The challenge

Muck Media and Shopify Studios needed a team on the ground and a complete logistical production solution to film the climax of Own the Room, a feature documentary on the entrepreneurial journeys of five young and rising business stars. So they called The Hong Kong Fixer productions and its team of seasoned producers to deliver that perfect package.

This exciting project was set in the entertainment mecca of Macau, right in Hong Kong’s backyard, our worldwide base for film and video production. The vast carpeted hallways of the Sands Cotai strip (now The Londoner) conference center were suddenly buzzing with the intense energies of hundreds of inventors, risk takers and visionaries from all around the world, here to pitch their startup project at the GSEA or Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards. Dreams were palpable as each of the contestants vying for recognition and a cash prize that would surely help launch their start up project rehearsed their pitches before the final stage event. Steve Wozniak was present, along with a bunch of mentor figures and judges from the business world. The pressure was on.

Co-directors of the film, Darren Foster and Christian Costantini, had selected five of these contestants, whom they had followed for months, to tell a story of resilience and hope. There in Macau was the intense and dramatic setting for the ending of their journeys: who would be awarded with the grand prize? And for our production team, there lied the interesting challenge: to help ensure with our camera equipment and sound crew that Muck Media’s team was in the best position to capture all the stories, drama and emotions.

The solution

The HK Fixer’s team arranged the reception and transfer of the crew to Macau, put together a team of award winning sound engineers, supplied a set of 3 Canon C300s, managed the location, guided B-roll and ensured all media were safely backed up for what turned to be an intensive and long sequence of DIT sessions. We were where the story was.

Going the extra… 1,225 miles

And the skills of our producer were put to the test when an unexpected setback occurred. One of the main protagonists, Henri from Kenya, was denied entry to Macau, which created a lot of stress to the team: suddenly, a fifth of the story could lack its ending. What if Henri was the winner of the GSEA?

Within an hour, a solution was found that involved our producer flying with Henri to Beijing for an overnight stay, to return the next day to Macau and negotiate a successful entry. This was a challenging mission requiring quick thinking, finesse, negotiation skills and EQ. Our young Kenyan entrepreneur feeling like a shaken Jack Bauer in The Terminal no man’s land-like space, not knowing whether or not he would make it to finals. And it was story material too, so our producer, armed with his mobile phone, decided to turn this crisis into an opportunity, and documented the whole journey supplying the film with a dramatic scene.

The outcome

A successful mission for an important part of the film and our work on Disney+ and National Geographic. We are grateful to Muck Media and in particular to Jeffrey Plunkett who trusted us with this film production service mission.

Link to Own the Room on IMDb.