Holger E. Metzger

Holger E. Metzger founded TMRC Impact, a marketing research & brand communications agency, in Shanghai in 1998. Native fluent in Chinese, he was the first non-Chinese qualitative moderator to conduct FGDs and deep psychological interviews across China. Today he is one of the most accomplished insights and brand communication specialists in some of the world's most challenging markets. His agency became a preferred China insights partner for dozens of leading global companies operating in China, from Coca-Cola to General Motors to Unilever, and eventually coverage expanded to SE Asia, the US and European markets.

 

Communication & Narrative Psychology

A professional specialization in cutting-edge psychological communication techniques led to professional working relationships with Harvard Business School and Chinese university marketing & psychology researchers. Today, Holger applies narrative psychology techniques to his documentary filmmaking which enables him to effectively decode the emotional nature and fabric of people's experiences.

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Creative Film Work

Holger later earned an MFA in Film & TV from AAU, San Francisco, where he learned from Hollywood greats such as Bob Engels (Twin Peaks) and James Dallessandro. In 2014 he conceived, wrote and directed the Chinese-language web-series ‘Men, Impossible’ with a female rights angle on the social issue of so-called 'left-over women' in China. It gained 12 million views within a couple of days on the Chinese streaming platform iqiyi.com before being removed by 'Ministry of Thought' censors who considered the series "socially disruptive": the ending did not conform to their patriarchal views of a woman's role in society. Further short films also dissected individual experiences in times of transformation, such as 'Brain Science', an entertaining cynical view on what the much-touted idea of 'Win-Win' really means in China, an 'Buzzcut', an animated short on how justice is handled.
 

His 2023 German-language documentary on a traditional glass artist in the Germany, "The USeless Glassblower", won several international film festival awards. In 2024 his music video "My Red Bicycle" with Blondie Wallaschek was awarded Best Music Video at the Mannheim Arts & Film Festival, and his "Man by the Window" music video won bronze at the highly influential Global Music Awards (USA), as well as Best Music Video at the London Multi Dimension Film Festival. His latest MV, "Move On", became an instant YouTube hit with more than 1 Million views, and his latest work, the 45-minute documentary "Windbound Souls" is currently on film festival tour.

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Besides his brand communication work, Holger continues his creative work as a producer of documentaries, creative music videos, short narrative films and web-series.  As a professional editor & professionally trained colorist, he also helps fellow filmmakers around the world realize their visions.

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