THE PROJECT

Celebrating 100 years of InterGems Claes Group and grand opening of their new headquarters.

This was a lean production for which I wore many hats as concept developer, producer and director, simultaneously managing the creative, practical, and financial aspects. I worked to: develop the concept with the client; hired film, SFX, and post-production crews; sourced equipment; held castings; arranged location; managed scheduling, insurance, security, costing and payments; maintained communications with the client; and sustained creative control over the project through to successful and on time delivery of the film.

CREATIVE

The inspiration for this concept stems from the almost paradoxical characteristics of a diamond, which holds aesthetic exquisiteness and brute force - a duality personified through the expression of dance. I wanted to tell this story as an abstraction, paralleling this "Strength & Beauty". It is comparison between man and woman, nature and man-made, elegance and power through the magic of dance to showcase the product: mighty, elegant and always brilliant. 

Working closely with the client, we refined the concept and brand messaging. I then further developed the idea with a storyboard artist who was able to put my abstract vision into physical form. This was then presented to the client, allowing me to convey a clear understanding of what we intended to deliver. 

HUMBLE BRAG

As we were shooting items of extreme value (piles of real diamonds!) I had to follow and account for the strict procedure enforced by the mandatory chaperoning security team. With careful consideration, immaculate planning, and thanks to excellent collaboration from the crew, timing ran smoothly on our 2 day shoot. 

No stranger to the annoyingly ever present law of Murphy on film sets, I had "planned for the best and prepared for the worst". So when on the first day of our shoot our original ballerina unfortunately sprained her ankle as she was warming up, I was able to immediately throw one of my (many) contingency plans into effect by arranging medical care (happy to report she is fine), contact and book the understudy (would you believe me if I told you I had her on speed dial?), re-organize our schedule without breaching security, losing time or team focus, or compromising the budget. 

Tbh, sometimes I impress myself.  

STORYBOARD