The Siney

We realise that your life is often the job, but when you do get some free time, what do you enjoy doing?

“Most certainly in the busy summer, work is pretty much your everything, so when I do have a moment away, I try to enjoy the simple every day things we don’t get a chance to do. Sleep (to recharge of course), golf (because one day I’ll turn pro, just waiting on that thing called skill to kick in), walks / jogs, relaxed lunches away from the city, and also just plenty of actual zone out time, catch up on the sports news and chill at home with the loved ones (Kelleigh and my beautiful yet silly Ally cat).”

What is the most challenging aspect of your job that you experience in your day to day life? 

“I’d say it’s ensuring that every single day you have your finger on the pulse of the production. More often than not, we have dozens of different balls in the air, so it’s ensuring that each and every detail is given the attention it deserves and making sure we are on top of absolutely every aspect of the job. You get used to it, but never take it for granted as everyday has it’s own unexpected goal or challenge.”

Tell us your favourite film / series / commercial  quote? 

“Ah quotes?…..”Yipee-Kay-Yay Mother Fucker” spoken by the one and only Die Hard – John McClane. Does that count? It is my favourite film quote after all. Just being honest here. If you were looking for deep and meaningful then you can refer back to Kabelo’s interview : )”

What do you look for when picking a production team? 

“Considering that this is never just a 9 to 5 – with every production, you need to build a team around you that you will inevitably spend almost every waking minute together, until the process is complete. So I need to have a team who understands the process, who will have the best interests of the job and the team’s goals in mind at all times, handle the stresses of the daily grind, and finally – people whom are open to having a good laugh throughout the day (and often night). It makes the busy season just that much more fun if you are in a workspace with people who have a fun and positive energy. At the end of the day, we’re in it together. Let’s make the most of it.”

What makes you passionate about your job, what is that one aspect that keeps you coming back to it everyday? 

“Every production, every day, we are faced with new challenges. No one commercial is alike, and I enjoy that.  Keeps me on my toes, I’ve never been one to sit back and fall into the mundane. I enjoy new challenges. I’ve always been intrigued with film, so to continuously learn and grow within an ever changing industry, I get a bit of a kick out of that.”

Share a fond memory from a job you have produced recently?  

“I’ll never get tired of having some aerials with a chopper. So on our recent Peugeot commercials with Gang Films, whilst chasing the sun on our final shoot day, we still had two crucial aerial shots (one with a massive living room set traveling down an open road, and the other being our hero pack shots of the car traveling down a different stretch of the same road). So watching the whole crew and international team racing around all over the R43 just outside of Botrivier, doing their everything to ensure we cracked the money shots of the day, the excitement of those moments is nerve-racking but incredibly fun at the same time. And in the end, the spots turned out great, so a huge relief to have the team come together and nail it before the sun dropped it’s head down over the mountains.”

Where do you still want to go in the world? 

“Anywhere and everywhere. I’ve travelled somewhat in my life, but there are so many places which I’d love to experience. From a road trip through the States, to an ambitious visit down to the Antarctic. I’m open to anything.”

Tell us your best memory so far from working at The Farm Film?

“A shoot we did out in eastern Mozambique for Google Earth. We were in the middle of nowhere, not even close to somewhere, remote as remote can be. That was quite an experience that I know that everyone involved will never forget. Especially for someone like me, who grew up in JHB and moved to Cape Town, city slicker all the way. We were a small crew, hiking up into a rainforest which was only recently discovered. We had to carry in everything that we needed for the few days we were there. Our backpacks filled with only one change of clothing, and all of our foods for the journey. Washing in the river with my fellow (equally as unfit) colleagues. Enjoying the quiet and the calm of a mountain that’s never truly been explored by the western world, just an opportunity of a lifetime, which we happened to call work. The only luxury we truly had was a sat phone, on which we received text updates of the Tri-Nations rugby game we happened to be missing. But we lost. So an even better reason to be away in the middle of nowhere after that news.”

A Few shots of Craig Siney from four various jobs this season. 

What was one of the most challenging jobs you have ever worked on and why? 

“A few years back we serviced a shoot for an Indonesian tobacco brand, a great concept and board, but this gig just had challenge after challenge after challenge. We needed a private jet, rock concert, boat, a horse giving birth (seriously), a wolf on the top of a mountain, trains, cars, filming in a fully operational flea market with a big crew, night shooting, sunrise shooting, pretty much everything you can think of, plus a bit more. I think we ended up director recce’ing more than 20 days, dry scouting on the run, racking up 500 – 600kms a day. We even did a director’s recce / scout on the down day for crew between our 6th and 7th shoot days to find new options that had “in theory” never been filmed before, for the shoot day following. We had a good time during the whole process, but it was just the challenge of trying to find these unique locations and problem shooting any obstacles that came up along the way (train station & harbour permissions to name but two).”

Where do you get your wicked sense of humour from?

 “Tough one to answer, but thank you I suppose. I’ve always just had a good sense of humour with family and friends growing up, and then working with the teams at The Farm for so many years, we’ve always been able to have a good laugh and allow the inner inappropriateness within us all to come out, so to speak.”

Which job will you never forget and why? 

“The jobs mentioned above will forever be remembered, but at the same time, I’d say there is always something from any job that I’ll always remember. Good or bad, every job has it’s own little something to remember. I’ll send through my CV so we can list them ; )”