Creative Concept & Execution: The event celebrated Hollard’s 40 years as if Hollard was a 40-year-old person whose personality has been defined by every single Hollardite over the years and influenced by various guardians, namely Hollard’s past 4 CEOs. Each CEO’s personality was brought to life through a pre-recorded interview held at Hollard’s premises in Parktown, followed by a spectacular medley of that CEO’s favourite hit songs accompanied by singers, dancers, the JPO and, at times, the Mzansi Youth Choir. A song, custom-written for Hollard opened the event and a happy birthday music video featuring the Exco and employees closed the event. The party kicked off with the descent of a circular DJ booth from the central truss onto the central round stage and a jaw-dropping performance by Sho Madjozi. DJ Ready D hit the decks and partied with Hollardites for the rest of the night.
The entire event, from logo design to stage execution incorporated circular elements. This dictated a unique seating and staging format. A large central circular stage sported a revolve for speeches and performances ensuring that everyone in the audience had a view of the action. A cylindrical LED screen above the center stage showed gorgeous graphics and video content.
But, Hollard really wanted everyone to feel included, and so, four satellite stages, two of which were joined to the central stage, allowed for performances and awards that were in close proximity to every segment of the audience. Four projection screens and a further three large LED walls showed content and live feed of all of the action. The orchestra was placed on their own stage, bringing the total number of performance areas to 6. The live camera rig included a jib, two steady cams and a further stationary camera plus a time lapse locked off camera, giving us a multifaceted record of this spectacular event.