Face to Face with... Bacon de Czar

Last week we set out on an overnight trip to Berlin having caught wind of a unique event happening involving Bacon Copenhagen, Henry de Czar Paris and Czar’s European network. Arranged to launch a new digital venture between the companies spawned from existing firm Relax We Are the Good Guys, the gathering would launch Bacon de Czar and include a creative workshop on a boat followed by an opening party for employees from all over Europe.

You can read more about what went on in Germany here but now all the antics are over and the hangovers have been fully nursed, Kasper Wedendahl, head honcho at Bacon Copenhagen (pictured bottom, right) tells us more about the new company venture with input from executive producer and co-founder at Bacon de Czar Stine Hein.

Answers below from Kasper Wedendahl

How did the new venture come about and how long has it been in the pipeline?

It started the day B-Reel began calling us to use our directors... Hehe. Jokes aside, I've always been interested in 'everything computer' and have wanted to expand into this part of the business for as long as I remember. But the concrete idea emerged about three years ago; we did a job where Bacon provided the film part and a digital studio provided the tech part - it was two worlds colliding and it quickly became obvious that we would gain so much from having both sides under one roof, with one person in charge of each project instead of two (or three or four) – then the hunt for the right partners started.

Shortly after I had a chat with our partner, Jean Ozzanat, from Henry de Czar in Paris, and we came to the conclusion that it made much better sense opening a pan-European company together, instead of every country having their own little digital shop next to the film productions. This way we could attract much better talent due to the fact that they would be able to work with the best European directors, agencies and clients from day one.

So tell us more about the company and what exactly it'll focus on?

It might sound like a cliche, but I'm a firm believer in the ability to tell a story to get a message across - without a story that involves you, not much information sticks, so the intersection between filmmakers and tech people seems like a very interesting place to be. Besides that we are putting a lot of effort into developing actual digital products - right now we are working on a very interesting piece of software targeted towards the film industry - basically it's about applying the focus of the tech world into the chaos of the filmmaking world.

What’s your personal role in it all?

I'm first of all focusing on building bridges between the tech and the film world - besides that, I'm working on a couple of smaller software projects as well as directing commercials and content within the network. I don't have an official title, but merely see myself as the guy who took the initiative and the responsibility that comes with it.

Why was now the right time to launch?

I'm not sure we ever thought about whether or not this was "the right time" - we have spent the last couple of years scouting for the perfect partners, and when we finally found them we made two jobs together in order to valuate the combination of film and tech - it was challenging due to the very different ways the industries work (again, chaos vs focused) but we ended up with two projects that not only were fun to do, but taught us how to manage the two worlds as one. Both jobs  made a huge impact with the clients that they are coming back with follow ups to the campaigns we worked on. And we got a bunch of shortlists and awards at local shows and a shortlist at the Webby's - so apparently it is the right time.

Why did you choose Berlin as the city to open in?

Well, first of all, Berlin is Berlin. Great city, modest living costs, fantastic food and weird people, which attracts an enormous amount of talent from all over the globe - we are situated right next to Rosenthaler Platz, which feels like a completely different planet. Everything here is about tech, tech and more tech, so in combination with the easy access to most of Europe, it was quite a simple choice.

How did the launch go in your opinion and catching up with everyone from all the offices?

I was very surprised that so many people from agencies and clients came from abroad to say hello and have drinks - on a Wednesday! And it's always great when the Bacon/Czar family reunites - but due to the new venture we do have an extensive communication going on, on a weekly basis - but its always nice to have a drink with your colleagues in real life - even though Skype also works for cross-border drinking!

And what about fture plans for the company?

We are planning to open an outlet in Scandinavia right after summer, in order to be closer to the markets there, but still with Berlin as the main "machine room" - then Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam will follow.

Answers below from Stine Hein

How many staff employees will be at the company to begin with?

[The team consists of] Stine Hein, executive producer and partner; Felix Nielsen, technical director and partner; Caspar Bock, creative director; and three Hyper Island students from Stockholm.

We are looking for senior digital creatives, producers and developers to be a part of the Berlin team. For the moment we are working with our network of freelancers, which we built in the days of Relax, We Are the Good Guys. We will continue working with freelancers as we sometimes work with very niche projects, which requires special skills.

Have you got any jobs lined up yet and what sort of projects will the company be hoping to undertake?

We are the digital agency of Jack & Jones and have just launched a new campaign for the sub-brand Originals a few weeks ago. Also we are working on a project with Acne Fashion, which will be out at beginning of June. Over the summer we will be working on the digital strategy for Joha, Hammerthor and The Inoue Brothers, which will all be online at end of summer.

Our strategy for BdC is - besides the commercial services - is to develop products and at the moment we are raising funds for a product for the commercial film industry. Besides these projects we have a lot going on in the different partner markets which we are looking forward to sharing in the near future.

Why did you choose Berlin as the city to open in?

Berlin is as central as you can get and the mass of digital talent is amazing. Well that and the schnitzel, of course.