Three Units, Two Houses, One Schedule

The shoot ran October 22 through 24 across 2 residential locations in Orlando. The team had 3 production units running simultaneously: a hero video unit led by director Christopher Guerrero and DP Sean Patrick Kirby, a social content unit with its own director and coordinator, and still photographer Patrick Michael Chin capturing everything in between.

Both houses were active for 2 of the 3 days, with art, wardrobe, and talent moving between locations on a staggered schedule. When the hero unit was shooting BBQ Dad exteriors at one house, the social team was inside getting kitchen content. When the hero unit moved to Abuela interiors, social flipped to the exterior grill setups. The AD team managed the full schedule across all 3 units, making sure talent, props, and crew never collided.

On Day 2, the production had to physically relocate gear, art, and wardrobe from one house to the other mid-day. The art team began prepping the second house that morning while the hero unit finished Abuela exteriors at the first location. By the time the video unit walked into the second home at 11:30, lights were already set and the space was dressed.

Push's Creative Direction Meets Production Reality

Push's creative team, led by Creative Director Kevin Harrell and CCO Mark Unger, had built these spots around specific characters and moments. Each one had been tested with consumers and refined. The production challenge was translating scripts that were written to be funny and warm into something that actually felt funny and warm on camera.

Kevin and Christopher Guerrero led the casting process together, running live auditions with casting directors Ron and Brandy Goleman. Principal talent included a dad, an abuela, families for each spot, plus background for the party and BBQ scenes. Day 1 alone had 10 performers on the call sheet. McClain provided casting options and handled the talent negotiations, working directly with agents to make sure the creative team got their first choices in every role.

And then there was the party planner spot, which featured a live llama. The animal wrangler spent the weekend before the shoot doing prep days at the location, walking the llama through the house to make sure it was comfortable in enclosed spaces, introducing it to children, and confirming it could eat carrots out of a kid's hand on camera. That kind of detail doesn't show up in the final :30, but it's the difference between a smooth shoot day and a chaotic one. It's all in the pre-pro.

From Lighting Diagrams to Final Frame

DP Sean Patrick Kirby created detailed lighting diagrams for each setup before arriving on set. Technical plans that let him communicate his vision to the grip and electric team before the first light was ever plugged in. The progression from diagram to behind-the-scenes setup to final frame tells its own story about how much planning goes into making something look effortless. [Visual: lighting diagram, BTS photo, and final frame side by side.]

The food styling team had to make grocery store products look both real and appetizing across every spot. The Abuela kitchen scenes required authentic Latin cooking setups. The BBQ scenes needed that backyard-in-summer feel. Everything had to look like someone's actual kitchen, someone's actual backyard. Not a food commercial.

Post-production ran through January 2026. Push's editor Michael Germano cut the spots, with Randy Mease at Sweet Audio handling the audio mix and voiceover sessions. The Abuela spot was delivered in both English and Spanish, requiring separate VO talent and mix sessions. All hero spots were delivered in multiple formats at both :30 and :15 lengths.