Defining Hope

This film was a joy to make. Not just because we would get the chance to work with one of Belfast’s most highly respected poets but as the film would be premiered to an online audience of NI’s top businesses at the 2021 Responsible Business Awards. As we were asked to produce a film about the climate crisis and how local businesses should be rallying together to create change, we wanted to create a spoken word film that celebrates the joy and freedom of our beautiful countryside in juxtaposition to local industry.

Although the brief had a focus on health, climate crisis and coming out of lockdown, this was the first spoken word film we have produced for Business in the community. So we had to pull out all the stops.  We had worked with them before so it was a pleasure to settle in with a familiar executive team. However, we have developed a process for shooting these types of films with new crew that yields great results. Working with Niamh McNally for the first time was a very memorable experience, her very cool, laid back vibe along with the backdrop of NI in one of the best summers we’ve had made for a very fun and warming experience. Local regulations presented their own challenges but our flexible way of working meant we were able to lock down the locations and pull everything together in time to meet the deadline. So the easy flowing style of this kind of spoken word film lends itself to what was achieved through good planning and large dollops of flexibility.

Director: Chris Eva | Cinematography: Chris Eva and Mark Robinson | Client Business in the Community NI

This spoken word film, centred on hope and creating change, was commissioned and premiered at the 2021 Responsible Business Awards in Northern Ireland.