It was a small but significant step. On February 2nd 2015, after much discussion with our accountant, we registered Conceptavision as a Company. Ten years on and there is so much to reflect on: lessons learned, knowledge gained and impact created.
While completing his Masters degree at Sydney College of the Arts, Jack McGrath was becoming increasingly busy with his freelance videography work. Word of mouth was spreading, and he was finding it difficult to keep up with his small but growing portfolio of client projects. He reached a point where it was becoming untenable to manage the many aspects of his freelance business on top of his other commitments. Enter Jack’s life partner, Daisy De Windt, who was keen to tackle this exciting problem. Daisy had been working in the pharmaceutical industry and in medical education, but she had a thirst to grow and develop a creative business that could be shaped under her and Jack’s leadership.
In Conceptavision, Jack and Daisy saw a wonderful opportunity to create a company that could grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of healthcare professionals, patients, academics, students, and thought leaders.
Ten years on and >230 projects later, we have learned so much about ourselves, about how to run a sustainable company, and about managing projects efficiently and effectively. We’ve also gained a vast amount of knowledge in a broad range of disciplines thanks to the many hundreds of intellectually stimulating conversations we have had with our clients and collaborators over the years.
If there is one overarching theme in these learnings, it’s that we all have so much to contribute. The world is a vast and diverse place, and with the right tools and by asking the right questions, we can connect the dots and work together to bring about positive change.
As with any anniversary, it’s worth pointing out some highlights:
- Travelling across the country and abroad to shoot in locations including the USA, Europe and Asia. This included shooting at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, which was a dream come true.
- Meeting fellow filmmakers, animators, and thought leaders at various conferences and festivals around the world. Each meeting was a reminder that chance encounters can turn possibilities into realities.
- Gaining over 120k organic views on YouTube for a video we produced about a day in the life of a veterinary science student. It was wonderful to see how much this video engaged with prospective vet science students and inspired them to take action.
- Producing animations for a client based in the Kimberley (in northern Western Australia), which spoke to important issues facing indigenous communities. It was wonderful to form a close collaboration so that we could help tell these important stories in an effective way – with these animations inspiring conversations about change.
- Collaborating with documentary filmmakers to complete two documentaries: one on quantum mechanics and its implications for society, and one on radicalisation in Australia and abroad.
- Being finalists in over ten categories of awards over several years, with the Sydney City Regional Business Awards. These categories spanned business excellence, outstanding leadership, and innovation.
- The cumulative experience of working with committed healthcare professionals who consistently go above and beyond in their duty to patient care – and sharing their expertise with us on camera so that we can help share their knowledge ever more widely. Being on camera can be very challenging and we love helping thought leaders get comfortable on camera, despite how unnatural it can feel!
- Mentoring and working with emerging talent in the industry. It’s been wonderful to be a part of the journey of the next generation of storytellers.
- Being here, 10 years later, still smiling, driven, and motivated to continue to effect positive change here and globally.
Whether you have worked with us, supported us, or just watched from a distance, thank you for being with us on this journey. We look forward to continuing to work with all our collaborators into the future, as there is still so much to do. We remain committed to the power of good visual storytelling to share knowledge and drive positive change in the world.
If you want to check out some of our work, head along to this page where you can review some of our completed projects in animation, video, motion graphics and script writing.
