Sohonet's Cinematic Film Turns B2B Dystopia into a Utopia

Defying category norms yet again, B2B creative agency The Croc has reunited with Dirty Films to produce another ground-breaking cinematic film for the Sohonet product portfolio.  

This is the second chapter in the multi-awarded ‘Realise Your Vision’ series. Speaking directly to the industry-wide obsession with craft, its objective is to deliver powerful, branded content capable of capturing the imagination of the ones who’ve seen, done and made it all.

No easy task when you’ve got the entirety of the end-to-end Sohonet product suite to articulate. 

The agency was initially briefed to produce a simple explainer film, outlining how Sohonet could empower filmmakers across production services, networking, and remote collaboration with three different offerings: Sohonet Exchange, Sohonet Media Network, and ClearView. However, the deep dive research previously conducted into the audience suggested this was just never going to cut it, as they pride cinematic authenticity above all else.

For Sohonet to break through in a market flooded with technical jargon we needed to engage filmmakers on their terms, reflecting the kind of high-end production values this audience respects. On this, the film certainly delivers.

Opening on a desolate, post-apocalyptic wasteland that wouldn’t look out of place at the movies, the shot instantly draws you into the story. The intriguing character strikes a bond of empathy with the viewer. Placing Sohonet firmly at the heart of the production industry, the film explores how Sohonet’s holistic offering helps filmmakers at every stage of the production process. The action goes from on-set location to post-production, and back again, showing how Sohonet makes every stage of a production seamless.

With such an array of services to explain, complexity could have drowned out any sense of narrative. However, the visceral world we created instantly engages the viewer, seamlessly taking them through the production process. It’s hard not to be hooked, to want to find out where our guy is going and whether his mission will be a success. In advertising, it’s often said ‘show don’t tell’. Instead of telling people Sohonet offers the tools to make compelling narrative cinema, we showed them.

With the exceptional dedication of the Dirty Films team and its co-founders Ben Parkin and Alex Bedford, they once again delivered a stand-out cinematic film befitting Sohonet’s audience of filmmakers.

Nick Watmough creative director of The Croc said, “Thanks to the support of audacious clients like Sohonet, The Croc has been fighting against the monotony of predictable B2B content for a while now. Featuring a flora-loving parkour master facing off against the end of the world, I think it’s safe to say with this film, the legacy continues.”

Ben Parkin had this to add, “Dirty Films are proud to align with forward thinking B2B agencies such as The Croc to deliver memorable, entertaining films with craft and grit. On the back of the award winning ‘Realise Your Vision’ campaign in 2021, we jumped in with The Croc and Sohonet once again and, just like our sci-fi hero this time around, emerged with the goods in the nick of time. 

Hats off to our stellar team for digging in and pulling this one off – and for D I • A L for their creative problem solving and continued radiance (even in a dystopian sci-fi wasteland!).

From directing duo D I • A L (Alice Gatti & Diego Indraccolo), "To plan and shoot a scene as if extrapolated from a longer sci-fi movie has been a thrilling ride. At the same time, filming the ‘behind the scenes’ and the ‘post-production workflow’ as part of the same narrative has created this almost metaphysical loop in which we couldn't help but feel part of the essence of what we were trying to capture. Thanks to Sohonet and The Croc for the trust and letting us bring our sci-fi vision to screen!”