Onwards, Upwards and Jedwards
Our new in-house Director, Phoebe Brooks
and our new Producer, Jenny Garrett
Is there anything better than getting a new teammate to play with? Of course there is - getting two new teammates to play with!
World, it’s time to outstretch your arms in anticipation, remember we don’t do hugging just yet, offer up one of those awkward elbow hellos and welcome the two newest recruits to Team Angry: Phoebe Brooks and Jenny Garrett.
First in the door is Phoebe, our new in-house Director. Having followed and admired her work for a while now (even using it as references a few times), we’re champing at the bit to see what she conjures up for us.
We love the way Phoebe always finds a way to imbue her work with maximum surprise and delight. She's directed commercials and branded content for a range of global brands, from Clifford Chance to Tinder - winning multiple awards, including four Cannes Dolphins at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards. She previously worked as an in-house director at RD Content, and since then has directed a string of music videos for upcoming artists Xadi and Nina Cobham.
Check out this - one of Phoebe’s award-winners we’ve been sharing around the office in the past year (Credit - RD Content):
And for something completely different, check out this super stylish, cup-of-tea toting music vid (warning - does feature naughty words):
As a first task, we forced Phoebe to say something nice about joining forces with the Angryclan and after several no comments she acquiesced: "I'm beyond excited at the prospect of joining the brilliant team at 3angrymen. I've been following them for a few years, and I think their output is pretty unique - an attention to quality and focus on making powerful work regardless of budget. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity to tell stories that make a real difference. And the people seem okay too!"
But we all know directors ain’t gonna get to tell those beautiful stories without a kick-ass producer bigging and backing them up. Enter stage left, Jenny Garrett, who we have zero doubt will be playing the part of the aforementioned kick-ass producer.
Before joining us Jenny has been busy producing work for charities and brands like Fairtrade, The British Council, ghd, Qatar Airways and La Mer. And prior to storming the commercial world, Jenny worked in music and kids TV for CBBC, Channel 4 and the BBC - where she honed her very serious production skills… and the ability to tell Jedward apart.
Overheard in an East London pub after her first day with us, Jenny had this to say: “I’m buzzing to have joined. I was drawn to 3angrymen, not only because of their reputation for being a bunch of enormously talented storytellers, but also for their dedication to doing some good while making beautiful films. Anyone I speak to about 3am are full of praise for the whole team, and I’m really looking forward to getting started.”
Here’s a lovely piece of animation work that Jenny produced for Fairtrade last year (Credit - Maia Films):
Well then, that’s that - two new brilliant filmmakers to get to know - what more could you possibly want? England to win the Euros? C’mon, we’re not miracle workers, get out of here.
Spring Nearly Summer Awards Update!
Spring is fully sprung and Summer is just around the corner and we’ve just got some great awards-based put-a-spring-in-your-step news to share.
First off, we’ve been shortlisted at the EVCOM Clarion Awards. The Clarions are right up our street and celebrate cause-driven films and a bunch of stuff that really matters, so we were particularly chuffed to be shortlisted for four of our films: Frontline (NSPCC), AMR is Now (FAIRR), DofE and Made Me (both for Scouts). Feel free to give those a watch whilst we wait on the final results!
But the real spring awakening was hearing this week that we’d been awarded not one, but five silvers at the Telly Awards!
The first film to collect its silverware was No Fixed Address recognised in Branded Content: Social Responsibility. In this mini doc we share the story of a man named Corky and his journey into and out of homelessness. We partnered with Guardian Labs and HSBC UK on this one who are working with local housing and homelessness charities to provide a bank account to people with no fixed address.
Our next winner was AMR Is Now awarded in Branded Content: financial services and the Public Interest and Awareness category. This film was created for AMR (antimicrobial resistance) week to raise awareness of the emerging crisis surrounding the use of antibiotics in factory farming. With just a week from ideation to delivery we have to thank the quality chop house, editor Ned Champain for turning around the edit.
