The end of the year is in sight, so it’s a great moment to look back at 2021 and see what it has brought us all.
First, 2021 turned out to be another corona year. Sadly, we were not able to put a stop to the Covid pandemic just yet. This summer, just when we thought everything started to look like normal, the virus started spreading again rapidly. That meant working from home lots of the time, being first in partial lockdown and then in a full one, not knowing when this all will stop, and hoping for a quick start of the booster campaign. It also meant plenty of time to follow the formation of the new Dutch government – the longest in our nation’s history clocking in at 271 days.
But 2021 was also a year many companies regained their strength. Although several sectors have taken a hit, the damage so far seems to have been limited and temporary. In fact, the CPB predicts that the Dutch economy will have grown by almost 4% in 2021, stronger than before the pandemic. Let’s hope this new lockdown won’t temper that optimism.
At 1Camera, we look back with great pride on 2021, which turned out to be a remarkably successful year. Apart from some corona setbacks, we managed to continue working at a brisk speed. Our corona protocols have gone through extensive development, so we can now ensure we don’t have to cancel any production. Thanks to this, we were able to realize many exciting, large-scale productions resulting in gorgeous, impactful films. It was a year of immense growth and development.
Another cause for this success is the digitization of many of our processes, both internally and customer-facing. We can now run projects even more efficiently and have more room to produce multiple large films simultaneously compared to before corona. We also noticed a rise in assignments to produce internal films, aiming for a more personal connection with staff working from home.
Highlights and Investments
To list all the productions we are proud of would be impossible, so let’s stick to some of the highlights. First, we managed a huge production for Achmea, which will be released early next year. As this film was shot in lockdown in various places in the Netherlands (Limburg, Broek in Waterland, Amsterdam, and Vinkeveen), we had to overcome quite some challenges. But we still found ways to make the film look and sound entirely real. For Achmea we also made a short feature film called The suprise of Achlum, in celebration of the successful career of its departing chairman, Willem van Duin.
We had the honor to film in several world-renowned empty museums: Rijksmuseum, Boijmans Van Beuningen, De Kunsthal, and Mauritshuis. And despite travel restrictions, we were able to safely travel to the USA to screen the new film The Carbon Neutral Pig for the USFRA, for which we are nominated for a Gouden Reiger award. As it has become ‘our new normal,’ and our client happens to be American, the entire strategy and concept phase and preproduction for The Carbon Neutral pig was done remotely and the eventual shoot was carried out with a fully local crew, directed by Jasper Claus. Finally, we are also extremely proud we won a World Media Award for the farewell film for the CEO of Heineken, and ended this remarkable year with 3 inspiring Christmas films for DSM, KPN and Heineken.
2021 was also a year we took on several exciting new investments. Our new ARRI Signature Prime cinema lens set enabled our Director of Photography to film material in the highest possible image quality. Furthermore, our brand-new studios provided an excellent setting to record demo films, voice-overs, podcasts, and interviews with, among others, Abdi Nageeye for Nationale Nederlanden and Willem van Duin for Achmea. We also invested in a top tier 3-camera interview set up, including a beautiful, soft, flattering interview lighting set up. On top of that, excellent people were added to our team: a new editor and several producers. They are essential in handling the increasing demand for our work. And finally, we’ve redesigned our website. The new design is aimed at offering you more storytelling inspiration. In 2022, On our website and social media channels (LinkedIn/Instagram), we will stay committed to showing you how to tell your story in the most compelling way possible and share our best work, tips and inspiration!
In all, it’s been a year of tremendous growth and opportunities for 1Camera. We would like to thank everyone for the wonderful collaborations, and we look forward to next year’s great productions. We are ready!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
