Mario Beguiristain`s - MDC Faculty Home Pages

Mario Beguiristain’s
Photo Album
1949
The Official
Toddler Portrait
1955
Visited Miami for the summer and
witnessed the opening night of
the Fountainebleau Hotel
1957
With my sister Diana, brother José María and our dog “Pepilla” in
Varadero Beach, Cuba.
1958
I got prescription glasses and my very first suit.
1965
In October of 1963 we arrived in Miami from Cuba. Those were hard times.
I went to Hialeah High, and on weekends, joined my parents who worked on
the tomato farms and packing plants in Homestead and Pompano.
Then in June of 1964 we moved to Atlanta, where things got better. My
father began his medical training, my mother became a teacher, I went to
O’Keefe High School and worked the 3 to 11 PM shift as an orderly at the
Crawford Long Hospital.
1965
The family on Lake Lanier, near Atlanta, with our plywood boat, Dunphy,
which had come from Cuba.
My father and I almost came to the U.S. in it, but at the last minute, he
reconsidered and an uncle came instead.
For years, that boat was our most prized possession. Whenever we had to
move, we put all our belongings in it and we just towed it around.
1966
O’ Keefe High School
Senior Year Portrait
1967
In my dorm room at Georgia Tech during my freshman year as an
architecture student. I would drop out of Tech that summer to go to New
York University to study filmmaking. But NYU was too expensive and my
parents felt that studying movies was not a proper career. So I rejoined my
family in Columbia, South Carolina.
1969
At the University of South
Carolina I founded “The Celluloid
Society”--a student group
devoted to making films and
lobbying for filmmaking to be
taught on campus.
As a “film activist,” I was
interviewed by the school’s
literary magazine, gaining a
somewhat dubious reputation.
When filmmaking was finally
taught at “the other USC,” the
award for the Best Student Film
was named “The Mario.”
1970
California, here I come!
Los Angeles would be
my home for the next
24 years. I would work
as an assistant cameraman
at the major studios,
go to USC Film School
and begin a career in
TV Production and
Hispanic Advertising.
And yes, I did go through a “hippie” phase.
1972
Alfred Hitchcock came to USC to
show “Frenzy” in Arthur Knight’s
film class--a night I’ll never forget.
Not only did I get to watch the film
sitting right behind him, but I got
invited to Arthur’s home afterwards,
where we stayed up until dawn talking
with the “Master of Suspense.”
Also as guests in Arthur’s class
that night were Peter Bogdanovich
and Cybill Shepherd.
They had just finished filming
“The Last Picture Show” in Texas.
Cybil had been a USC student just
a year before.
1975
Here I’m at USC interviewing
actor Bruce Dern and director
Michael Ritchie after a screening
of their film “Smile.”
1977
With the cast of “Off-Hollywood”, the 90-minute comedy TV pilot I produced
and co-wrote for NBC, which aired as an alternate to “Saturday Night Live”
on January 14, 1978. That night Hubert Humphrey died, along
with my NBC
producing career.
1981
Back in Miami with Fausto Sánchez, Andy García and Steven Bauer
working on “South to Southwest,” the project we put together while
“Scarface” was still shooting.
1981
Andy García and Steven Bauer in
promotional photos for the investor’s
prospectus of “South to Southwest.”
At right, I’m pretending to direct them.
The film was announced many times
but never produced.
1981
With Nestor Almendros and Orlando
Jiménez Leal in Miami Beach during
the filming of “Improper Conduct.”
I would work with Orlando on many
TV commercials in the near future.
Nestor would remain a great friend until his untimely death in 1992.
His artistry and commitment to the Cuban cause were exemplary.
He is truly missed by all those who were lucky enough to know him.
1982
I wrote this screenplay in 1981,
packaged it with friend and USC
student Gary Prebula, and took it
to Cannes--where we raised
$5 Million in foreign pre-sales.
Marty Balin, of The Jefferson
Airplane wrote a great rock score,
and the producing/directing team of
Jon Davison and Joe Dante took it
to Warner Bros. for U.S. distribution,
where they were shooting
“The Twilight Zone--The Movie.”
The film was announced with
Matt Dillon in the starring role,
but due to the legal fallout from
the fatal helicopter accident during
that picture, Warner Bros. pulled
out and our deal fell apart.
1983
Back in Los Angeles, I went to work at
McCann-Erickson--a major advertising
agency with clients like Cola-Cola and
Disneyland.
