Huawei × BBC StoryWorks IPR Brand Film - Mini Series

A three-part brand documentary mini-series for Huawei, produced by BBC StoryWorks, exploring the role of intellectual property and innovation at the heart of Huawei’s 30-year growth story.

The brief

Three episodes tracing Huawei’s philosophy: the acceleration of technological innovation, the long investment in R&D and IP protection, and the collaborative licensing ecosystem that moves the whole industry forward. Interview-led, globally produced, and held to the editorial standard a BBC StoryWorks commission carries.

The challenge

We shot it during China’s COVID-19 lockdowns, with the director, Kevin Pham, in London and a large time difference between us. On day one he wanted to remote-direct, to be sure the team on the ground could actually deliver what he was after.

The approach

So I ran it from the floor. We locked the interview-led setups first, the backbone of every episode, then used whatever time was left each day to find and build the b-roll the edit would need. Once the footage started coming back, the day-one nerves settled and the director trusted us to carry his vision through the rest of the shoot. The timezone gap turned into a rhythm rather than a problem: he reviewed while we slept, and we shot to his notes the next morning.

The result

It worked. Both Huawei and BBC StoryWorks were happy with what we delivered, the campaign drew millions of views, and both became repeat clients.