Last summer, in the midst of the pandemic we worked on an important piece with our long-time friends at the NSPCC. Our film Frontline was made in response to an unprecedented upswing in the need to support children who have been affected in isolation. Our aim with this film was to portray a dynamic NSPCC whose frontline services are still here for children as the Covid crisis entered a critical new phase. This film was awarded in two categories: Promotional video: Social Impact and Not-For-Proft.
As always, we are very thankful to all the sensitive cast, crew and clients involved in every stage of our filmmaking process, and we can't wait to see what we work on together next.
A fresh lick of paint
Incoming! 3angrymen’s 2021 showreel and new website have landed.
Anyone that's ever had to produce a showreel knows too well the long hours it takes in the edit chair, a labour of love; sifting through all of your work, showcasing just the right amount of Angry and hitting the right beats along the way.
Luckily for us, we continued to work on some stand-out projects in 2020 with new and existing clients, so when it came to creating this year's reel we had a good sized bundle of fresh clips to add into the mix.
Noticed anything different? Not just our luscious lockdown hair... our shiny new website aims to bring you more 3am news, case studies, blog posts and of course any fresh releases. It does more stuff too - from now you’ll be able to explore more categories within our work and check out individual director’s work.
Not much more to say other than a big thank you to everyone involved in all our films past and present. Hopefully the showreel captures the amazing teamwork, hard work and creativity involved in every film.
If you need us this new year, new lockdown, we’ll be continuing to make films as we do, continually checking and adapting our process to fit the current circumstances. Pop us a line, we love a virtual chat!
Cheers to 2021, and hopefully seeing you all soon.
An Editor Addition
Some happy news to share today as we expand our team of editors and welcome Ben Harding on board the good ship Angry. Have to say, hiring in the midst of a lockdown is yet another new normal we’re not all that fond of but we’re dead pleased with the end result.
Ben actually interviewed with us way back in 2015 (that’s persistence people!) and in the meantime has cut some absolute beauties, including a ton of music-based content for Mahogany Creative and a couple of smashing branded docs for the always excellent LonelyLeap.
Want to see some of his work, get a sense of who we’re dealing with here? Well, you can check out his showreel here and we’d thoroughly recommend checking out this film about the band Courts and the magic of Basildon.
It turns out Ben joined us just in time, there’s a whole batch of projects brewing, so you’ll get to see more of what he can do very shortly.
'What Made Me'?
Last year Scouts asked us to stop by their annual Christmas lunch to film with a group of their top Ambassadors (think British adventurers, Paralympian swimmers, pole-trekkers, the list goes on…) and tell the story of how Scouts had impacted their lives over the years.
Jade Slaughter, a Senior Creative Producer at Scouts told us it was the first time they’d ever brought together such a wide range of Ambassadors and we felt pretty lucky to meet them all in one go. Thankfully, they’re all individuals more than used to working in high pressure situations because we had to move very quickly to pull it together.
So, who’s actually in the film? Bear Grylls, Megan Hine, Helen Glover, Ed Stafford, Dwayne Fields, Ellie Simmons and Steve Backshall. Oh, and we only had twelve minutes with each individual! When it comes to working with Scouts it was very much a challenge accepted.
The biggest mountain to climb was the lighting. With only five minutes between interviews and seven different people to film (and everyone’s “good side” to factor in), we had to find a clever way to avoid resetting the whole operation again and again.
Becca doing an excellent job of standing in ahead of the Ambassador’s arrivals.
In true Scouting fashion, we manufactured a lighting setup that was built out of three sets of scaffolds and very much worthy of a DIY award. It saved heaps of time and, frankly, made us feel like we’d earned ourselves a brand new Scouts badge. We’ll also hand it to Director of Photography Tim Fok for working impressively fast and making everyone look suitably impressive.
The icing on the cake was Jade reflecting on the film, “Each [ambassador] has been on an impressive personal journey, demonstrating the huge range of skills and values – including resilience, courage, and kindness ... With their usual storytelling expertise and beautiful cinematography, 3angrymen have captured that.”
It felt great to push ourselves to find creative solutions on the shoot day. We loved working with a group of people who have clearly pushed the boundaries, travelled far and wide and had their own share of ‘close shaves’ over the years. A pretty big hit of motivation heading into 2020! If you fancy taking a look, you can find the full film here.
Stay angry.