I got to work with Mexican superstar
Cantinflas on the “New Taste”of Coke
campaign--one of the most famous
blunders in marketing history.
For Disneyland, I wrote and
directed their Columbus Day
TV Special--the first of three
that I would do for them and
Univision.
It was a great chance to work
with stars like Celia Cruz, Lucia
Mendez, Franco and again,
Cantinflas.
1985
I joined KVEA-TV in Los Angeles
as Creative Director, in charge of
the station’s advertising, promotions
and on-air look.
This is where the Telemundo Network
began and I am proud to say that I was
instrumental in launching it and giving it
its name.
At KVEA I was also asked to do live
news reporting, which I did for a very
brief time.
1986
One of the campaigns I created and directed for KVEA-TV featured famous
Mexican Charro “Tacho,” who always rode around town in a red 1956 Buick
Convertible. I know… it didn’t make any sense, but it got people’s
attention.
1987
I left KVEA-TV and went to work for KMEX-TV
(Univision) also as Creative Director, but soon
I was put in charge of producing “Specials” for
the Network.
Above: Showing some dancers in Santa Monica
how to do a conga line for a station promo.
Left: with renowned photographer Oscar Bustamante
during a still photo shoot for a magazine cover.
1988
Left:
At KMEX-TV Channel 34
in Los Angeles after directing
the OTI Song Competition Special
with anchorwoman Mayte Prida.
Right:
With Leo Ramos, Station Manager,
in front of the KMEX-TV location
production truck, which we used
for all our specials and began
to feel like home.
1990
I left Hispanic TV production and returned
to advertising as Creative Director of Conill,
the Hispanic arm of Saatchi & Saatchi.
These photos were taken at two Toyota
Commercial shoots directed by my good
friend Luis Palomo of Pigeon Productions.
1990
Daniel Morduchowicz,
a photographer I often worked with,
asked me to do this ad
promoting his work.
It was part of a series featuring
the top Creative Directors
in Hispanic Advertising
at the time.
1991
At Conill, I won a Clio Award for “Truckzan,”
a Toyota 4X4 Pickup TV spot directed
by Nick Mendoza and starring Guy Ecker,
just before he became a major
telenovela star.
You may watch this spot in the
Demo Reel section of this web page.
Below:
The commercial was memorable for
a play on words involving Cheetah
that only worked in Spanish.
Right:
I guess I wanted the camera pointing
in a specific direction and was
quite adamant about it!
1993
One of the great friendships
I made while in advertising
was with Mexican movie star
Rosa Gloria Chagoyán
Rosa Gloria was the top female star
in Mexico during the 1980’s and 90’s.
She had a feature film series in which she
played a lady trucker (“Lola La Trailera”)
driving the Baja California route.
She starred in 6 TV specials and three ad
campaigns for Texaco’s Havoline Motor Oil,
all written and directed by me.
1994-1997
I moved to Miami to direct
a series of infomercials for ICNI,
a Direct Response Marketing
company and decided to stay.
At left:
Warming up the audience
with Charytín prior to taping
one of her shows.
At right:
Directing Jackie Stallone,
Marla Gibbs and Sherman Helmsley
(from “The Jeffersons”) during
a taping of “Star Power.”
Behind me is my producer and great
friend, Rosario Moreno. Together, we
produced over 14 infomercials in five
countries, in three languages,
and for all sorts of products
--ranging from kitchen utensils
to Disney videos and
Psychic Advice lines.
2002
With Oscar de la Hoya
in Los Angeles during the
filming of a campaign for
Kern’s Nectars--one of my
last advertising projects.
With Bertha Cabrera
2003
I joined Miami Dade College’s
School of Entertainment and Design Technology
as full-time faculty in the Film Department.
2005
I was invited to teach a course
on “The Five Innovations That
Changed Cinema” at the Hanoi
Cinematheque.
You may view the PowerPoint
presentations for the course on
the home page
2007
My Ph.D. dissertation at USC was published in an
updated, revised version by The Edwin Mellen Press
2007
My South Beach apartment--which I designed myself as a 1950s Space-Age bachelor pad-was featured in the June 2007 issue of HOME Miami magazine.
2007
I was awarded
a continuing contract (tenure)
at Miami Dade College
where I plan to stay put.
At the Cinematheque Francaise during my
vacation in Paris, Summer 2007
The End
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