Documentary
Long-form and short-form non-fiction, from research and access to final grade. We film in Kinyarwanda, English and French, and translate what people actually mean.
Kigali, Rwanda / Est. 2025 from three studios
World-class production, rooted in Rwanda.
We make films, documentaries and campaign content for international clients — with Rwanda's finest crews, global standards, and a budget that goes further than you expect.
Three production houses · merged into one collective
Trusted by media houses, NGOs, brands and production companies
Some client work remains confidential — we'll share it on request under NDA.
What we make
One crew, the whole production.
Story to delivery, in-house. Bring us a script, a campaign brief, or nothing but an idea — we handle development, crew, kit, permits, shoot and post, and hand you files that cut cleanly into your edit.
Brand & commercial film
Launch films, brand documentaries, product spots and social cutdowns — built once, delivered in every ratio your channels need.
NGO & impact storytelling
Field films, donor reports and beneficiary stories shot with consent, dignity and safeguarding built into the call sheet — not added in the edit.
Animation & motion graphics
2D animation, explainers, titles and data visuals — useful when the footage doesn't exist, the subject is sensitive, or the idea needs a diagram.
Post-production & sound
Offline and online edit, colour, sound design, mix, subtitles and versioning. Conform-ready exports, delivered to your spec sheet, not ours.
Local production service
Landing a foreign crew? We fix the whole thing: permits, locations, casting, transport, kit rental, translators and a line producer who knows every road.
Selected work
Films we made, and the ones we can't name.
A sample of what the collective has shipped — original features and documentaries alongside commissioned work for brands and organisations. Full reels and confidential case studies available on request.
Feature documentary
The Hidden Treasure of Weaving
A feature-length portrait of Rwandan art and craft — the hands, the patterns and the economics behind work the world only sees finished.
Short filmWicked Boss
Funded by the Rwanda Development Board and the Rwanda Film Office.
Feature filmIgicaniro
Feature-length narrative, developed and produced in Rwanda.
Studio seriesAuto Talk Show
Multi-camera studio format, built for a repeatable weekly turnaround.
Impact seriesHope in Action
Field storytelling built around real programmes and the people inside them.
Under NDAClient work, on request
Campaigns and internal films for organisations in South Africa, the USA, Canada and the UK. Ask and we'll walk you through the relevant ones.
Why produce here
A new lens, a local crew, international standards.
Producing in Rwanda isn't a compromise you make for the budget. It's how you get closer to the story — and how the money you spend stays where the story happens.
What your budget buys here
0%Typical saving against flying in a full international crew, before travel
0+Years of combined multimedia production experience across the three studios
0Core departments covered in-house, from screenwriting to line production
0Countries we've already delivered to — South Africa, USA, Canada, UK
Savings vary by scope. We'll show you the line-item comparison in your quote.
01
Access, not just permission
Our crew speaks the languages, knows the districts and has the relationships. Communities open up faster to people who are from here — and that shows on camera.
02
Standards your broadcaster accepts
Cinema-grade cameras and glass, calibrated colour, clean multi-track audio, and delivery specs matched to your platform — broadcast, festival, or paid social.
03
One contract, one point of contact
Instead of stitching together a fixer, a camera hire, an editor and a translator, you sign once. Your producer stays the same person from kickoff to final master.
04
A fraction of the budget, none of the shortcuts
Local rates and local logistics mean more shoot days for the same spend. You buy time on the ground, which is the only thing that actually improves a film.
05
Impact that stays behind
Every production hires and trains locally. Your film reaches an international audience while the work itself builds the industry it came from.
The collective
Three studios. Fifteen years. One call sheet.
The Creative Collab is a merger of three Rwandan audio-visual houses that spent a decade and a half competing for the same briefs — and decided the country would go further if they shared a crew list instead.
Founding studioXplore RwandaDirection, story development and camera — the creative spine of the collective.
Founding studioMc Fab EmpireClient partnerships, campaign strategy and distribution across markets.
Founding studioIzere Media HubProduction engineering, post-production, sound and technical delivery.
Kagorora Benjamin
Creative Director
Direction
Gahizi Fabien
Sales & Marketing Director
Clients
Ezra Kwizera
Production Engineer
Technical
HR
Habimana Rachid
Cinematographer
Camera
RK
Racheal Karungi
Screenwriting
Story
KM
Kamikazi Mpyisi
Line Production
Production
DM
Douglas Micho
Motion Graphics
Post
BS
Bob Steve
Animation
Post
TB
Tuyishimire Belyse
Make-up Artist
Talent
How a production runs
You'll always know what happens next.
The same five phases whether it's a one-day shoot or a feature. Each one ends with something you can see — a document, a cut, a master.