3
Creativepool Top 10
2020 has definitely been one for Black-Mirror-esque Debbie Downer distractions, so when the news pinged into our inboxes that Creativepool had served up their Top 10 Production Agencies and that we were one of them, we were extra-specially chuffed!
Every year Creativepool awards and celebrates the latest and greatest in the creative industry in their coveted Annual. Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to snatch some of the awards and have been consistently featured in the CP annual (this is our 4th year in a row - not that we’re counting!), but this is the first time we have made it to the Top 10 of anything!
To add a little icing sugar to the top of the Top Ten cake, our film ‘Actually I Can’ for Leonard Cheshire picked up a fabulous bronze award for Best Production. If you missed Actually I Can, you can watch it here, it’s a beauty and we’re dead proud of it.
Of course, you don’t get to win film awards or get rated a top production company without a bunch of help from brilliant crew, talent and clients - so thanks as always to them. And an extra thanks to the lovely people at @creativepool for continuing to recognise our work and commitment to connect talent and champion creativity.
Shout out to all the other nominations and winners of the Creativepool Annual Awards 2020!
To check out the full 2020 Annual shortlist and read more about the work, go here.
Bronze, Silver AND Gold!
Now there’s an intriguing title, right? Bet you can’t guess what this post is about… Well, there are only so many ways you can announce that you’ve won another award (or, in this case, three!) but hey, we’re not going to let that get in our way.
The Evcom Clarion Awards celebrate the best CSR based work, which in layman’s terms roughly translates to work that is about doing good for society. So not the latest and greatest, Ray Winston-est Bet365 advert, nor the most innovative campaign for signing up child soldiers. We’re talking about companies doing their bit, giving something back, telling those sort of stories.
Last year we were very grateful to receive a Silver Clarion for our Every Day TVC for the NSPCC. And around the same time, not long after we had unwrapped our lovely wooden award and popped it on the shelf, we started work on the two projects that have gone on to win this time around.
The first of these, winner of Gold for Brand Communication, was Actually I Can for disabilities charity Leonard Cheshire. The film we made told the story of Charlie, a young man in a wheelchair and his journey from “I can’t” to “I can”. You can read more about the project and watch a sweet behind the scenes film over here.
It turned out to be a very productive Autumn for us as we also began working with Guardian Labs, developing a piece of branded content about homelessness for HSBC. The final film, No Fixed Address focused on the many obstacles standing in the way of a recovery from becoming homeless, not least having to manage everything with cash. Again, you can find out more on this handy little blogpost we prepared earlier.
The film ended up picking up Silver in Brand Communication (pipped by our Leonard Cheshire film) and Bronze in the Social Welfare category.
All in all a very proud day for us here at 3angrymen. We’re on a mission to make films that matter so getting recognised at an industry awards that champions doing good means a lot. Thanks, as always, to the crew/talent/team/clients who made the films a reality.
Director Notes / Borrn Stories
‘Shorter is better’ is a term used so often in advertising parlance that it’s practically rule number one in the textbook.
‘Shorter is better’ is a term used so often in advertising parlance that it’s practically rule number one in the textbook.
Not so when our team was asked to work with Borrn - an emerging company bringing beautifully designed baby products to the market. They wanted a series of films showing the growing relationship between parents and their newborn child, encapsulating their ethos that “the moment a child is born, a parent is born too.”
Everything I’d come to understand about directing one film with one message went out the window. Borrn was asking for content that would sit in the background of a product launch with minimal coverage of the products themselves - not a brief you come across everyday.
In development, the creative pairing of Thom Wood and Danny Baldwin didn’t want to rely on the unoriginal ‘cute babies sell products’ maxim. Instead parents would be the focus - seeing their experiences with a baby for the first time, an insight that led them to the theme that would tie all the films together - ‘Parent Firsts’.
Cliches that centered on a baby’s first words or first steps were ignored in place of small landmarks that parents know all too well - the first lie-in you weren’t expecting or the first time you have to leave your baby to go out.
This focus on the parents meant I had to look for a convincing pair to play Mum and Dad. The down to earth chemistry between Amy Alexander and James de’Val shone through from their first audition together, a perfect blend of Amy’s playful but assertive mother and James’ shy and thoughtful father.
