MultiVu Creative Wins Platinum Hermes Award for Video Production of "Kimberly-Clark: A Water Story"

Video Documents South Africa's Water Crisis

In February 2019, part of MultiVu's Creative team traveled to Theewaterskloof Dam in Cape Town, South Africa, armed with 12 crew members and 2 Arri Amira cameras. The landscape was both breathtaking and terrifying: mountains climbing toward the horizon, the water from the dam gently lapping the sand, the radiant sun overhead … but those mountains were engulfed in flames, and the team had to park the production van at a strategic angle to attempt to block the smoky winds. The dam where they stood – the city's main water source – was at just 30 percent capacity.

This quickly brought them back to the reason they were there. In 2018, after a crippling drought, Cape Town had almost reached Day Zero, a day when all the city's water taps would have been shut off. Even now, the residents had to let the mountain fires persist, as the lack of rain left them without enough water to fight or contain it.

MultiVu Creative was there to capture a story of awareness on behalf of its client, Kimberly-Clark, one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer products. Clean water is a key element in Kimberly-Clark's manufacturing process, and several of its mills are in water-scarce regions, including its Cape Town facility.

"When we started our water conservation program, the goal was to reduce water usage in our mills to a sustainable level," said Vetri Dhagumudi, Global Water Program Leader, Kimberly-Clark. "But we quickly realized that we couldn't just focus on our own facilities. It is critical that we consider the whole watershed and work with local stakeholders to understand water risk. That way, no one gets left behind."

With this goal in mind, Kimberly-Clark – in partnership with Netherlands-based research firm Deltares – began work on a water scarcity database called WaterLOUPE. A crucial first step of creating WaterLOUPE was gathering information, so they hosted a collaborative workshop for residents, NGOs, academics, and government officials to assess the region's water scarcity and collaborate on meaningful ways to mitigate water risks.

MultiVu Creative was on-hand to film the content of that workshop. While there, they also captured footage of the mill's manufacturing process and accompanied stakeholders from the workshop to visit the Cape Town government's new water hub and dam.

With this footage in hand, the creative team still had their work cut out for them at home with their deadline, World Water Day, just three weeks away. The combination of artful footage with some eloquent storytellers, 3D graphics, and masterful editing created the perfect recipe for success. Ultimately, the mini-documentary "Kimberly Clark: A Water Story" won a platinum Hermes Creative Award, its highest honor for video production.

Credits:
Filmed on Arri Amira cameras and Arri Ultra Prime lenses
Graphics created in Cinema 4D and Arnold Render

Client: Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Senior Producer: Jillian Breslin
DP: Robert Kolodny, House of Nod
2nd DP: Freddie Reed
Editor and VFX Artist: BB Enriquez
Motion Graphics Artist: Meredith Bugel
Motion Graphics Artist: Ryan Coutu
Graphic Design: Nate Garrido