Patroon

Short Film

Project

My longtime friend, director, and agency owner Mario Gonsalves was set to write and direct this short film as his graduation project at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht. When he invited me to join as producer, I saw the potential of the project and took on the challenge of helping bring his vision to life.

Over the course of six months, we built a production from the ground up. Through a successful crowdfunding campaign, strategic partnerships, and the dedication of a passionate multidisciplinary team, we created Patroon—an award-winning short film that went on to be featured at multiple film festivals and receive several accolades.

Role

As Lead Producer, I was responsible for turning the creative vision into a structured production. I assembled and coordinated the team, managed operations across pre-production, production, and post-production, and ensured all stakeholders were aligned throughout the process.

Beyond production management, I led fundraising efforts, developed sponsor partnerships, managed budgets, and created the operational framework needed to bring the project from concept to final delivery.

Credits

Creative Agency: Recent
Written & Directed: Mario Gonsalves
Line Producer: Hansel Pahmer
Art Director: Kevin Osepa
DOP: Ken Thiel
Graphic Designer: Valentino Angela

Intro

After the breach with his mother, a teenager who emigrated from Curacao to the Netherlands looks for friendship and romance. Meanwhile, he struggles with his future as a grown man.

Since Malik and his mother moved from Curacao to the Bijlmer district in Amsterdam, they take their frustrations out on each other. Malik seeks refuge in friendships outside, in pranks,spoken word and fights. Until he falls in love and leaves the hood. When the brand-new couple expects a child and he vainly turns to his mother for advice, Malik realises that, despite the circumstances, he is the only one who can decide how to lead his life.
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Partners & Awards

To realize the ambitions of the project, we built partnerships with leading industry organizations. VICE Media Group supported the production with a state-of-the-art editing suite, Panavision Films Benelux provided professional camera equipment, and Maloney Amsterdam contributed lighting equipment.

‍Patroon was featured at festivals and events including the Nederlands Film Festival 2020, Vice Night, Rialto for Shorts, and the Curaçao International Film Festival. The film received the HKU Award for Most Creative Short Film of 2020 and the Young Directors Award 2020.