I was keen to introduce their two characters in the first episode as separate people focused on the arrival of a baby, almost to the point of complete distraction. Then when they finally share the same frame in an intimate (and dramatic) moment, the impact feels stronger. I wanted all the focus to be on Amy’s character for this final shot, going through the whole range of emotions for both parents. It felt scary not shooting the reverse reaction of James de’Val but also liberating - finding a way to get both performances in just a single close up.
We had DOP Tim Fok to thank for reacting to the scene, keeping it ‘spontaneous’ and creating shortcuts to reduce our shot list. Tim recalls the process of filming longer single takes:
“Our approach was to prepare for multi-shot coverage, but start with the most critical angles and let the action play out. Then really question whether we needed the extra shots. Shooting in this way meant our shot to screen ratio was always pretty high, and enabled us to keep on track with the schedule.”
Another byproduct of being bolder with our shot choices was an added sense of realism, not feeling the need to cover every line in the edit.
Our impromptu work ethic continued when working with the babies, embracing what they were doing and adjusting our story accordingly. The ‘First Day Back’ scene was completely transformed by the baby crying on cue when Mum left for work. We hadn’t planned on it happening but it worked so well we couldn’t leave it out of the edit. Similarly Dad awkwardly picking up the baby and soothing him to be quiet again was another piece of magic that made the scene work.
Amy Alexander enjoyed performing without a plan:
“The improvised moments with the babies just made it all the more real as you have to work around them! Babies can feel tension so if you’re all tense trying to get that ‘perfect’ shot they feel it, and they will react, and that’s realistic, you’ve got to work with it.”
It served as a great reminder that as a director, you can picture the film as much as you like in your head but it always pays to be open to what happens on the day - even if you have to wait for it to emerge.
Thanks for reading!
-GS
Director Notes / Signing Off Sunnyside
Hey everyone,
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about Men’s Sheds or Sunnyside, but after working away at this one for quite a while, I’m pleased to say that the film is finally being released!
If you don’t know or if you’ve forgotten (unlikely!), Sunnyside is a mini-documentary about The Men’s Sheds Association, which is just one of many incredible organisations that helps to fight loneliness, but does so with such a simple but almighty premise. It provides people (Shedders) with a safe space where they can work, talk or simply have a cuppa.
With it being Mental Health Awareness Week and with everyone in lockdown, the subject matter has become more important than ever. We had big plans for the release, a cinema screening with the Shedders, family, friends and hopefully some gatecrashers - the whole shebang. That idea quickly came to a halt as you can understand.
Preventing loneliness is at the heart of the Men’s Sheds cause, and we explore it in this film. I wanted to take the Shedders away from Sunnyside Men Shed to contrast the amazing warmth that comes from the shed, whilst also showing the timelessness of isolation. So, we picked apart their stories to create several images that summed up their individual experiences of loneliness: the photos of a widower; the locked door and the half-finished pint. We also set about capturing more common images of isolation, such as sitting alone in the underground (don’t ask about permission), waiting in a desolate laundrette, or pulling on the intimidating surroundings of Barbican buildings. The overall aim was for the visuals to paint a portrait of isolation in everyday life. It was a difficult balancing act - I didn’t want to move into recreation, but I also didn’t want it to fall into the trap of feeling too wistful or generic.
The thing is, these scenes don’t just relate to the Shedders at Sunnyside Men’s Shed - they’re a reality. Places like these are a haven for isolated men and women and right now, people around the world are experiencing the effects of isolation. Ray, the shed’s Chairman, rightly points out “...if I look out that window now, I can see probably 20 properties. I bet there’s a man sat in at least one of those, just wondering what to do for the next hour” and echoes the fact that raising awareness for mental health has never been more important. I’m proud that this film celebrates the coming together of a community and the importance of finding your tribe. I also can’t wait for Ray and the gang to open their doors again, I know they’ll be looking out for each other from afar.
That’s all for now - I hope you enjoy the film!
Danny and the rest of the Angry team.
