Shift Videoproductions

29/05/2026

Filming for a project on health prevention in Romania today and sm amazed by how beautiful nature is here.

12/05/2026

While writing and researching my book “Story For Good” today, I came across a great account of the power of story.

It is the story of Arvind Singhal and how his teacher back in 1973 when he was a school kid, told his class the story of the Chipko movement.

It is a story of a group of women, who put their bodies on the line, to prevent lumberjacks hired by a commercial contractor from cutting down forest trees. When the lumberjacks arrived with their chainsaws, the women spontaneously put their arms around and hugged the trees tightly. Their message to the lumberjacks was: You will have to cut us down before you cut the tree.

After hearing this story, the children were so inspired and “bewitched” by the story, that they started to imitate the women in their play.

Stories are powerful. They transport us to places, they generate new language, they create new realities and possibilities and they enable new actions.

We would be stupid not to leverage this powerful lever of story to build a future worth living.

Credits: Coren, Wang, Storytelling to Accelerate Climate Solutions, 2024
Image:
Surviving Members of the Original Reni Squad at the Chipko 30th Anniversary 2004, http://nandadevi.org

15/04/2026

The story is beautiful, but far from over. Will you help us fund rooms for children who most need it?

This is my most recent film project for De Steiger, Studio MOWK, Brug Maatwerkbedrif and vzw.

With the help of my co-director: .

Meer dan muren, meer dan een verbouwing.Bij De Steiger geloven we dat elk kind een warm thuis verdient. Een plek waar je jezelf kan zijn. Waar je welkom bent...

24/03/2026

12/11/2025

Tomorrow, I’m driving 1,365 km from Belgium to Croatia. Not for vacation. For stories.

I’m joining to document something that couldn’t be more important: Patients who fight for better care.

Here’s what I’ve learned after years of filming for impact:

Policymakers get hundreds of reports filled with statistics. They get endless PowerPoints about healthcare costs and treatment gaps.

But they rarely get to look someone in the eye who says: “This is what it actually means to live with this condition.”

In Croatia, I’ll be capturing voices of people who understand that their personal struggle is part of a bigger fight. People who know that sharing their story isn’t just about them. It’s about the thousands who come after.

The goal isn’t just documentation. It’s transformation.

These stories will connect donors to real impact. They’ll give policymakers the human context that turns policy papers into urgent action.

Because in the end, facts inform. But stories transform.

What story needs to be told in your field?

06/11/2025

Did you know nonprofits telling real human stories raise twice the support of those relying on statistics alone?

I was deeply moved by the personal stories I heard during the production for the “Op Wielekes” film.

Especially the story of Mohammad:
⭢ A syrian refugee who had to flee from terrorists as a child, alone.
⭢ Making a living in his new home in Turkey, still as a child, doing high-voltage electricity jobs.
⭢ Being attacked in his home at night by radicals, making him feel unsafe so he fled to Belgium..
⭢ Now repairing bikes for children and helping out his fellow volunteers.
⭢ ... and soon starting his new career as a plumber.

All that while he is spreading incredible joy, love and optimism.

Op Wielekes is a prime example of embracing the human difference that they make.

But unfortunately:
Most nonprofits are stuck trying to gather the needed support by describing what they do instead of the difference their work makes for real people in real life.

Communications isn’t about clever wording - it’s about inviting others to join forces.

And to do so, we need to embrace what makes people care, connect, feel: Actual human voices.

I truly believe that sharing these stories is key if we want to turn this ship around and build a future worth living.

So what’s one story from your nonprofit that made a difference?

(If you want to make my day, save this post and leave me a comment 😃)

05/11/2025

What happened in the EU Parliament blew my expectations.

I was braced for death-by-PowerPoint on cardiovascular health. Statistics. Acronyms. Numbers.

Instead, my client FH Europe Foundation did something brilliant.

They didn’t lead with data. They led with people.

Patient ambassadors stood up and shared their lives.

They weren’t presented as victims. They stood as agents of change, fighting for their future in that very room.

And the energy transformed.

The phones disappeared. Side-conversations stopped. The room went silent.

You could feel the shift from polite attention to deep, human connection.

Not pity - that sad, deactivating emotion - but a feeling of “Okay, let’s do this.”

This is what it means to “humanise” your mission.

Imagine if thousands of us did this in our communications.

In newsletters. emails. keynotes. social media... All opportunities for powerful connection.

It stops being marketing and becomes a collective act of re-humanising our world.

This is why I created the Story Atlas. A free resource to help you humanise your communication and close the gaps between your mission and stakeholders.

Want access to the free beta? Comment “Atlas” below or DM me.

I’m making it available at no cost so you can test it and help make it even better with your feedback.

30/10/2025

Confession: I’m writing my first book, and right now, I feel like I’m drowning in research.

📖 The book is about how change-makers can dominate the narrative and use it to build a future worth living.

Atm, I’m digging into how the gatekeepers of change use narrative strategies to delay progress.

I’m deep in academic papers, industry reports, and the dark arts of corporate spin.

And the honest truth is, it’s overwhelming. What’s important? What’s just noise? Where is the core story?

I’m sharing this because we love to post about the finished product, the book launch, the keynote, the successful campaign.

But the real work is here, in the messy middle. In the feeling of being completely lost.

But I believe that this “drowning” phase is just part of the process and totally normal. No struggle, no win.

If you ever went down on this path of writing a nonfiction book, any tip on how to manage the research phase is welcome.