#CreativeCircle | Neo Mashigo: The difference between a cherry and goat dung
That, says The Up & Up Group’s chief creative officer (CCO), Neo Mashigo, who judged the film awards this year at Cannes, is what separates Bronze, Silver and Gold at Cannes.
He shared his judging experience at the recent Creative Circle Full Circle events in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Danette Breitenbach caught up with him after the event.
“Film was a lot of work - you watch many films - but it reveals the difference between winning work and work that does not make it.”
Winning work assumes the basics are in place. Then it is about elements, such as the music or sound, the casting, what new has been brought into the storytelling, and the cinematography.
He explains that winning work has an obvious story, but in the judging room, you're analysing 10 good films.
“To separate them, you dig into everything. That's when we are creating,if you give up one thing, we see how it can change the work from good to okay.
From a song, the lead actor, the director, or decisions in the edit room... any one of these changes the work, and while this might feel like a small change, it can be what separates Bronze from Silver and Silver from Gold.
It is here, he says, that the layers South Africans operate under become evident. The biggest for him is the pace at which we are required to work.
“It is too fast. Development and execution of an idea are given very little time. If you had a month to search for the best actor for that role, you would find them, but not when you only have two weeks. It feels like we're working against the gun.”
Do great work locally first
The advantage we have as a country, when it comes to advertising and ideas, he says, is that we know we can.
“We can do the amazing work because it's South Africans who are doing the hard work that's been done overseas. We have amazing creatives around the world who keep on delivering good work repeatedly.”
So he asks, "We know we have it, so why does it take us leaving and going to another country to be able to do that? We should be able to get to a place where we can do it here at home.”
Go overseas
But his advice to young creatives is still to aim to work overseas.
“Then their standard is based against the best in the world, and if they don't get to work overseas, they'll get to make amazing work here. It's a win for the country and a win for the individual as well."
He says it is like football. “Someone who plays football wants to play in the Premier League, because these are the best players.”
The disadvantage is we keep on losing our best talent, and then you have to groom them again and again.
“But to be fair to young creatives, the world is global, and to keep them locked here is not fair. If someone can do great work for my studio, and then they go overseas the next year, I think it's fine, and then they must come back.
“I know that it's kind of twisted in a way, but I think of myself and what a young Neo would do. And that’s what I would do.”
Do local work
When he got into the industry, people were also going overseas.
“The difference at the time was that people who went overseas tended to make work that felt like foreign work, so their portfolio was for the job they're hunting for overseas.
“But now you can still do very local work and showcase your talent and still get a job overseas.”
Back then, for many reasons, he says he did not want to go overseas.
“Being a black creative then was a rare thing, and I felt it was important for me to be in those corridors, so that when other people join in, there is someone like them.
“When I started, there were only two black creatives in our entire studio. Three months down the line, that person was retrenched, and I was the only one left.”
Many things were also very foreign to him then. “But I needed to be in an environment where everyone was doing great work, and I got to work with the best and do amazing work.
“I want to same for creatives now, but the change for me now is that the world is so global that you have to aim for that.”
Motivated and encouraged
Despite the time it takes to judge this category, Mashigo says he loves being immersed in very high-quality creative products.
“It's rewarding for me. It is why I do this.”
He explains, “The standard of the work gives me hope of being able to achieve that myself."
But he warns against crying when you see an idea that you had, that for whatever reason never got produced, winning gold.
“As I see it, I have won this thing because I also came up with that idea, but mine was just never executed, but I know the truth about it.”
It also gives him the hope that another one of his ideas will be produced, and that keeps him motivated and encouraged.
Bafana Bafana vs Spain
“At Cannes, you can feel like Bafana Bafana playing Spain or France - they have bigger budgets, they have the scale, and the talent, and their clients are more advanced, and they are not reporting to global, because they are global.”
When you judge, he says, you get to discuss ideas with people who have made those ideas, and you get a sense of how other markets see work, how they go about making work, and how their clients are.
“Sometimes you meet the person who did the work and the client. You get to talk to them, and you see their relationship, and you see the understanding of the importance of creativity in being able to elevate anything.
He believes we lack that kind of dynamic.
In addition, he says we live in an economy where we constantly hear how bad things are or how bad things will get, so you are almost always operating in defence mode.
The consequences if you get it wrong are also hectic.
Striving for more
While awards such as Cannes are important for us, he says, because they keep us striving for more, for your mental statem you cannot place your entire career against what you didn't win.
“It is important to look at your work and see that it did amazingly well for my brand, my clients, and the consumer – it ticked all those boxes, and then you missed out on this one, which is the award from Cannes.
“You must have a certain level of balance. You cannot enter a piece of work and then, when it does not win, allow it to change your career and start doing badly.
“We need to understand that awards set to the standard, but they do not determine everything about our careers and our jobs and what we do.”
