a tremendous amount of research.
“I could relate to the idea of working at a luxury hotel in this city” he said, “as I used to be a valet, parking cars at the Sunset Tower Hotel.”
– Sandro Monetti
