Texaco x Richard Murray & Rachel Klamer

Client

Santara Group

End Brand

Texaco — #EnduringPerformance

Subjects

Richard Murray & Rachel Klamer, Professional Triathletes

Project

Texaco Athlete Brand Film & Photography — Final Chapter

Year

2023

Services

Production Management · Location Production · Athlete Film · Brand Photography · Post-Production

The Brief

Richard Murray and Rachel Klamer — two of South Africa's most recognised elite triathletes and a couple both on and off the course — had been Texaco brand ambassadors for four years. As their ambassadorship came to a close at the end of 2022, Texaco wanted to mark the end of the partnership properly: one final film, one final photography set, and a clean, honest send-off for the audience that had followed Richard and Rachel on Texaco channels throughout.

The brief was commissioned through Santara Group. The film was not to be about the end of the partnership, but about the athletes themselves — where they'd been, how 2023 had started, and what they were building toward. For Richard, that meant addressing his heart condition and his road back to competition. For Rachel, it meant navigating a season interrupted by injury while keeping Paris 2024 in focus. Candid sit-down interviews, action footage across swim, bike, and run, and a final film that felt like a genuine update — not a corporate farewell.

The Approach

The brief was written for Cape Town. The production went to Namibia.

Richard and Rachel were mid-training camp in Namibia when the shoot was scheduled. Rather than wait or change the talent, I adapted the production entirely — coordinating travel and logistics for myself and DOP Erin Nel to join the athletes on location for three days. The Namibian landscape wasn't in the brief. It became the film's greatest visual asset.

I managed the full production end to end: pre-production planning, crew travel logistics, location management, shoot direction across all three days, and post-production supervision through to final delivery. Erin Nel handled camera and technical operation on the ground while I directed and produced across every element of the shoot.

The creative approach was built around the athletes in their real environment. Richard and Rachel weren't posing for a brand shoot — they were in the middle of training, living the life the film was trying to capture. The sit-down interviews were structured to feel like a genuine conversation rather than a brand Q&A. The action footage was captured during actual sessions. The Namibian backdrop — open roads, dramatic skies, vast training terrain — gave the film a visual scale that a Cape Town studio setup could never have produced.

The film structure followed the brief's intent: open wide on the landscape, move into the athlete interviews, weave in action B-roll, and close with a forward-looking statement from Richard and Rachel to their audience. Delivered in both 16:9 and 9:16, plus a 15/20-second social cut for vertical platforms.

The Production

Three production days in Namibia with a two-person crew — myself producing and directing, Erin Nel as DOP.

Coverage across all three days included individual sit-down interviews with Richard and Rachel conducted separately, action footage during training sessions across swim, bike, and run disciplines, paired athlete coverage showing Richard and Rachel training and preparing together, and brand photography for Texaco's channels and internal use.

The three-day structure allowed the interviews and action coverage to be built properly — not rushed. Day one was used to establish the environment, build rapport, and capture B-roll across the landscape and training sessions. Days two and three focused on the structured interviews and premium photography.

Deliverables

1x 2-minute brand film — sit-down interviews with Richard and Rachel plus action B-roll, delivered in 16:9 and 9:16
1x 15/20-second social cut-down (9:16)
Brand photography gallery — athlete portraits, action shots across swim, bike, and run, and paired coverage of Richard and Rachel together

Outcome

Texaco received a final chapter film that honoured four years of athlete partnership without making the end of it the story. The content gave Richard and Rachel's audience a genuine update from the pair, directed their followers to their own channels, and closed the Texaco campaign on a high — visually and editorially.

The Namibia location turned a straightforward brand brief into something worth watching. That only happens when production adapts rather than waits.