Long-time Editor, First-time Director
I’m Jon, an editor here at 3angrymen. This year, for the first time, I’m directing a short doc. How did that happen? Well, for starters, I discovered that my sister’s good friend Kayleigh is a wigmaker.
Jon trying to figure out how to get his Director’s cameo.
I’m Jon, an editor here at 3angrymen. This year, for the first time, I’m directing a short doc. How did that happen? Well, for starters, I discovered that my sister’s good friend Kayleigh is a wigmaker.
As in, she makes wigs. Makes wigs. That is her job, to make wigs - incredible.
As you can probably tell, I was instantly and utterly fascinated.
But even more than that, I think I was ready to stretch my legs a little, to give this directing thing that everyone goes on about a bit of a go.
I love being an editor. I love getting to work with the creative raw materials a director gives me, to fashion them into a beautiful finished product. But I’d always liked the idea of having the vision that produced those raw materials in the first place - to create my own film and guide its evolution from start to finish.
So when I happened upon not one but two people who make wigs, a subject I was already drawn to, I took it as a sign that I should take the reins and make this film happen with myself directing.
No doubt about it, I immediately found directing a much more vulnerable process. Just from proposing the idea for the film in the first place and putting myself forward to direct, I felt like I was really going out on a limb. Working on pre rather than post-production really for the first time, I suddenly felt the pressure of telling a story without a safety net. In a shoot, if you don’t get it right and you don’t capture what you need, that might well be it. No shutting down the edit suite for the evening and hoping for a brighter day tomorrow.
Jon informs Joe and Georgia of his plans for worldwide directing domination.
And so I worked hard to plan out everything. Researching, coming up with a broad structure, asking questions, brainstorming, writing questions and trying to think of the shots that might work with the answers that might come out.
In hindsight, I think I over-planned. I was so set on capturing the moments I had already planned, I was in danger of having tunnel vision on the shoot. At certain points this meant I couldn’t see those extra shots I could have grabbed, those extra questions I could have asked. Next time around I will leave at least a little more room for creating on the spur of the moment.
But thankfully I had a team around me who helped make sure we still made the most of our shoot days.
Being a first-time director, again, I felt the pressure when getting crew on board. Thankfully, Georgia, a producer who I work with daily at 3angrymen, bought into both the story and my directing it, immediately. She was so helpful in the early stages, guiding me, throwing references at me, always ready to hear an idea, tell me it was rubbish and then reassure me that the project was on track. She also helped me convince our Director of Photography, Joe Gainsborough, to come on board.
Joe is, frankly, brilliant. We’d shared his work around the team before (check this out) and I couldn’t quite believe he was up for meeting me, let alone working alongside a first-time director. But he was totally undaunted by the prospect and helped settle my nerves so much. I think it really helped that I didn’t feel like I had to pretend I knew it all - he listened to what I was trying to capture, bounced ideas around and ultimately I knew I could trust him to get on with it and not worry if I had a new thought or idea to share.
A Black Magic and a Bolex, what more could you possibly want?
Back in my usual territory, in the office with the rushes, I suddenly found myself with a challenge I’d not really considered - how was I going to find directing another editor?
Giving up your specific area of expertise to someone on a project you love is definitely a challenge - not least making sure to avoid grabbing the mouse to make a few quick adjustments myself (to all directors I’ve ever worked with - I feel your frustration now!). It’s made me really reassess what I value in that relationship with a director, what I crave when I’m editing.
The main thing has been articulating what I’m hoping to make, what I want the film to do, as clearly as possible, at the same time as being open to suggestions. It’s not easy but thankfully, I’ve sat next to Becca (another 3angrymen editor) for a little while now, so we’ve already had the chance to forge a relationship, to develop a short-hand language for what we do and don’t like. I just keep reminding myself: I’m a director, not a dictator and ultimately that’s what I’d want as an editor too.
That’s all for now, look out for updates as the project moves along.
We Need to Talk About Covid
Hope you're well. We thought we’d post a quick note about how we’re responding to the Covid-19 outbreak here at 3angrymen.
The long and short of it is that we are all very well and working away on the projects we already had in the can, albeit from the comfort of our own homes. We're also taking the time to do some administrative spring-cleaning, creative planning and, most importantly, putting in the effort to become Headspace ninjas.
