I believe the best storytelling isn’t about noise, it’s about clarity. One of my most memorable projects was with the late Hans Rosling, a legend in data storytelling. I teamed up with bgC3 to create “The River of Myths”, using a single animated bubble chart to show the incredible progress in reducing child mortality.

The shoot? Middle of the night, Stockholm restaurant. The room was covered in multi-colored dots, floor, walls, ceiling, each mapped to real-world data. Every move Hans made had to sync perfectly with the graphics we’d animate later. He nailed it, even while fighting a brutal cold (his cure: warm Dr. Pepper).

Ian Saunders and I spent days with Hans refining the script and visuals, making sure every element worked in sync. The result? A piece that’s been talked about in data visualisation circles for years, because it did what so many fail to do: make stats matter.

There were plans for another project, but sadly, Hans passed away before we could make it happen. His mission was to make people understand data, not just see it. That’s the kind of work we live for. Huge thanks to Ian Saunders and the team at bgC3, now Gates Ventures, for the trust, the collaboration, and the years of making meaningful work together.