The blood, sweat, and cheers that went into Achievers

The extravaganza that graced our screens on Sunday night in the form of the Absa Jewish Achiever Awards 2020 was a labour of love by Mann Made Productions, who took on the project to support the community in the way they knew best.

“Working for [SA Jewish Report chairperson] Howard [Sackstein] is excruciatingly difficult – he’s incredibly demanding, and there’s never any money!” quips Shayne Mann, the co-founder and chief executive of Mann Made, an award-winning, experiential brand agency for top local and global companies.

“So, when he approached us to take on the project, we were hesitant and held off making the decision for a number of weeks. We eventually had a discussion and realised that if there was ever a time to get behind the community, it was now. We decided to go all in. We spent three or four times the budget we were given – all our own money. We benefited from branding to the huge audience, but this wasn’t a commercial venture in the slightest.”

The team started the process only seven or eight weeks ago. “Howard knew what he wanted, and briefed us clearly that this mustn’t be corporate, but get to the heart of emotions. We had to find the right director to do that. Then, we needed to work out a way to stage it, and we had a whole technological element. Howard wanted to work on Zoom which is the medium his audience knows well, but that was complicated.”

The team then had to take on the mammoth task of conducting 124 interviews all over the world in six weeks. “People were remarkable. We had to schedule, organise, record, get the lighting right and so on. We were talking to amazing people, so we were motivated to push hard. We are in awe of what these achievers do.”

Then there was the entertainment side, which meant working closely with artists in different cities as well as in their own studio. “The entertainment was just beautiful, and it was great to work with so many talented and creative artists,” says Mann.

“With two and a half weeks left, Howard still hadn’t seen anything, so we had to double down. We hired another three editors and a content producer to work with more than 200 hours of footage. We had a full-time staff of seven editors, one content producer, a tech director, a show producer, camera men, and the team in the studio.” Towards the end, “we had an overnight team working till 03:30, and then coming back at 06:00. Even three nights before, Howard was approving content at 01:00.”

He says their biggest achievement is “how it all came together and we pulled it off. People around the world are saying this is a new benchmark for online events”.

Under the pandemic, Mann’s production company quickly had to pivot in a new direction. With 40 events cancelled, it fast became adept at online productions. Its Singularity University, which usually has people attend from 44 countries, was turned into an online event with 1 900 tickets sold.

It has since worked with a number of institutions, from the United Nations to major banks, and Mann is optimistic about what the online events space can offer. “It’s very exciting – you can do so much more,” he says.

“The South African Jewish community is completely unique,” Mann says. “You feel such a sense of camaraderie – that we’re all in this together. It’s a privilege to do our small bit to enhance that.”