Alexis Roberts, executive producer of TV Dept, used her past experience as an agency producer to source this top international talent.
“Contrary to the industry norm of hiring South African-based directors to oversee local productions, Bauwens was selected for Ooba,” says Brendan Rice of TV Dept, the production company contracted by Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town to produce the ad.
“It is significant because it proves that it is possible to select international talent for local work and still come out with a Rand-friendly budget. TV Dept is one of the first local production companies to represent and market international directors and it's a business model that gives South African advertising teams access to a bigger and more diverse pool of talent,” says Rice.
The adverts follow the journey of a man pushing his house in search of the perfect location - moving in and out of suburbs, through peak hour traffic, to the ocean and then beyond. The journey illustrates the progression of home-ownership most South Africans undergo, mirroring the benefits of partnering with Ooba, which constantly strives to find a better solution for customers looking for home finance.
“It was a post-production intensive brief which means that the every shot had to be very carefully planned and executed so that the live action seamlessly integrated with the CG,” says Rice. “The old saying ‘we'll fix it in post' just wasn't going to work with this commercial!”
Having tendered the job to a small pool of local directors unable to overcome some of the challenges detailed in the brief, Jupiter approached TV Dept, which offered up Bauwens through its international network of directors.
Alexis Roberts, executive producer of TV Dept, used her many years of experience as an agency producer, to source top international talent with Bauwens being the best option for this particular production.
Livio Tronchin creative director for Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town said the 3-day shoot went off without a hitch. “The blending of in-camera effects with the CG was painstakingly accurate. So much so that when, at one point, we tried to tweak the CG in a certain area and realised it was actually live action we were attempting to fiddle with,” says Tronchin. “That was a first.”
“I think the ad has turned out great. It's charming and engaging and well detailed. Alexis, Gil and the team have helped us deliver exactly what we set out to achieve. And, importantly, we have a suitably chuffed client,” he concludes.
A graduate in architectural artistic studies from Saint-Luc Brussels and trained as a director at the Institute des Arts de Diffusion, Bauwens was able to combine his passion for architecture and photography as well as his vast technical knowledge of post production to the Ooba project.
