The impossible task of defining Dan Mace’s JOE* Films

Ten years into building JOE*, Founder and Director, Dan Mace, has just finished editing a video that tries to make sense of it all. The highs, the lows, the ambition, the missteps, the learning. At the same time, his latest work for Checkers, created with 99c, has landed, giving the industry a clear example of where that decade of experimentation has led…spoiler… viral hit after viral hit, that’s where!

If you haven’t had the pleasure of working with JOE*, well, basically, they shoot at internet speed rather than TV pace, but the craft remains high. Scenes are captured fast, ideas are iterated constantly, and post moves quickly because the system is built for it. Behind Dan is a 16–17-person team working fully in-house, from post and production to set build and social, alongside a growing roster of directors. 

When we log on to chat, Dan gives us a quick tour of JOE*’s new space at the Woodstock Exchange in Cape Town. Jet-engine furniture, an axle propeller turned wall piece, editors tucked away all over the place. “The last ten years have been something out of a movie,” Dan says. “The highs, the lows… I don’t really know how to express it in words, so I made a video. Forever grateful for my team.”

 

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Long before everyone became or had a neighbour who was a ‘content creator’, Dan was already testing how people engage with content, first through his own YouTube work and later through an intense three-and-a-half-year work as Chief Creative Officer with MrBeast. “It was constant research into what makes people watch for longer,” he says. “Once you understand that, you can’t unlearn it.” JOE* is where those learnings landed. A creator mindset supported by a proper production engine. And it’s exactly why the timing of the Checkers collaboration is so cool.

When Checkers’ marketing team and 99c reached out, the brief was simple on paper: put Dan in a Checkers and show what’s on the shelves. “They said, ‘Can you do it in your way?’” Dan says. “And I was like… why don’t we lock me in the store?”

Instead of your average retail ad, it became a creator-led, performance-driven film that still did everything Checkers needed it to do. It ticks all the boxes: product, seasonality, value, brand world and bonus it doesn’t feel like products being pushed on us, which…we love!

It wasn’t Dan’s first time working with the brand. The project marked his third collaboration with Checkers Sixty60, following a festive delivery-fleet film and a Mandela Day piece. “It felt like a culmination,” Dan says. “Of how we work, and the trust from their side.”

‘Who hasn’t dreamt of being locked in a cool store?’

Trying to define JOE* neatly misses the point. On paper, it’s a content studio, production company and creator shop rolled into one. In practice, it’s a flexible system designed to move with a shifting landscape. Formats change, platforms evolve and attention behaves differently every year. That’s why Dan isn’t interested in simply executing boards. “The value comes from being involved early, understanding the audience, the problem, and the constraints, and shaping the work around how people actually behave online,” he adds.

Happy holidays from Dan and JOE* team

And about what he has learnt over the past ten years, Dan says, “Stay a student. Don’t be a dick. Make work people actually want to watch. And let everyone enjoy the ride.”

Contact JOE*

Executive Creative Producer: Jarrod Allies
jarrod@danmace.com
083 979 1842

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Produced by the IDIDTHAT Content Studio – Credits: Anne Hirsch (Writer) / Julie Maunder

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