The Gleaner

Herbert Thomas places third in MINI Content Club regional competition

ATL AUTOBAHN, the official dealers of MINI in Jamaica, continues to encourage the cultivation of local creative potential through their participation in the MINI Content Club – a competition hosted by the MINI regional office for Latin America which invited photographers and videographers in 12 countries to submit content featuring MINI vehicles. Lasting for one month, the initiative gathered more than 1,000 entries which were evaluated on a strict criterion by a regional committee. Emerging in third place in the video category was 26-year-old chief executive officer of Clean Click Media, Herbert Thomas.

Hailing from the small community of Bombay, nestled among the cool hills of Manchester, Thomas has always been one to follow his passion. Ignited by his desire to pursue dentistry and fuelled by the curiosity of his destiny in track and field, Thomas fell into the creative industries as a photographer and videographer to fund his dreams. Little did he know that his humble foray was a snapshot of what would soon become his bigger picture.

“From high school I always enjoyed stitching videos together. In 2013, I enrolled as a doctor of medical dentistry student at the University of Technology, which also allowed me to pursue athletics. I always found it fun to get clips of me running so I could use to make videos. At the time I didn’t see videography as being a career, but then I met friends who showed me the possibilities. Dentistry is an expensive programme, so I went into photography and videography to pay my way through school,” reminisced Thomas.

This gave way to the establishment of his company, Clean Click Media, which specialises in production services for a wide variety of clients. He soon found himself at the junction of three interests and knew he had to make a pragmatic decision of which path to follow. His pursuit of creativity dominated and he took a break from his dentistry programme in 2018 to grow in the world of entrepreneurship.

TAKE INTEREST IN LOCAL TALENT

Along his journey, his love for the sector grew as he met new people and worked on numerous projects. He enjoys the competitiveness of the industry and the need to find new opportunities through networking. His only wish is for more public and privatesector companies to take greater interest in facilitating local talent, as he believes this is one gateway for Jamaica to produce more world-class content.

Mellisa Bailey, sales manager at MINI Jamaica, said: “MINI is a brand that celebrates creativity, individuality and freedom of expression. This is especially highlighted in the uniqueness of our cars and the wide array of customisable options our customers have to make their MINIs their own. We seize every opportunity to show our support for our local creative industry in a meaningful way which is why we jumped at the chance for Jamaica to participate in the MINI Content Club. Jamaica is home to so much talent in the arts and we wanted to showcase it. Our regional office was very impressed with Jamaica’s submissions and placing third out of 12 countries is a testament of the value can offer to the world.”

Hearing about the competition two days before the submission deadline, Thomas’ competitive spirit quickened and he immediately felt the urge to challenge himself with this opportunity. With the help of his friends, he produced a diverse video that captured some of the best features of the MINI Countryman. His efforts earned him a GoPro HERO9 Black Action Camera as his prize.

Thomas said: “I was confident in my submission, so I am grateful to be recognised at the bronze level. As a creative, I am always searching for ways to improve my content. The GoPro will certainly contribute to my overall development, as I can experiment with different ideas using this tool.”

With hopes of feeding his newest love, Thomas plans to complete his degree in dentistry, but will primarily operate as a videographer as his focus remains fixed on Clean Click Media and significantly contributing to the Jamaican creative industries.

LIVING

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2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

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