Director Gerhard Pretorius at Fuelcontent in Cape Town, South Africa: “From the very first draft of the script, it was clear this was going to be something completely different. The writing is smart, wry, and confident, but we didn’t want to come off as arrogant in any shape or form.

“Casting was also super important, and so was finding talent that could nail both Afrikaans and English performances. So, casting [South African actor/writer] Marvin-Lee Beukes was a no-brainer.

“We had to walk a tonal tightrope and didn’t want this to be satire, but rather a light parody of the investment category’s tropes.

“That’s why the decision was made to shoot in black-and-white as the actor spoke directly to camera while referring to the clichéd metaphor of a small sapling growing into a mighty oak tree (brought to life by Rory Mark and the Refinery team).

“By turning off all the VFX and switching to colour at the end, what we’re saying is, right now, the world needs results, not clichés.”
 

 
Client: Ninety One

Agency: HelloFCB+

Production: Fuelcontent
Director: Gerhard Pretorius

VFX/post: Refinery
Head of VFX: Rory Mark