Valerie Adams Gold Medal Ceremony

The Brief

It started with a wedding film.

The event manager who organised Valerie Adams’ gold medal ceremony had recently been a bride – and was so moved by her wedding film that she went back to work on Monday and told her senior event producer they needed to hire us. That conversation led to a phone call that changed everything for Move Media.

We were asked to create a behind-the-scenes film for The Orange Group (now I Want Orange), the event company delivering the entire event for ANZ Bank and the New Zealand Olympic Committee. Valerie Adams had been awarded the London 2012 shot put gold medal after the original winner, Belarusian athlete Nadzeya Ostapchuk, was disqualified for doping. New Zealand wanted to give her the celebration she deserved – and it was going to be big.

The Cloud on Auckland’s waterfront. An estimated 2,500 supporters. Fellow athletes. Family. Media personalities from every major outlet in the country. And us, the only company given behind-the-scenes access.

We started before the crowds arrived. We joined the organising team at their pre-event site meeting and set up a timelapse rig to capture the venue transforming from an empty shell into a stage for history. On the day, our three-person crew moved through the event with full access – the preparations, the haka, the national anthem performed by a local choir, the medal presentation itself, and the fireworks display that lit up the Auckland harbour afterwards.

Backstage, we caught a quiet moment that no other camera crew saw. Valerie briefly glimpsed her medal for the first time – and you could see it all wash over her at once: the nerves, the excitement, the pride. Then she noticed us watching. She broke into a huge smile. It was one of those unrepeatable moments that only happen when you’ve earned real access.

We also captured her family in the crowd – the raw, unguarded emotion of people watching someone they love receive what was rightfully hers. Those moments made the film.
It was our first event shoot. It set the standard for everything that followed.

Results

We delivered a 3.5-minute film that captured the full arc of the event – the quiet, methodical build-up, the electric atmosphere of 2,500 people cheering for their champion, and the fireworks that closed the night.

What started as one job became a lasting relationship. We went on to shoot further events for ANZ and Valerie Adams, and our relationship with I Want Orange has endured for over 14 years – and is still going strong today.