New name, new identity, new website, studio upgrades & a whole lot of commercials
Now that we are approaching the end of 2021, a year summary fits nicely.
Like the previous year, 2021 has been characterized by the ongoing pandemic. But despite this, we have had tremendous demand for digital and linear commercials. The food industry, in particular, has had a massive boost in turnover in the last two years, and we have had tremendous demand for commercials for the industry's new food products.
Earlier this year, we underwent a name change from Bryng Film to Stories to adapt our profile and who we will be in the years to come. We have developed a new website in Norwegian and English to attract national and international customers. Our collaboration with Sporenstrek Reklame and Studio Ask was also expanded this year. From renting office space in Studio Ask, we now enter as tenants of the studio operations together with Sporenstrek Reklame. A new operating company for the studio has now been established and will manage the rental of the premises in the future. We see increased demand or rental of the studio for both film and photography, but we have also opened up the rental to private companies and events in the future.
The website for Studio Ask has also been updated this year with a completely new layout and design. In addition, we have put a booking calendar in place, making it easy for our customers and clients to book. Visit Studio Ask's new website here: Studio Ask. If you have any questions regarding studio booking, you can contact the booking manager directly at: booking@studioask.no
WEB SERIES FOR DNB EIENDOM
Pressworks has worked with DNB Eiendom to develop a new nationwide campaign for their estate agents. DNB, which has over 50 local offices in Norway, wants to show its fluff
Local knowledge in the areas where they are present. The new campaign "L for lokalkjent" is a new landing page with combined text and video highlighting exciting residential areas in the cities they represent. Each town has its landing page and an accompanying mini-episode with a representative from the city we visit. Stories have filmed and produced all these films. Kristen Grøsland, sales manager at DNB, acts as an outreach program leader. The project is still undergoing pilot testing, so you should not ignore the fact that there will be more episodes in 2022. Thank you to Pressworks and DNB Eiendom for a great collaboration throughout 2021.
ADVERTISING FILMS FOR Q-MEIERIENE
Advertising agency McCann wanted a content campaign where ordinary people showed off their breakfast habits with Q-Frokostyogurt. Together with the entire team at Sporenstrek Reklame, we developed a series of 15-second commercials for online distribution. Josefin Linder was responsible for still photography in this campaign.
In a time of the pandemic, unforeseen situations constantly arise. So when our director Christian Schüssler ended up in quarantine the day before filming, our eminent house photographer, Josefin Linder, took over the director role, with good help from Christian over Zoom.
To reduce the number of people on set, this was also the first time we streamed the camera signal via Zoom so that more people could participate during the production. This working method has proven very effective for our customers. They can work on other projects in parallel while having a direct dialogue with the production team in the studio. We now offer this solution to all our customers free of charge on all studio productions.
Many thanks to McCann, and mainly to the creator, Stian, and Jan-Petter, for their collaboration on this project.
BEHIND THE SCENES
BARBECUE PROMOTION FOR SALMA
The marketing department at Salma wanted a barbecue campaign for their Limited Edition herb barbecue burger. Together with Sporenstrek Reklame, we developed a 12-second commercial suitable for online distribution in all formats.
To make the most of the shooting day, we also filmed an inspirational film about creative methods you can use Salma for throughout the summer. A big thank you to our partners in Sporenstrek Reklame, and not least to the marketing team in Salma for a good collaboration.
ADVERTISING FILMS FOR NORDEA
Nordea wanted to portray three of its employees within three different departments. Nordea selected three actors in its company, and our director Christian Shüssler guided them through the filming, which took place over three days.
With a small crew, we could work efficiently and with many locations in one day. The result was three charming 30-second portraits where Nordea employees talk about everyday life, work, the pandemic, and free time. The commercials are intended for TV and digital viewing, and you can watch them here:
STRØMMESTIFTELSEN
PR agency Släger was to create a campaign for the charity organization Strømmestiftelsen. The campaign was called "The road out of poverty starts on the first day of school," They wanted to portray a girl who lives in Africa under deplorable conditions.
Due to the pandemic, we couldn't travel to Africa, so we had to build the Africa stage inside our studio. Petter Aker built a house resembling "African houses" over five days. He also arranged for sand all over the studio, so we felt like being in Africa.
Uffe Mulvad was responsible for the lighting and ensured that the "house" was lit in a believable style. Släger was in charge of the entire campaign's production and hired a musician to create a soundtrack with the well-known song "Lisa went to school."
Thanks to Henning and the team at Släger for a brilliant collaboration! You can watch the video here:
ADVERTISING FILM FOR PORSCHE CENTER OSLO
Advertising agency Logoz was to make a commercial for its client Porsche Center Oslo. Porsche was to open a new showroom at Aker Brygge, which was also a coffee bar.
