10 KEY achievements I contributed to
200+ ORIGINAL VIDEOS Totalizing 280+ millions views on YouTube
Top5 highest facebook fundraising performance in 2019
40+ millions page views on the ORGANIZATION’s website
180 Terabytes of IN-HOUSE documentary CONTENT
from 4k to 2.3m followers on instagram
Repeated ToP-TIER worldwide media coverage
An in-house production Framework
A COMpREHENSIVE Brand Styleguide
6 world-class Milestone live events
In September 2016 I joined The Ocean Cleanup as a Video and Content Manager. Back then, the organization was still at a very early stage with a team of about twenty people. What struck me from the very first day was the level of ambition and the scale of impact this young company was striving for.
“Ridding the world’s ocean of plastic.” Period. A simple mission statement, and no conditions to it, except for... whatever it takes. I instantly fell in love with the story and the mindset with which everyone in the organization was working. It’s one of these rare companies for which a job description makes no sense. You do what you need to do to serve the cause. And for me, that pretty much meant combining all the skills I developped in my previous jobs and experiences, and level-up each of them by a factor 10.
A simple mission statement, and no conditions to it, except for... whatever it takes.
I had done events before, I had done video production before, I had done social media before, I had done Photography before, I had done digital marketing before. It was the right time, the right place and the right mission to do it allover again, and better. I rapidly found myself involved with pretty much everything related to The Ocean Cleanup brand. It was a transitional phase where this young non-profit organization was facing the challenge to grow out of its slightly amateuristic and volunteer- based origins to become a more established, recognizable and mature company without loosing its transparency, authenticity and genuine feel. To give you an idea, we had 4000 followers on Instagram.Working closely with Boyan Slat - CEO & Founder, and Joost Dubois - Head of Communications, I was able to rapidly enhance and codify the visual identity of the organization. I devised and delivered content strategies to maximize the awareness and credibility of the project. The growth was immediate and The Ocean Cleanup was increasingly being compared to famous tech companies such as Tesla or SpaceX. This early branding work peeked with a Live event named “The Next Phase” held on May 11, 2017 in Utrecht (NL) during which Boyan Slat introduced a new concept for The Ocean Cleanup technology in an Apple-like keynote.
The Ocean Cleanup was increasingly being compared to famous tech companies such as Tesla or SpaceX
I progressively realized that while the audience showed great interest in our technological progress, the real appeal of the organization was lying in the hope it inspired people and the trust they could place in the team. Documenting the journey and safeguarding the truthfulness of our storytelling became my most important focus point.
2018 was yet another big year for the organization, as it is the year we set out to launch our first full scale system, dubbed System 001. Ahead of this critical milestone, I was promoted to the role of Creative Content Director, in charge of capturing this first-of-a-kind story. Former CNN producer Dan van der Kooy joined the team as Senior Video Producer to ramp up our production capacity. I then recruited and directed a team of 3 talented cinematographers to help document this offshore adventure. The story unfolded in the most captivating way a storyteller could ever wish for: an iconic launch from the San Francisco Bay, entirely livestreamed and a dramatic cliffhanger ending as the system broke apart a few days before the new year.
2019 is the year we all took our chances at The Ocean Cleanup. On a personal level, I raised my ambitions as a cinematographer and photographer and decided to put every other non-critical task on the side, to focus entirely on documenting the story, behind the camera. I travelled wherever the story needed me to be: Hawaii, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada. Most importantly, I joined the offshore crew on the System001/B mission. A 6-weeks adventure in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 1500 nautical miles from the nearest shores, half way between Hawaii and California. Against all odds the team finally achieved the breakthrough they were hoping for, and I was lucky enough to witness and capture that milestone.
My WORK Featured in The WORLD’s LEADING MEDIA OUTLETS
The second half of 2019 was marked by the unveiling of the Interceptor, a breakthrough river cleanup technology developped in secrecy for more than four years. The Interceptor was launched live on October 26th in a spectacular setting in Rotterdam. Ensuring all the visual content and branding elements were ready on time for this announcement was another exciting challenge I look back proudly at. The production and post production of the event was equally exciting. Following this unveiling, we witneessed another peak of growth on all of our social media platforms, and several videos organically hit over a million views.
In early 2020, I initiated a deeper reflexion on the creative content strategy and introduced a new framework. Conceptualized as “The Ocean Cleanup Creative Unit”, this framework is meant to rationalize and streamline how creative services are performed, to enable The Ocean Cleanup to become a recognized and respected player on the media and creative scene. This new framework and its associated tools allowed us to increase our production capacity throughout 2020, and deliver more complex content strategies. Most notably, we delivered two YouTube-series (“From Trash To Treasure”, “Interceptor 004”) and a podcast program (“Catching Up”).
Since January 2022, my role has been elevated to Head of Creative and Documentary Productions.
Here below are a few examples of The Ocean Cleanup content and brand strategy across various channels.
