Beyond the label. A way of working.
This October marks three years since we opened openbcn studios. And for a long time, I thought I knew what we offered. Until someone at our first anniversary party pointed it out with a word I’d never used: „This is boutique.“
Boutique.
I liked it. It resonated. I adopted it. Back then, no one else in the sector was using it. A few weeks later, other studios started calling themselves boutique too. I wasn’t surprised—I’ve always thought outside conventional boundaries, and sometimes that means what’s genuinely new ends up inspiring others.
But there was something that remained constant. Our clients‘ reviews—from the very beginning—always said the same thing:
„Marc fue muy atento y respondió a todas mis preguntas y peticiones antes y durante la sesión.“
„If you have a problem they help you solve it with a smile, whether it is complex logistics or something as simple as moving a chair to another room.“
„Super atento y muy cercano.“
And I kept circling back to an uncomfortable question: if we all use the same word, what actually sets us apart?
A year of hard work
A year ago, I decided to stop. Stop growing without understanding. Stop responding without questioning. And dedicate time —a lot of time, at a personal cost— to understanding what that word someone gifted me two years ago really means.
It wasn’t a pretty process. It was a year of doubt, of exhaustion, of examining every detail under a microscope. Questioning every process, every interaction, every email, every quote. Constantly asking myself: does this make their work easier or just check a box? Does this give them real peace of mind or is it just theater?
But it was also the year I learned the most about what it means to care for those who trust you.
And gradually, I began to understand something: boutique isn’t a marketing label. It’s a way of working. It’s anticipating what a producer needs before they ask. It’s solving what comes up without them having to worry. It’s making production here feel as natural as working in their own studio.
Words can be copied in weeks. Understanding what they mean takes commitment.
And the most honest proof I have isn’t my words—it’s the clients. Producers who’d worked at other places now also called „boutique“ who work here now. And come back.
„Beating the competition is relatively easy. But beating yourself is a never ending commitment.“ — Nike, 1977
Today we continue on that path. There’s no finish line where we can say „we made it.“ Every day I look for ways to make the work easier for the producers who trust us. And I try to help even those who don’t book with me—because this isn’t about winning a race, it’s about doing things right.
Three years later, Spain remains a tough place to keep a business running. But when the clients and producers who come here keep coming back, and there are more and more of them, I understand we’re building something real.
And when you ask them why, they say exactly the same thing the first reviews said a year ago or so.
I don’t know if this is what I imagined when we opened. But I do know it’s what I want to keep building: a place where brands and producers who value excellence can work in peace, knowing everything else has been taken care of.
And here we are. I don’t know what comes next, but if I’ve learned anything in these three years, it’s that there’s no rush when things are done right.
Marc
Studio Manager
