22 Sep 4 Key Insights for Film-Makers Working in Tourism
I sat down with Spencer MacDonald, an Emmy nominated, Berlin based, director who has done extensive work for tourist agencies to talk about his experience. Here’s what I learned!
Here’s the 25 minute episode
1. It takes BRAVE companies to release creative content that might not be liked
No risk, no reward-big surprise! So then why do such few companies take the leap? If we think about tourism, you get your epic montage of the “perfect vacation.” You know what I’m talking about, everyone having the best time of their life in the perfect setting, worry free. Think Royal Caribbean or Visit California. I can’t say I blame them. It’s a tried and true method of getting people to come to you, but do the videos really convey reality? For me the answer is no, if it’s a yes for you stop reading, book a ticket, and keep doing what you’re doing. I’m not on Cloud 9 the entire vacation, the food’s not always great, and it DOES get lonely.
Swiss Tourism acknowledged this, and gave Spencer the shot at making a collection of branded content that touched on these points. The result, Even if it Takes Awhile shows that it’s okay to take your time getting into your vacation. The result, I felt heard as a consumer and built trust with Swiss Tourism.
2. Make sure everyone’s on the same page
Welcome to the real world! If a commercial director has been hired by a company, they have the final say into what goes in or out of the branded content. Even if it Takes Awhile did not make the final cut in Spencer’s deliverables to Swiss Tourism. The reason why, because middle managers gave the green light but the CEO did not. Always make sure that all the key stakeholders are on board before moving on, especially the CEO
3. Artistry is rooted in imperfection
So is humanity. An artist’s job is to capture what’s going on in the period of time they live in. And every period of time is imperfect (to say the least). Our account of this world is not objective, because it was created by subjective people living their subjective experience. Art is no exception. We need this imperfection. We’re not attracted to what’s perfect, we’re attracted to what we can relate to. We want to find perfection in the imperfection, the girl falling in love with the emotionally unavailable boy.
4. Capturing your here and now can take you to the unknown
Spencer began by creating documentaries of the farm that he worked at. He was doing a WWOOF, where he worked on an Organic farm in exchange for his work. This helped him land his first internship and build the momentum that soon turned into his career. If you’re looking to get into film, there will never be a perfect time. Start with what’s in front of you and work from there.
