If you’re wondering where the boys at Lost Boys Studios really are – they’ve been found. Just look south, way south – to crowded Mexico City.

The Vancouver post shop, founded four years ago by Mark Benard, made its first foray into the Mexican market when it was still associated with Virgin Digital Studios (Benard has since bought out Virgin, leaving him with 100% ownership of Lost Boys).

‘At the time, Virgin in Mexico City did not have a 3D effects department per se, so when they were quoting on stuff, since we were sister companies, we quoted effects on some of the boards that came through them. And that was our introduction [to the market],’ says Roula Lainas, digital effects producer for Lost Boys.

‘We have managed to retain our relationship with the clients in Mexico as well as Virgin Television Mexico,’ she adds.

In fact, the relationship with Mexico has been so productive for Lost Boys that ‘90%’ of its commercial work originates in the land of the pinata.

‘It’s a great market,’ says Lainas. ‘It’s huge – 23 million people [in Mexico City alone]. Advertising is a big part of their lives.’ Lainas is impressed with the creative coming out of Mexico over the last few years. In fact, ‘because of [the Mexican] spots,’ Lost Boys has pulled in awards including a FIAP Gold Sun Marketing Award, a Mobius and a Monitor.

Is it much different working with Mexican clients? Lainas says ‘it is and it isn’t.’

‘I think creative is universal. I think a director is a director is a director. I think you’ve got insane directors and really organized directors in every part of the world. So we’ve had a little bit of everything.

‘As far as the little details go, for some reason they choose to shoot at 30 frames. The speed of the camera is not 24, which is something we’ve had to get used to. [But we] ask them to change it if we need to.’

With the quick turnaround times necessary for Mexican jobs, Lainas says Lost Boys ‘goes down for the shoots and to supervise the visual effects.’ Having done jobs for Gatorade, Bacardi Limon and Corona, among others, Lainas says one of their most exciting Mexican experiences was Benard’s meeting with Mr. Corona, ‘who actually started Corona [beer].’

No, Lainas confirms, contrary to popular legend, Senor Corona does not have a lime sticking out of his head.

Even with all the Mexican fun, Lost Boys is not entirely ignoring the local market. ‘We’ve introduced ourselves to a few companies here, and since then, we’ve had a few storyboards come our way and some spots as well,’ says Lainas. ‘It’s about slowly trying to break through or grab a share of the local market. Certainly not dominate it.’

Lost Boys, which ‘has grown quickly,’ now employs 18 people – 14 more than at the time of its launch four years ago. The company is also forging into the world of ‘cinematic openings for the gaming industry’ and has already worked with both Vancouver-headquartered Electronic Arts and a large game company based in Norway.

These days, however, if you’re trying to find the Lost Boys, check Mexico. They’re not hiding, they’re working. *

-www.lostboys-studios.com