Phase 01
Brief
A call, then a written treatment: what the film says, who it's for, and what it costs. No production starts without both sides agreeing on the sentence it has to land.
Ends with: treatment & quote
Phase 02
Prep
Recce, casting, permits, schedule and call sheets. We lock locations and approvals before a camera leaves the office — this is where Rwandan productions are won or lost.
Ends with: locked schedule
Phase 03
Shoot
Full crew on the ground with cinema camera, sound, lighting, grip and transport. Daily rushes and a short report so you know what we got, the day we got it.
Ends with: backed-up rushes
Phase 04
Post
Assembly, then a rough cut you review with timestamped notes. Colour, sound design, mix, graphics and subtitles follow once the story is signed off.
Ends with: approved cut
Phase 05
Deliver
Masters in your spec, cutdowns in every ratio you need, captions, and an organised archive of the project files handed over — not held hostage.
Ends with: files in your hands
What clients say
The reason people come back.
They arrived with a schedule, not excuses. Every location was cleared before we landed, and we shot four days of material in three.
We budgeted for a crew from London. What we got instead was more shoot days, better access, and a film people in the room actually recognised themselves in.
The delivery spec sheet came back exactly as requested — captions, ratios, masters, all of it. That almost never happens on a first collaboration.
Engagements
Three ways to work with us.
Indicative starting points in USD, so you can size a budget before the first call. Every project gets a line-item quote — no percentage-of-budget guesswork.
Crew & kit
For teams who have the director and the plan, and need Rwanda on the ground.
From$950/ shoot day
- DOP, camera assistant, sound and grip
- Cinema camera, glass and lighting package
- Location scouting, permits and transport
- Kinyarwanda, English and French on set
- Backed-up rushes handed over daily
Full production
Concept to delivered master, run by one producer who stays with you throughout.
From$7,500/ project
- Treatment, scripting and storyboards
- Casting, locations, permits and full prep
- Three to five shoot days with full crew
- Edit, colour, sound mix, graphics, subtitles
- Social cutdowns in 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1
- Two rounds of revisions, then final masters
Campaign partner
For organisations with a year of stories to tell and a calendar to keep full.
Custom/ retainer
- Quarterly shoot blocks and content calendar
- Animation and motion graphics package
- Multi-language versions and subtitles
- Asset library, rights tracking and archive
- Priority scheduling and named producer
Rates depend on scope, crew size, travel outside Kigali and delivery requirements. Grant-funded and non-profit budgets — tell us the number you have and we'll tell you honestly what it buys.
Questions
Before you write to us.
Can you handle filming permits and approvals in Rwanda?
Yes — it's part of prep, not an extra. We prepare and file the paperwork, liaise with the Rwanda Film Office and relevant districts or institutions, and confirm every location before your team travels. If a permit won't come through in time, you'll hear it from us early with an alternative attached.
We already have a director and producer flying in. Can you support them?
That's one of the things we do most. We provide the local crew, kit, transport, fixing, casting, translators and permits, and slot into your structure rather than replacing it. Your director directs; our line producer makes sure the day is possible.
How much should we budget?
A single-day corporate or field shoot with a small crew typically starts around $950 a day. A full production — development, several shoot days and complete post — starts around $7,500. Feature documentaries and multi-location campaigns are quoted individually. Tell us the budget you have and we'll design the production around it.
What do you deliver, and in what formats?
Whatever your spec sheet says: broadcast masters, festival deliverables, web masters, vertical and square cutdowns, burned-in or sidecar subtitles, and separate audio stems on request. If you don't have a spec sheet, we'll write one with you before post begins.
Who owns the footage and the final film?
You do, for commissioned work — full rights transfer on final payment, including raw footage and project files if you want them. Where we co-produce or bring our own funding, rights are agreed in writing before production. We never quietly keep your material.
Do you work with safeguarding and consent policies?
Yes. We use written and recorded consent, brief communities before filming, follow your organisation's safeguarding and child-protection policy, and can sign onto your ethical storytelling guidelines. If your policy conflicts with a shot, the policy wins.
How soon can you start, and do you travel?
Simple shoots can be crewed within a week; full productions usually need two to four weeks of prep. We work across Rwanda and travel through East Africa, and we've delivered projects for clients in South Africa, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Start a production
Tell us your story.
We'll tell it.
Send the rough version — a paragraph is enough. You'll get a reply from a producer, not a form letter, usually within one working day. If we're not the right crew for it, we'll say so and point you to who is.
- hello@thecreativecollab.rw
For briefs, quotes and reel requests - Kigali, Rwanda
Shooting nationwide and across East Africa - Mon–Sat, 08:00–18:00 CAT (UTC+2)
We answer emails from other time zones the same day