So, we recently celebrated our first birthday and we’re very proud of that achievement considering the recent financial state of the country.. or even the world?! You can watch a wee highlights film above of the night we celebrated in conjunction with AiryFairy Cake Boutique.
So what have we achieved and how has Standby progressed?
Well….
On the 4th April 2011, we delivered our first corporate film production for Conferences UK and then shortly after, on the 11th April 2011, we officially started business, taking off the lens caps to begin rolling the cameras and chopping some footage.
It was from here that we went from strength to strength and our films began to get recognised as our clients began to recommend us to their friends and their clients. We were lucky enough to strike up a great relationship with Contrast Creative (www.contrastcreative.co.uk), who we still work with today and are currently collaborating to produce our first TV commercial… very exciting. Ed Stemp at Contrast was also behind the design of our cracking website.
Simon Thompson, of SJT Consultancy, has also been instrumental in helping to develop the business recommending us to Accommodation for Students, VideoRecruit and Conferences UK as well as an introduction to Cake Solutions, whom we are working with more and more. Simon was also behind the build of our lovely website, which in itself has gained us plenty of recognition.
It wasn’t long before we produced one of favourite pieces to date, for retail website Country Attire, in the form of a trend film for the Barbour jackets children’s range. Look out for more work with Country Attire in the future…
We began to feel like we were doing something right, as a lot of our business began to come purely through recommendation, which we think is one of the best ways, as it proves that we really do make cracking HD films!
Softcat (www.softcat.com) IT solutions followed, offering a slightly different take on our film production, with an almost entirely motion graphics animated film. We are now working on a unique deal with Softcat to continue working with them way into the future – exciting times for them and us.
Many more projects began to flow through the edit suite, and we began to work with some well-known big clients, including Littlewoods, Mamas & Papas, Very, Hoseasons and JD Williams.
It was February this year that we hit a point when it was clear we needed a bigger and better creative space. We followed our noses, which lead us to the AiryFairy Cake Boutique, above which we moved into our now fully operational film production studio, kitted out with large preview screen, chesterfield sofa, full network and back-up storage system and of course our mascot Sydney, who pops in from time to time. AiryFairy Cake Boutique was where Director Simon, would get a morning coffee and every now and again some cake, so a friendship built and it has become the perfect move. We also now produce all of their lovely film content, which means filming lots of cake (cue salivating cameramen!)
Another relationship to form was with Solomon Commercials, where we were challenged with making refrigerated vehicles exciting, slick and a bit sexy. According to the feedback we have had from this film, we managed to hit the nail on the head and consequently we’ve developed the relationship further to work with them on a number of other films. ‘Sexy vehicles’ you heard it here first, haha!
With all this editing and filming needing to be done it only made sense to get an extra pair of hands and this is where we decided to expand the team with a new Assistant Director, in the shape of Ashley Yarwood, who filmed and edited the Standby party highlights above. Ashley will work closely with Simon to deliver more cracking HD film content, adding his own vision and expertise.
So all in all it’s been a very exciting and successful year and one we’re very proud of. As per our main business value, we have managed to ‘enjoy’ every minute. Looking to the future, we have some really exciting projects on the horizon and new relationships have been formed.
We’d like to say a massive thank you to all our clients for making the year a success, it’s been an absolute pleasure.