9 September 2019
VideoTaxi co-owner and MD Ondrej Havas (clockwise from front left), co-owner and CTO Eddie Burrow, senior producer Bruce
Knoetze, and senior cabbie Jean-luc Darne
New Kiwi business VideoTaxi has swung a major international deal in New York, the home of the yellow cab which inspired
the company’s branding. It has also landed a deal in Philadelphia and is heading to Europe later this month to sign up
businesses there too.
Co-founder Ondrej Havas says his idea of a subscription video service for corporates and commerce has taken off in New
Zealand, and it’s about to do the same overseas. “We already have more than 20 companies in New Zealand signed up, and
we have now licensed the VideoTaxi concept to two production houses in the United States – Casual Films, a
multi-national based in New York, and Kinetic Films in Philadelphia.
“Casual Films has just sold a VideoTaxi subscription to Canon in the US while Kinetic has several construction companies
lined up. We’re thrilled New York was the first international location to adopt VideoTaxi – not only is the Big Apple
the commercial and advertising centre of America, its iconic yellow cabs inspired our branding. When we pitched to
Casual Films, they said VideoTaxi was a great concept which would work really well in their market.”
Not one to rest on his laurels, Havas is now taking VideoTaxi to Europe. Later this month, he is presenting the concept
to the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers’ conference in Dublin, which will be attended by about 100
multi-national production companies, including a number of Academy Award winners.
“This is the major annual gathering of producers from around the world and it is an honour to be asked to present a
keynote speech at this conference,” says Havas. “It’s a sign the world is waking up to VideoTaxi and the opportunity it
presents, given the huge growth in the use of the video content.”
Research shows within a couple of years 80% of internet traffic will be video. Video is also six times more likely to be
seen than static images on platforms like Facebook.
VideoTaxi operates as a subscription service allowing businesses and organisations to develop their own video content as
they see fit. Already signed up are the likes of Countdown, Genesis, AA Insurance, Ateed, PlaceMakers, ITM, Westfield
(which has used the service to document the development of its massive new mall in Newmarket), Target Furniture, Crombie
Lockwood, James Hardie, Auto Super Shoppes, and several advertising agencies.
Their annual subscription gives them access to an experienced video producer for a set number of days a year, and they
can use the service in any way they like – for internal staff presentations, website, social content, or TV and digital
advertising, it’s up to them.
“Clients work with the same producer throughout, giving them a strong relationship which offers continuity, reliability
and value. It’s an easy solution and they can use their subscription for whatever, and however, they like. If they want
to use their days for one big shoot or spread them throughout the year, that’s fine by us,” says Havas.
“The great thing for clients is their subscription covers everything – the content producer, concept and creative,
shooting, editing and graphics, production equipment, software, special effects, use of drones and our greenscreen
studio. It’s all included in one simple rate.”
He adds: “While phones can shoot video these days, a lot of people simply don’t know how to tell a story. VideoTaxi
makes the creation of top-quality, professional content easy, while also providing the back-end systems which take away
all the guesswork.”
Notes:
• By 2021, 80% of internet traffic will be video (Cisco study, November 2017)
• The unprecedented growth of the internet over the next two years will be driven by two key elements – analytics and
video content (Google, November 2018)
ends