It was back in February 2020 that we were one of five production companies pitching for the brand film of a new digital private bank, called Alpian+. Little did we know what journey we were getting ourselves into. This film with its medium sized budget would eventually evolve into one of the biggest productions in OTAKUS history.

The film tells the story of four people, from different backgrounds and generations. Driven by their belief that true wealth lays in freedom, purpose and belonging. They journey up the mountain of life in pursuit of reaching financial freedom while not compromising on life quality. With a lot of effort and 4 re-writes we settled on the story and the production process began. OTAKUS approach the challenge and mapped out the film in all its detail for shooting in February. However weather got the upper hand and we had to postpone many times. The snow simply just kept on falling and it made everybody pretty nervous. Finally 2 weeks before the shoot we got a clear moment and Verbier, Switzerland allowed for a location scouting. Luckily we had local free ski legend Jean-Yves who knew his way around Verbier, showing us amazing locations and opening up what normally could be closed doors for our production. 

This time the weather really played along and action packed days allowed for very little sleep. The crew plus extras toped somedays at over 50 people on set. Once again we manage through the ups and downs of production and walked away with amazing shots and great performance from our cast. Sure it was full of crazy moments in harsh terrain, but the beautiful landscape added tremendous production value to the film.

After the shoot, we leaped into the post production and started putting together a first edit. However it became clear that the music was going to make trouble since none of the stock tracks really worked with the film. Finally Spacetrain proposed the perfect composed solution. Next up was the recording of the voice over. We were a bit unsure when we got the initial brief for the Voice-Over artist: First it was “He should sound like Morgan Freeman” then “He should speak English but with a Swiss accent”. Finally we found the perfect Voice Over solution at NJP studios and slowly the film began to take shape. 

Combined with the composed music and Simon Hardegger’s colour grade, it formed into a really nice film. It been over two year since we first started working on the project and finally we are glad to share this film. This whole journey just goes to show: No matter how many stones are in the way, if you keep on pushing, believing in your ability and striving for only the best, it will prevail in the end. 

We would like to close this chapter with a text message that we received from the head of Marketing at Alpian+ who shared the film with award winning filmmaker Simon Otto, after the movie was completed: 

“The visual, story and narrative is super strong. The production is absolutely top notch and can compete with big productions. I thought this cost between 500-800K. Overall craft is really amazing – the story in my opinion works and conveys the values and the feel of Alpian+ and what they want to be.” Cheers to that Simon Otto…

Watch the behind the scenes video of the entire production here:    https://vimeo.com/631729845 

Credits:

Client: Alpian+

Production by Otakus GmbH

Creative Agency: Foundry

Talents: Lara Marian, Katja Brandt, Alfonso Smith & William Kaerns 

Head of Marketing: Roman Balzan

Head of Concept: Antonio Mancini & Gerd Afforti

Creative Director: Pascal Baumann

Copywriter: Nitin George

Account Manager: Susann Kompa

Assistant Producer: Niklas Burn

Logistics: Paul Emile-Joessel

Camera Assistant:  Sven Emmenegger

Gaffers: Tomasz Kadlubowski & Simon Pümi Wyss

Make-Up: Matteo Leone

Runner: Alex Duarte

Driver: Thomas Gassoul

Photography: Sven Germann

Photography Assistant: Sandro Burkhalter

Paraglider: Michel Ruffieux

Location Manager: Jean-Yves Michellod

VO Talent Booking: Gabriela Mukavec

Soundmix: Leos Gerteis

Music: Spacetrain

Camera Rental: Eberle Filmequipment Zürich

Light and Grip: FTK Zürich

Post Production: OTAKUS

Colour Grading: Simon Hardegger

Director: Xaver Walser