Bonfire Collective, the NYC-based music supervision company founded by creative head Stephanie Diaz-Matos, is getting in the advertising game with the addition of creative principle Eric Stamile. The company made its new venture known during the recent Billboard Latin Music Awards with vibrant Target spots out of Mother New York. Working with well-known music influencer DJ Afro, the spots feature a remix of the classic Latin hit “Oye Como Va” in a variety of genres. Jumping from various locales and atmospheres, they mix cumbia, bachata, reggaeton and salsa, perfectly matching sonic styles with the visuals.
Diaz-Matos is more than familiar with the commercial landscape. Prior to opening Bonfire Collective, she worked at McGarryBowen as Executive Music Producer for the Verizon Wireless account and was a founder of Search Party Music, where she worked on Lost, The Vow and Grey Gardens.
In addition to Diaz-Matos’ experience in advertising and beyond, the leadership of Bonfire Collective now includes Eric Stamile, who composed House of Z, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and who will be taking on responsibilities as lead composer/creative for Bonfire Collective’s commercial division; and Sarah Bromberg, who started as Associate Director of music and talent at Creative License. There she worked on spots for Walmart, Subaru, and Budweiser and handled several Super Bowl commercials, which lead to work on film and TV projects including Smash, Pitch Perfect 2, and The Affair.
Until this announcement Bonfire Collective has mostly focused on music supervision for television and film. Fresh off of Diaz-Matos’ two wins at the 7th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards for season one of the Netflix series The Get Down, Act 2 of Season 1 Premiered on Netflix on April 7th, with the 2nd soundtrack installment released on April 21st.
On working with Baz Luhrmann on The Get Down, Diaz-Matos said, “It’s an incredible experience to work within this genre of music with a director like Baz, who is an artist with an inspiring and unique creative process, and to be able to work on a show that at its core is about the power of music.” As to the mission of Bonfire Collective, Stephanie says we “strive to create strong creative bonds with all of our partners that result in compelling and timeless work.”
With a focus on collaboration, and over 20 years of experience between them, Bonfire Collective’s multi-talented creatives have expertise in all aspects of the music world, and can operate in an advisory capacity or manage the entire project from inspiration to end. Deeply passionate and inspired by their work, Bonfire Collective’s artistic sensibilities resonate throughout all of their projects.