Pearl Mara wanted to stand apart from every camp in Kenya selling the same thing: the Big Five, the sundowner, the checklist. I wanted to make a film that showed what most safari films leave out.
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Pearl Mara: Beyond the Wild
Beyond the wildlife, there’s a world of stillness. Guests arrive from cities where everything is moving, and the Mara asks them to stop. To be still, to pay attention, to let themselves be held by what’s around them. The film had to do the same thing to the viewer. Into the wild, and into yourself.
A slow, cinematic film, planned shot by shot. I built a full shooting itinerary around the concept and scouted every location in advance with a colleague. We shot only at the edges of the day, at sunrise and sunset, when the light is soft and golden, and nothing in between. In post, we built the score from an unusual starting point: ethereal African vocal textures opening the film, giving way to a more epic orchestral sound. It’s an experience to sink into, not a highlight reel.
Alongside the work on screen, I helped build Pearl Mara Studios: an in-house production studio inside the camp, with its own team, systems and content pillars, so the camp can keep telling its story long after a single film.
Client: Pearl Mara Location: Maasai Mara, Kenya Year: 2026 Role: Concept, script, location scouting, direction and cinematography Credits: Produced by Pearl Mara Studios
Brand film · Hospitality
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Questions
Before we talk
Film and story for brands where the feeling is the product.
What do you actually make?
Brand films, short documentaries and stills, and the story underneath them. Every project starts with one question: what should people feel before they’ve ever walked through your door? The film is how we answer it.
Do you only work with camps and lodges?
No. We’ve made films for a jeweller in Zanzibar, a car dealership in Nairobi and a safari camp in the Maasai Mara. The subject changes. The work doesn’t: we make films for things people buy with their hearts first.
How are projects priced?
By the story, not by the minute of footage. After a first conversation, we send a clear proposal covering what we’ll make, how and when, with one fee and no surprises.
Do you travel?
Yes. We’re based between Nairobi and the Maasai Mara, and we’ve shot across East Africa. Travel is planned into the proposal from the start.
Why only three clients at a time?
Because good stories take attention. Working with three clients means we know each brand well enough to tell its story honestly, and each one gets our full focus rather than a slot in a queue.
Do you manage social media?
Only alongside a production engagement, never on its own. Our work is the story and the film. Social media is one of the places it lives.