Director Bas Welling: 'This award gives young talent the opportunity to make an even bigger impact'

Our newest category, the Young Directors Award, honours the best new and upcoming directing talent in town. Bas Welling is one of the initiators of this award. Time to get to know him and the award a bit better.

You’re the co-owner and executive producer of Wefilm: a production company that ‘tells stories that make people laugh or cry’ – and often go viral, we may add. How did you find your own visual style?

‘As a teenager I used to experiment a lot with filmmaking. My brothers and I would use every free minute to master the craft. I never went to film school, instead I learned by doing. Along the way I started seeing the power that film has: if your message resonates online, it can result in massive impact – both in reach as in content.’

What do you consider to be your breakthrough work?

‘When YouTube just launched in The Netherlands, we created Max the Hacker: a tiny project for an IT-company to make this industry more ‘cool’. Max hacked everything in our society and showed his victories online. Within a few months we got 31 million views. In retrospect, you could say that Max was the first ever YouTuber and taught The Netherlands the power of going viral.’

What’s the idea behind the Young Directors Award?

‘The Netherlands lacked a platform for young filmmakers who make exceptional commissioned work. Through the stage of this award, it could be their next step towards creating something with even more impact. In this time when we have abundant content, film craft can really make a difference. Honouring the very best film talent in the Netherlands is part of our industry’s responsibility to go a step further.’

How can this award help young directing talent grow?

‘Honouring young talent can be very motivating. Lennart Verstegen won the last Young Directors Award, in 2010. We got in touch thanks to ADCN and have been collaborating ever since. Recently, he directed ‘Smoorverliefd’ (madly in love, red.): a collab-video between Snelle and Interpolis that highlights the dangers of using WhatsApp while cycling. The video got more than 5 million views and, according to research, 50% of the teens who saw the video intend to never use WhatsApp while cycling again.’

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given as an emerging artist?

‘My dad stimulated my brother and me to continue with filmmaking, even though he would have preferred us to take over his construction company. He saw the sparkle in our eyes when we were doing something creative and noticed how well we complemented each other.’

Are you a young director with no more than three years of experience? Enter your work now to get it reviewed by a jury of professionals and be up for the chance of winning a Lamp!