For many Nelson Mandela Bay residents the region is simply the place they call home, but with a bit of creativity it can be transformed from a regular city to a magical rainforest or unforgiving arid landscape.
The diversity of the Bay has played an integral role in the renowned creative production agency, Rooftop, being at the forefront of some the world’s most meaningful campaigns and, in celebrating its 20th anniversary, the company is paying homage to the place that made it all possible.
Rooftop creative director Nick Waring said they had filmed about 1,000 videos in and around Gqeberha.
“We’ve filmed on roofs, under buildings and bridges, out to sea, in rivers, in countless houses, shops, schools, malls, in taxis, and on the highway,” Waring said.
“The diversity of our city means we’ve been able to use local people to represent countless nationalities around the world, including African, Asian, Middle-Eastern and South American.
“They’ve all played a role in our mission to tell stories that lead to real impact and make a difference in people’s lives.”
Rooftop was founded in 2003 by Richard Ahlfeldt and James Scholtz, both just 19 at the time, and best friends from their days at Harvest Christian School.
Over the past 20 years, Rooftop’s journey has shifted from humble beginnings duplicating DVDs and filming municipal events in the Bay, to making TV ads, to creating advocacy and awareness videos, to driving entire global campaigns.
Rooftop’s clients include a string of UN agencies, along with many other global organisations, such as the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), The Global Fund and Save the Children.
Using various storytelling tools including long-format films, social media videos and posts, billboards, posters, interactive media and influencer-driven content, the company tackles humanitarian issues ranging from keeping children in school in conflict-affected areas and fighting diseases such as HIV/Aids to tackling global food waste and preventing gender-based violence.
Creative director Tom Collins said while a lot of Rooftop’s work was filmed on location in many countries across the world, budgetary, security, time and other constraints including the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to think out of the box.
“In 2021, when travel was still difficult because of Covid, we were in the middle of producing a miniseries for Unicef aimed at reducing child marriage in West Africa — so we turned a farm in the Steytlerville area into a fictional West African village,” Collins said.
Ahlfeldt said while the company had expanded its offices to Cape Town and Europe, they remain proud of their Gqeberha roots, with the head office remaining in the city.
He said the staff complement had grown from a handful of creatives to a team of 70 that include strategists, social media specialists, graphic designers, videographers, writers, researchers, animators and illustrators.
“The 20th anniversary celebration of Rooftop is actually a celebration of extraordinary people who’ve come together and have fought dearly to make Rooftop what it is today,” Ahlfeldt said.
HeraldLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.