Production Interview South Africa

7Films on their incredible 'story first' 2017

Production company 7Films lets us on their successful year on the overseas award track as well as the local recognition they received from the Loeries, where they ranked second best in the land for TV, film and video production; the Pendorings, where they were ranked third overall - including agencies, and more!

Tinyiko Mvelase, a junior producer at 7Films, says there’s no denying it’s been an incredible year for 7Films. They won four "ads of the month," including the Creative Circle Ad of the Year for one of ‘the Surf Shacks’ by Shane Knock, which also did well at the One Show in New York.

That winning streak continued at the Cannes Lions, where they won gold for Surf Shack, bronze for Western Cape Government’s ‘Everybody knows’ commercial, and Dirk van Niekerk was awarded silver for young directors. So it was a very good year at Cannes Lions for 7Films – their best year yet!

Then the Loeries followed, where they came second in terms of production companies in the country, with Lourens van Rensburg also ranked second in the directors’ category, Nina van Rensburg ranked second in the producers’ category, with first position for cinematography going to Dirk van Niekerk. They also took home three gold Loeries and the big award for public service, for the Western Cape Government commercial.

So it’s been a truly great year for them, ending with SJ Myeza winning the first-ever Young Guns Creative Choice Award from the One Club for Creativity in New York.

They also had a successful night at the Pendoring awards, which celebrate excellence in marketing communication across SA’s indigenous languages (obviously excluding English), ending up with 40 points and ranked third in the country – that’s amongst all agencies, not just production houses.

Their vernacular wins included silver for Pocket, which they did with The Make Beautiful agency for DStv and Channel O.

They also won gold with Lourens van Rensburg bringing home gold craft for TV, film and video crafts direction, with Western Cape government’s ‘Almal weet/Everybody knows’ for TV commercials under R100,000, which also won a surprise one-off prize for being an outstanding Afrikaans Public Service advertisement.

Mvelase says seeing the work they did in Zulu and Afrikaans/Cape Flats slang was amazing as they think vernacular in advertising is very important and very enjoyable as it gives us the edge and makes it more relatable: “All in all, a really good night and an incredible year of awards for us. Over the last two years, it’s been a priority for us to work with some of the best talent in this country and work on some of the best scripts, because that’s what we are passionate about and what we love doing, so it’s good to see it pay off.”

SJ Myeza has definitely seen that pay off. Not yet old enough to have experienced a quarter-life crisis, he’s been with 7Films, under the mentorship of Lourens and Nina van Rensburg, for the last three years. His current role in the company is as partner, owner and majority shareholder.

Having just finished campaigns for Namibian Brewery’s Camelthorn and for Net#work BBDO on Tusker Lite, he lets us in on the secret to 7Films’ success this year.

BizcommunityWhat do you attribute this year’s successes to?

We attribute this year’s success to our partnerships with agencies and clients that we work closely with in getting great work done. It’s as simple as that. In order to get great work done these days, one has to partner with agencies. For the 7Film family, teamwork is important. Not only with the agencies but bringing up new young talented directors, who we teach to take risks.

Taking risks is essential. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. We have to be brave. These days there are so many good scripts that get researched and tested to death and get sanitised; by the time a script comes out of that process, it’s half the script it was.

BizcommunityWhat plans are already underway to better your Loeries ranking next year?

That’s obviously quite a tough one. Egg Films, who is number one in the country and Sunu Gonera, who is the top director in the country, are incredible. Egg is a phenomenal company and we have a huge amount of respect for them. We love Sunu to bits. He is ridiculously talented and an amazing human being. At heart, although we are a racing family, and we love the competition, for us, it has always been about the work and doing great work. That’s what motivates us.

I think if we stay true to what we love, what we believe in and what we’re passionate about, that’s how we prepare. We love doing good work. Our vision has always been to stay ahead of the curve and to have a 'future' mind-set; even if it doesn’t make sense now in the moment.

In due respect the awards are great, but bigger than that, is our responsibility to the industry at large. We are appreciative of the accolades, it just means our investment has paid off, but that’s not the goal that drives us. We’re also big on using our talent to make a difference, we believe that you'll reap what you sow.

BizcommunityHow does this year’s Loeries flock differ from your haul last year?

Last year we did so well. We were so nervous before the final night… this year we thought there was no way we could do better than what we did last year. So this year, we were super relaxed and just went to have a good time, catch up with some old friends and let our hair down a bit. We were super surprised on the night and we did not expect it! It was unbelievable.

BizcommunityTell us two people you personally admire in the industry in 2017 – both an established mentor figure as well as a newcomer making waves.

I have been under the mentorship of Lourens van Rensburg, whom I greatly respect. I also admire Sunu and love the work he’s doing.

Here’s hoping 2018 is a year of similar unprecedented highs for the 7Films set. Click through to our Loeries’ and Pendoring special sections for more, here for more on 7Films and follow their latest updates on ‏Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About Leigh Andrews

Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
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