Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
“We both studied in Maastricht, Communication and Multimedia Design, during our studies we started Strictua. This is five years ago now and it was more in an experimental faze. We were looking for what we wanted to do, more film or graphic. Eventually it all went in the direction of the moving image. Our focus is on film for branded content; that’s our goal.
What do you consider your distinctive achievement?
“We are really proud of the fact that we can do what we really like to do and make a living out of it. That is, we think, the biggest achievement so far. It’s also an achievement that our clients trust us. Very often they give us freedom in creating a concept and realizing that idea. That is what we always wanted from the start: have a bit of creative freedom. It’s still commercial work but we get a satisfaction from the work we do. We meet a lot of people and sometimes we get to travel, it’s divers. That’s what we really like about what we are doing right now”.
What are you looking forward to?
“To also get work more internationally. We are building our portfolio with the work we really love to do. So we only show the work we want to do in the future. We hope that we can collaborate more with agencies or brands in and outside of the Netherlands and they will appreciate our work.
We think we are heading into the right direction. We also try to step more to agencies and potential clients who we think fit to us. That to us is the next step: discovering what we want and go after it. It’s interesting and very rewarding to step to clients who didn’t even know we existed.
Which advice would you give to other professionals?
“Be eager to try new stuff. Just create good things and people around you will notice it. Eventually you will get the work you really like to do. We have a quote here in the office: ‘sooner or later you will be at the right place at the right time’. Keep on creating good stuff and opportunities will come your way. Of course you have to trust in your own guts and be passionate about what you do. It just takes time and hard work to get there. Set a goal for yourself and meet people who suit you as a brand or personally. We think in the end people will find you and you will find them and eventually clients you want will approach you.”
Which challenges do we need to facilitate cultural entrepreneurship?
“Make it more visible and show people that there is potential in this environment. There are many talented people around with artistic valuable approaches to their work that should not be unnoticed. We think that it’s our mission as creatives to show this. Make sure people stay here and appreciate the value of creativity in this environment”.
