Documentaire this is rik
Documentaire this is rik
A Day in the Life
“We’re here, but where are you?” appears on WhatsApp. I take the elevator to the ground floor and go outside to check. I see Bas and wave to him. He’s standing on the sidewalk in front of our house, 100 meters away. My office isn’t there; that’s where I live. I keep work and personal life separate, I tell myself.
I see Anouk too. I walk up to them, and we exchange hugs. I’m a hugger. I’ve always been. That’s where it’s happening, I point to where I came from. Bas and I walk there, and Anouk drives the car there. The trunk is loaded with equipment: cameras, tripods, lights, and a few suitcases.
The wonderful team in Utrecht, who deeply care about my interests, has decided to make “A day in the life,” with me as the subject.
‘A day in the life’ is one of my all-time favorite songs. Not only because it’s the perfect fusion of two songs by two composers but mainly because of the magnificent: “4000 holes in Blackburn Lancaster and though the holes were rather small, they had to count them all, now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall”.
The unbearable lightness of being and the nonsense with which people invalidate themselves, summarized in a few sentences. We unload the cameras and accessories and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. “Welcome to my place,” I say as I open the door and give them a brief tour.
Officially, this place is called ‘my office,’ but I’ve always hated going to the office and doing office things, so I just call this place ‘office.’ I happen to have a company of which I am the sole product but also the COO, CMO, CFO, and CEO. So, I have an office. Our place when the product Rik is not traveling.
I’m a one-man circus. Not only on the road but also behind the scenes. I write all the texts myself, I create all the slides myself, I make every keynote myself, over and over again. I’m constantly collecting information, processing it, and creating new sentences, images, and stories. That’s why I no longer handle sales, logistics, and marketing myself. For over a year now, I’ve been working with You Agency, and I’m very happy with that. They free me from all the hassles that hinder my creativity.
They are in Utrecht, and I’m in Dendermonde. That is, when I’m not traveling. Today, I’m not traveling, and Anouk, Bas, and Claire are coming to Dendermonde. Claire arrives a bit later. Those who have booked me in the past year already know her. She takes care of the clients and me, and she does it well.
“This is my RikVera den, my place, 120m2 where I am the keynote speaker, give online sessions, make recordings, create, draw, write, think, and receive people,” I proudly say.
While I make coffee, Bas sets up his equipment. He not only has a lot of gear but also a whole script with him and goes over it with me. “Can I keep that beautiful storyboard?” I ask, happy as a child. I wonder if Bas knows that I prefer to deviate from a script? Depending on what presents itself and where my mind wanders?
I simply call Bas “Bram” twice. I don’t notice, and he’s too polite to correct me. As Bas figures out how to film me in my studio, one room away, Anouk quietly tells me, “It’s Bas, you said Bram.”
So, Bas and Anouk are making “A Day in the Life of Rik: What happens behind the scenes there in Dendermonde?”. Claire spends a day in the office in “The picturesque Flanders,” as Bas writes on social media.
Later, we’ll have dinner together, the four of us, to celebrate our collaboration and its results. The sun is shining, it’s a wonderful day, and I’m looking forward to it.
First, we shoot footage in the office. Bas talks to me while the cameras and lights are focused on me in the small studio. I drink coffee and chat away. We also film at the table where I like to sit with people to discuss or brainstorm. I draw, and Bas films.
Then, we head to my residence. The weather is fantastic, and we continue our conversation, first indoors while I have coffee, and then we move on in the shade of the old weeping willow while I have coffee again. It’s all very relaxed and spontaneous. It would be the last sunny day of the summer. Afterward, it rains for weeks.
Now, weeks later, I wonder what I’ve said, and I’m curious about “A Day in the Life.” Are you?”