“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.’
– Mark Twain.
In the media and advertising industry, claims to “out of the box thinking’ feature on
just about every home page. But what about the practical side of actually doing
things differently? For example, shooting TV commercials seems to be one arena
where the tried and tested methods still pack a big punch. It’s all about big crews,
big equipment lists, big budgets – and ultimately, big constraints. The industry
mindset is, if you’re going to shoot a commercial, you have to go to Joburg or Cape
Town, where the industry network has already forged a well-trodden path. Sure, it’s
a lot more comfortable to walk down a beaten track.
But it can be a lot more fun to go bushwhacking.
Being based in the Eastern Cape was initially something we – a small production
company with a big vision – saw as a challenge. But we’ve adopted a mindset of
embracing challenges as opportunities to stretch ourselves and forge new paths in
the industry. We’ve produced over 40 TV ads – between six and eight a year shot
locally in the Eastern Cape. In general, we travel wherever projects need us to go –
whether it’s Johannesburg, Chad or Australia. But whenever we get the opportunity
to make a shoot work here at home, we grab it.
For one thing, we love working in our own backyard. The Eastern Cape is truly one
of the most beautiful and rich resources of South Africa, crammed with a diversity
of landscapes, cultures and people. You could be filming a slick urban scene in the
morning and a scene in rural Africa in the afternoon. This works in our favour in a
big way for both international and local projects. A recent TV ad for GetBucks.com
had us shooting a “Joburg city scene’ in Port Elizabeth’s CBD – all it took was one
establishing shot of Joburg to create the illusion of the Joburg skyline.
Filming in a place where there is no established support industry for commercial
shoots certainly has its challenges. But it also has its perks. The best part is, the
community is still unjaded by the bad rap that often comes with the film industry,
such as the inconvenience of closing down streets, or people who are tired of being
abused. Here, everyone is always excited to get on board and be part of something
that’s going to be on TV.
For our team, every challenge becomes an opportunity to stretch our creativity and
resourcefulness. With every project, we forge new skills, discover new
relationships, and uncover new solutions that ultimately pave the way to growth.
And the best part is, we’re constantly surprised by what we find around the next
corner…
