Maggie Bafalon of Coldwell Banker De Anza Realty. Photo Submitted
The film and video division of Three House MultiMedia, FilmArt3, recently learned client Maggie Bafalon of Coldwell Banker De Anza Realty took top honors in an international video contest with her entry “Home, Sweet Sonoma,” which the newly launched division produced.
Bafalon hired FilmArt3 to create a short five-minute film for the first annual Colby Awards, Coldwell Banker’s worldwide video contest, which was devised to encourage real estate agents to embrace the potential of on-line video. Written and directed by FilmArt3’s Daedalus Howell, the award-winning film features a succession of home-seekers led by Bafalon through a series of comic vignettes, which positively showcase the Sonoma experience. Bafalon employed Coldwell’s mascot “Rusty” the dog, who, in this case, is merely a cardboard copy pulled by its leash on wheels to great comedic effect.
“When I chose FilmArt3, I had already chosen another production company for my video. I finally settled on FilmArt3 because I thought I should use a local production company for a local video. I never looked back,” explained Bafalon. “It was without a doubt the most creative thing I have been involved in – in 15 years,”
An independent production company, FilmArt3 creates original video content and works commissioned by a variety of clients including the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance, the Sonoma Valley Film Festival and Amapola Creek Winery, the new project of Dick and Alis Arrowood.
“It’s an area that I knew nothing about. You don’t expect the lights, the camera, the action – the whole thing – you don’t expect it to be that real. I really felt we were in the middle of a very large and important production,” recalled Bafalon, who added, “I didn’t know we were going to win, but Daedalus seemed to know we would.”
The film was cast with area actors and featured cameos from such local personalities as Gary Saperstein, general manager of the girl and the fig.
“I was very excited that we had won – as they say it’s an ‘intergalactic award-winning’ video. Nothing about it was disappointing to me. I loved the process and the people I was working with – very professional and very creative,” said Bafalon.
To view the clip, please visit sonomasun.com.
