"What I appreciate about the Waterfront network is the exchange and creative talent."
Shining, Seed, and Farbfilm are well-known names in the advertising and corporate film industry, but their collaboration within the Waterfront Network—which has had a significant impact on creativity in the Swiss corporate film sector—is less widely known. In an exclusive interview, the founders share insights into their collaboration.
Werbewoche: Felix Courvoisier, Stefan Bircher and Flo Brunner, you are Waterfront. Can you please explain to us what Waterfront is?
Stefan Bircher (Shining Film AG): Waterfront is the name of our association, which we chose 16 years ago. It was the time when we jointly applied for the building here near the lake in Wollishofen. We form a network of three film production companies with different offerings, but an agenda that is largely congruent. We all work under one roof and share the overheads.
Felix Courvoisier: (Seed Audio-Visual Communication AG) That's right, we run a shared infrastructure, from parking spaces to IT. We have joint billing and insurance, share vehicles and post-production & server facilities - and even buy Post-It notes together. Working together gives us efficiencies and a modern infrastructure that ultimately benefits our customers.
Flo Brunner (Farbfilm Studio GmbH): In this way, we pool our resources for effective project implementation. That leaves more time for innovation and talent development. I appreciate the constant exchange in the teams about projects, the nerd talks in the evening over a beer and that ideas from different "bubbles" come together.
What do you appreciate most about each other?
Stefan Bircher: What I appreciate about Felix is his loyalty and our drama-free cooperation during all this time. With Flo, I especially appreciate how he brought a breath of fresh air to our network. His team shares the same values of loyalty and honesty as Felix. Many thanks to both of you!
Flo Brunner: As the youngest member, I particularly appreciate Stefan's composure. When I'm faced with a complex producer puzzle, he manages to bring clarity in the conversation length of an espresso with ease.
Felix Courvoisier: With Flo, I appreciate his energy and the fresh ideas he brings to the table. His approach to projects and collaboration with the team bring a new perspective to our network.
Is there anything about Felix that bugs you?
Flo Brunner: I am sometimes annoyed by Felix's tireless precision. He takes details very precisely, I think maybe he also has a little OCD.
Felix, is there anything about Stefan that bugs you?
Felix Courvoisier: Stefan is a big classic car enthusiast. He has gasoline in his blood, and as someone with an ecological conscience, that doesn't always sit well with me.
And Stefan Bircher, is there anything about Flo that annoys you?
Stefan Bircher: Flo has fluff in her head all the time, which is good for Waterfront. But sometimes it also annoys me, because it reminds me that I'm getting older.
Each of you runs your own business. Can you give us a brief overview of your respective companies?
Stefan Bircher: The Shining Film AG has been in the film industry for 16 years, producing commissioned films and fictional projects. Caroline Braun, Sophie Toth, Leonardo Sanfilippo and I share and manage the Shining equally.
Felix Courvoisier: With Seed we are specialized in corporate communication with cinematic means, be it image films, event openers or films for internal communication, just to name a few examples.
Flo Brunner: I run Farbfilm Studio, a young creative studio. We promote synergy between talents, directors, graphic designers and different media. Our works are characterized by the fact that they stay away from the ordinary, stand out and feel close to life.
How do your customers benefit from the Waterfront network?
Felix Courvoisier: Our size as a network allows us to share experience and resources. For example, we share information about suppliers and freelancers or equipment, strengthening our knowledge and skills.
Stefan Bircher: Thanks to our network, we can drive joint projects forward, currently for example the effort to use AI offerings profitably in our everyday production. Above all, however, we can also recruit together, which is a great advantage, especially with regard to our meta-theme, the promotion of young talent.
Flo Brunner: As a start-up, it was extremely valuable for us to have access to an existing infrastructure and hundreds of years of cumulative experience. This has strengthened us enormously in our first years.
Felix Courvoisier: In addition, we operate a joint IT and post-production infrastructure to ensure the security of our data. Our customers can rest assured that their data is protected at the highest level at all times.
We now have a better understanding of Waterfront and your companies. How do you see the future of the advertising- and market-related film industry?
Felix Courvoisier: Regardless of technological developments, storytelling and dramaturgical content preparation remain at the core of our industry. However, the way we do this is constantly evolving, which is why it's important to have young talent on board.
Stefan Bircher: We maintain three carefully maintained talent and director rosters that are independent of each other, and share resources and network tasks among them to be efficient and to stay ahead of market developments or implement them in a timely manner.
Flo Brunner: I also see a growing number of young talents in the advertising industry who are looking more intensively at values and the meaning of their messages. This is a welcome development for our industry. I like to look to the future.
Stefan Bircher is a father, filmmaker, entrepreneur, ZHdK, SAWI & SFA lecturer, SFA board member, ADC jury member and skateboarder; Felix Courvoisier is Seed founder, producer and storyteller; Flo Brunner is founder and producer of and at farbfilm studio.
