Local video production company Rooftop have put themselves on the global map after they won a special jury award, on 18 April, at the annual WorldFest – Houston International Film Fest putting them second in the category of Travel and Tourism videos, for a short tourism video filmed for Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) last year.
Managing director of Rooftop, Richard Ahlfeldt, who was the executive producer of the video, said it was “brilliant to be recognised” by one of America’s oldest film festivals. “The Special Jury Award which is one of two grand awards given in each category. It’s a special award and it recognises the highest award for creative excellence in each major category and not all categories have these awards. It’s selected from a jury as an exceptional video,” said Ahlfeldt.
Early last year NMBT decided to upgrade their marketing material in anticipation of the World Cup. “We received some funding for legacy projects before the World Cup and we decided to commission a hi-resolution, high quality video that we could use post-World Cup to promote Nelson Mandela Bay,” said Titus Chuene, NMBT marketing manager.
Following a collaborative meeting of local creative minds from strategic brand agency, Boomtown, which subcontracted the work to Rooftop – both Nelson Mandela Bay-based companies – evolved the inspiration behind the video around the theme of discovering freedom.
“We are excited that all the skills are local and that the concept and execution worked so well together under the topic Discover Freedom, which the video was later entitled as. It goes to show that even though we are local we have some of the best minds fit for the global stage, right here in Nelson Mandela Bay,” said Boomtown director, Luvuyo Bangazi.
Ahlfeldt said the creative companies sat down and did extensive research on what other cities around the world had done for their tourism videos.
“We looked at New York, Sydney and many other city tourism videos. We had just done the Cacadu (district) video, so we felt confident we would be able to produce something amazing for Nelson Mandela Bay. But we both knew that it was important to get a clear message across – Discover Freedom had been developed as the creative platform for selling Nelson Mandela Bay so we had to capitalise on that and bring it to life.,” Ahlfeldt explained.
“We have so much on offer in Nelson Mandela Bay,” said Ahlfeldt. “But not many people know where Nelson Mandela Bay is and what you can do here. So we wanted to take potential tourists on a journey where they not only discover Nelson Mandela Bay, but also the freedom of the city in this beautiful province. Also, as locals who live here and know the city and its intricacies so well, we wanted to showcase the very best we have on offer by exhibiting our diverse locations and people.”
“There are two connotations attached to the word freedom in relation to our city. The first is Nelson Mandela and his long walk to freedom. The second is that people don’t know what is on offer in Nelson Mandela Bay and sometimes have the wrong perception of the city, we wanted to show the incredible diversity our hidden gem has. We wanted to take the viewer on a journey of discovery where a magical city, Nelson Mandela Bay, is uncovered.”
Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism marketing manager, Titus Chuene, said the win was a coup for the local tourism industry. “We are very proud of the job Rooftop and Boomtown did for us. The fact that their skills have been recognised on a world stage is a testament to the calibre of talent we have in Nelson Mandela Bay. Over and above this, the exposure the city will get out of this video and win will have a ripple effect on our tourism industry,” said Chuene.
He also noted that it was important for tourism promotion agencies to engage in multi-media platforms for promotion. “We are living in the digital age and we must cater to the digital tourist. In fact, the first ‘visit’ tourists actually make to potential destinations is often online, thus we need to market to these potential tourists by showcasing our tourism offerings in an enticing manner,” said Chuene. “Video is one of the most evocative ways to do this, hence the commission for a tourism video – and we are very impressed by the final award-winning product which is already promoting our stunning destination.”
The Boomtown team included Glen Meier (creative director) and Natalie Henshaw (copywriter). The Rooftop team included Ahlfeldt, Andrew Jute (film and editing) and Linda Rossouw (producer).
WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival is one of the oldest and largest film and video competitions in the world, with more than 4 500 category entries received from 37 countries in 2010. Founded in 1961, it is the only international film festival in North America to be dedicated completely to independent films. WorldFest discovered top acclaimed directors like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, The Coen Brothers, David Lynch, Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone.
Rooftop will be receiving the physical award in about two weeks’ time as they could not make it to Houston to accept the prize.
- A scene from the award-winning Discover Freedom tourism video shot by Rooftop Productions and commissioned by Nelson Mandela Bay’s tourism body, NMBT.
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The video can be seen following this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/NelsonMandelaBay?feature=chclk#p/u/0/lX1AWtOKPtc