{"id":18109,"date":"2016-10-02T13:56:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-02T13:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.impactmania.com\/im\/grndpa-built-business-around-shared-passions\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T14:34:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T14:34:03","slug":"grndpa-built-business-around-shared-passions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.impactmania.com\/im\/grndpa-built-business-around-shared-passions\/","title":{"rendered":"GRNDPA: Built a Business around Shared Passions"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRNDPA: Built a Business around Shared Passions<\/span><\/h1>\n
BY PAKSY PLACKIS-CHENG<\/h5>\n
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In only two and half years, GRNDPA, a\u00a0multimedia production company has managed to work for international companies such as the hip hotel chain, citizenM<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

GRNDPA has also produced the commercial\u00a0for Hello Fresh <\/a><\/strong>that is currently airing on Dutch television. Read on to see how three talented friends who share a love for tattoos and tacos built a successful business in two and half years.<\/p>\n

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Can you tell me a little bit about the CitizenM Project?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dhani:<\/strong> Everything you see in the hotel can be bought. You can buy it on the spot or through a website. The question was, \u201cHow can we make a funny video for this project?\u201d We came up with several concepts, and in the end, citizenM told us, \u201cThe concept is very cool, but we should photograph all of the products in a very beautiful way first.\u201d We transformed their logo. There is a big letter M, which we made in 3D block. All the products are set in front or on the block itself like a background wall.<\/span><\/p>\n

We’re still in the middle of photographing all the products; so far we photographed some 200 products.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Citizen

Citizen M’s new line of products<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s the silliest\u00a0citizenM<\/strong> product that you photographed?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vic:<\/strong>\u00a0Tenga Egg!<\/span><\/p>\n

Tenga\u00a0Egg?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vic:<\/strong> It’s a product that you use for masturbation. [Laughs<\/em>].<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew it was gonna be something good. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vic:\u00a0<\/strong>Yes, yes, yes. It’s the shape of an egg and it’s made for men. [Laughs.<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

You’ve been working for liquor brands and you’re very much into food and tattoos. What is the overriding theme here?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dhani:<\/strong> Hmm\u2026I think that it’s maybe the “bad boy” lifestyle. I do think, deep in my heart, that that’s the thing. It’s been in me since I was a kid. When I was eight years old, I already wanted to have tattoos and I tried to do it to myself with free hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

How? With a pencil or with a needle?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dhani:<\/strong> With a needle and a bottle of ink. I’m glad I didn’t\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Poison yourself? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dhani:<\/strong> [Laughs<\/em>]. Poison myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t go through with it because it hurt too much. I was too young and fascinated by tattoos. My mom hated it and showed me films about a man fully tattooed and regretted it. He grabbed an iron to get everything off. That’s a stupid way to get rid of your tattoos, but I still remember that scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vic:<\/strong> I think it’s also the search for quality and for the next best thing. That’s why you started Quality Meat because you wanted to show more quality tattoos that were missing on the Internet. That\u2019s the same with food and drinks, right? Always searching for better quality and for better recipes.<\/span><\/p>\n

We’re always looking for the newest thing or the newest drink that inspires you. We’re interested in the you<\/em> element of drinking together, eating together, as well as the connection that you have with somebody \u2014 it’s a personal human kind of thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have an instant kind of connection with somebody who has tattoos?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dhani:<\/strong> I think it depends. In my opinion, 80 percent of the people you see have horrible tattoos with bad designs. You can see that they didn’t think it over or something. I think it 100 times over before I get a tattoo.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s why I started the platform to get as much knowledge as I can on who’s doing what.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dhani:<\/strong> We’re heading in a very good direction: one of our commercials [Hello Fresh] is on TV. I think that that’s one of the highest things that you can get when you do commercial film.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the food thing, it would be wonderful to have our own tacoria with a good bar in the back. Maybe even create our own drinks.<\/span><\/p>\n

It would be nice if we could have a cultural space where we can combine all those things, like a restaurant with the agency on top, and in the back, a tattoo studio so we can have residencies for tattoo artists to come over and create work.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have a lot of plans for a festival: a space where we can invite people to come and work, play, and just enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n