Some shoots feel different the moment you arrive. This was one of them.
Our team at LIF Media spent time on the pitch in Moncton, New Brunswick filming for the United Nations' upcoming World Cup campaign, "More Than a Game." Working alongside Heritier Masimengo and the players at Soccer NB, we set out to capture something bigger than highlights — a story about identity, belonging, and the universal language that connects communities across borders.
It's the kind of project that reminds us why we do this work from here.
What "More Than a Game" Is About
The United Nations' More Than a Game initiative uses football — and the upcoming FIFA World Cup — as a vehicle for messages around peace, dignity, and human rights. The campaign weaves stories from local communities into a global tapestry, showing how football is so often the thread that binds people together, even (and especially) where larger systems fail them.
Being asked to contribute to a campaign with that scope, from right here in Moncton, isn't lost on us. New Brunswick stories belong in the conversation.
On the Pitch with Soccer NB and Heritier Masimengo
A huge thank-you to Heritier Masimengo and the team at Soccer NB. Anyone who has worked in documentary-style production knows that the people in front of the camera make or break the piece — and these subjects showed up with the kind of presence you can't direct into existence.
For us, the most powerful moments weren't the rehearsed beats. They were the in-between ones: a coach adjusting a player's posture, a quiet conversation between teammates, the rhythm of a ball being passed without a word said. Documentary film lives in those gaps, and we leaned into them.
We didn't go looking for global. Global came to us — through a pitch in Moncton, a coach with a story, and a campaign that uses football to say something the world needs to hear.
Why We Tell These Stories from Moncton, New Brunswick
There's a tendency to assume that big stories — UN campaigns, global brands, international platforms — get produced somewhere else. They don't.
A growing share of meaningful video production in New Brunswick is happening right here in Moncton. Our team handles cinematic commercials, brand documentaries and interviews, event highlight films, and social media content for clients across Atlantic Canada, and increasingly for partners who find us from much further away. When a brief lands in our inbox — whether it's from a local restaurant in Riverview, a marketing agency in Halifax, or a global institution like the UN — we approach it the same way: story first, gear second.
If you're a brand, a non-profit, or an organization with a story worth telling, we'd love to hear from you. Explore our portfolio or get in touch through our contact page.
Behind the Camera — Our Approach to Documentary-Style Production
For projects like this we lean into a hybrid approach: cinematic blocking with documentary openness. That means we build a shot list and a story spine, but we leave room for the moments the brief can't predict.
A few things we focus on for documentary-style video production in Moncton and across New Brunswick:
- Authentic subjects. We invest time before the shoot just talking with the people we're filming. By the time the camera rolls, it isn't the first conversation.
- Light that fits the place. Atlantic Canada has its own light. We work with it instead of overwhelming it — softer, weathered, true to where the story lives.
- Sound that carries half the story. Audio is often the difference between footage and a film. Lavaliers, room tone, ambient bed — we record it all clean.
- The edit as a second writers' room. The structure of a documentary piece is decided in the cut. We shoot to give the edit options, not constraints.
What's Next
The final video is still in post. We're protective of it — both because the UN's team has earned that, and because we want the first thing you see to be the finished piece, not a teaser. Stay tuned. We'll share it here the moment it's live.
In the meantime: an enormous thanks again to Heritier Masimengo, the team at Soccer NB, and everyone at the United Nations who trusted a Moncton crew with a global story. It's a privilege.
If you're working on something — local, national, or international — and you're looking for a video production company in Moncton, New Brunswick, let's talk.