Together with the micro-brewery Supreme Roastworks, they launched a new concept offering high-quality coffee while you could order a new car. Since the cafe was not finished before launch, we had to be creative and use Supreme's branch in Torshov as our coffee branch. The result was a two-day recording spread over two months. At launch, we made a 30-second commercial that played with coffee and driving cross-cut.
After the summer, we made the second part of the commercial, where we visited their new cafe at Aker Brygge and cut this into the existing film.
Filming a car is one of the most fun things you can do, but it requires a special rig to film at speed. For this production, we chose a BlackArm with a gyro stabilizer that hangs on the back of a trailer. Uffe Mulvad, the photographer for the film's first part, controlled the gimbal and camera while driving. Motion Air supplied equipment and techniques for the rig.
Thanks to the whole crew for a fast-paced few days of filming.
LUNDIN
Lundin operates several oil rigs out in the North Sea and is one of the sponsors of the show jumping team in Norway. Lundin would therefore invite some of their leading athletes on the national show jumping team and their coach, Alexander Stöckl, to visit the Edvard Grieg platform in the North Sea.
The undersigned (videographer) had to take a refresher course on his Offshore certificate to be able to join the trip. After two days of helicopter overturning, fire drills, and life raft exercises at Nutec, Nesodden had to. Then it was on the platform with Maren Lundby, Halvor Granerud, and Alexander Stöckl.
Two enjoyable filming days on the oil rig became an informational film about safety assessments in both the sport of jumping and oil work. Unfortunately, the film is not available for public viewing.
ANNIVERSARY FILM FOR VITUSAPOTEK
We had the opportunity to pitch to the advertising agency McCann when their creators Kim and Siv were to realize their idea for the anniversary film for Vitusapotek. Vitusapotek celebrated 20 years in 2021 and, on that occasion, wanted to create a portrait that showcased its customers over the past 20 years.
Christian Schüssler directed, and Espen Olsen from iProduksjon as the cinematographer. Our crew worked from morning to night to get this project off the ground in record time. Over three days in the Oslo area, we filmed in over 7 locations with a crew of fewer than 15 people.
We hired Jakob Oftebro as a voiceover artist and did all the post-production at Uhört. An incredibly skilled post-production house. To top it all off, we bought the rights to Fay Wildhagen's song Into The Woods.
Thanks to Vitusapotek and McCann for a brilliant collaboration and a great result!
SUMMARY
2021 has been a hectic and content-filled year. Never before have we had such a wide variety of assignments and formats within the advertising genre. As I write this text in quiet and peaceful surroundings on holiday in Zanzibar, I can't help but look forward to 2022 picking up speed. I want to thank all the talented freelancers who have been with us this year. Adrian Axel has had an important job as an assistant in the studio and on shoots. He always takes on new challenges with a smile. Thank you, Adrian, for your hard work - we appreciate having you on the team.
Uffe Mulvad has joined the team as an incredibly skilled lighting man and has assisted on several of our productions throughout 2021. He has proven to have an extra eye for detail and will be given more responsibility on the photography side throughout the following year.
The director Christian Schüssler has been essential in ensuring that the productions have maintained high quality, even on very tight budgets. Describing the importance of a director with overall creative responsibility in a production is challenging to convey. Still, he is an indispensable asset to the team and has everything to say about the result of any film. Christian has a unique ability to direct actors on set and develop productions in advance.
In addition to our talented freelancers, this year, we also had an intern with us throughout the autumn. Kristina Maria Lagahino Erland, from the study of media and communication at Oslo Metropolitan University, started with us in August and has been involved in all our productions for the past six months. She has had a steep learning curve and has been a great resource on all recordings.
Last but not least, I would like to extend an extra big thank you to my partner Kari Marie Sandbukt, who has joined the operation and is responsible for marketing and activity on our social media. Kari, who works with marketing for several other clients as a freelancer, is accountable for our organic movement and advertisements in paid channels. We look forward to following her journey further! We production companies that work with marketing are often bad at marketing ourselves, and we intend to do something about this.
We would never have been what we are today without the collaboration with Sporenstrek Reklame by Monica Sjøli. Sporenstrek has opened up an entirely new market within food advertising productions, and over the past six years, our shows have grown considerably. Many thanks to the entire team at Sporenstrek Reklame for both company on the premises and our joint productions throughout 2021. Monica, Ine, Josefin, and Mia - you are gold to work with!
We already have many exciting projects for 2022 and look forward to starting another content-rich production year.
We wish all our partners and customers a happy new year!
With best regards,
Peter Bryng
CEO