Hello friends,
Hope you're well. We thought we’d post a quick note about how we’re responding to the Covid-19 outbreak here at 3angrymen.
The long and short of it is that we are all very well and working away on the projects we already had in the can, albeit from the comfort of our own homes. We're also taking the time to do some administrative spring-cleaning, creative planning and, most importantly, putting in the effort to become Headspace ninjas.
Things are changing on a daily basis and our plan is simply to follow the guidance that the authorities and experts are giving us.
We’re very aware that videos are relatively low in the priorities of everyone right now but we love the work we do, we love the clients we work with and at least half of production is problem-solving anyway, right?
Now, more than ever, is a time for video to prove its worth - to try and bridge the gap left by social distancing, to bring information to those anxious about the unknown - and we’re here to make sure they keep getting made, in as safe a way as possible.
Naturally, we don’t know exactly how things will pan out, how soon we might return to something resembling normality but please let’s all keep as connected as possible - we’ll be posting updates and content on all of the usual channels (Insta, Twitter, Facebook etc), we’ll be very glad to see you there.
While we’re away, if you want to get in touch (about pretty much anything), we’d love to chat so just drop us an email at info@3angrymen.com and we'll get back to you asap.
Stay safe, look after one another.
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Director Notes / No Fixed Address
3angrymen Director Danny Baldwin talks about his experience of working with Corky Clubman on a film that delves into homelessness and the difficulties of getting off the street.
I met Corky for the first time in 2014 - I'd just moved to London and it was my first night out in the big city. After being turned away from several clubs, probably because I was wearing trainers; maybe because I decided to go big on the pre-drinks; potentially because it was 2am on a Tuesday... It was in my desperate state that I bumped into 'Corky Clubman'. Like all good promoters, he woo'd us, complimented my awful dress sense and made sweet promises: not only would he get us into a club, but he could get us into 'the' club. Long story short, I offered Corky a role in a short film I never ended up making before making my way to the dance floor.
5 years later, I’m no longer a student and I find myself directing a film for Guardian Labs and HSBC, covering the topic of homelessness and the difficulties of getting off the street when you don’t have a bank account. Out of nowhere, Corky’s story arrives at my desk – call it what you like, but if that isn’t a sign to arrange a meeting with him, I don’t know what is. Two weeks on, I’m sitting in a café somewhere in Liverpool Street across the table from Corky Clubman and he’s telling me his entire story from start to finish. It dawned on me then that he was homeless the first time I met him, and I’d had absolutely no idea at the time. Needless to say, I felt a sense of shame (and not just because I never made that short film).
His full story gets unpacked in the film (and you can watch that here), but it’s probably worth giving you some context. Before becoming homeless Corky practiced as a psychotherapist; he had his own practice, several houses and was happily married with children. When his relationship eventually broke down, Corky ended up with absolutely nothing to his name. His background in psychotherapy means he’s brilliant at getting to the psychological root of a question, but it also meant that he was fairly guarded with us and much more comfortable asking questions over answering them. Ultimately, his narrative is his to tell, so I needed him to trust me and I really needed to figure out a way to understand the gravity of being homeless.
Honestly, it’s pretty difficult to understand what being homeless for 5 years means. Yep, it sounds horrible - 5 years is a very long time. But what does the reality of that look like? What does it feel like? There’s actually one day in particular that comes to mind, where we took Corky to a shelter and a fairly filthy bathroom. We asked him to wash his hands and face in the sink, and right before he did, he took a moment to take in the surroundings... “This is exactly it”, he said. I watched quietly as he walked over to the mirror and looked himself in the eyes, a distinct look of shame on his face. Tears filled his eyes and he began to wash his hands. It clicked for me that this was it: this was a part of Corky’s reality for 5 years and I felt ashamed, again.
Moments like those can be a blessing for filmmakers. They’re raw, they’re truthful and they’re beautiful to watch. But being in that moment sat with me pretty differently – being less than a meter away from someone who’s re-living a horrible past feels pretty gut-wrenching. Those moments are incredibly conflicting, but I guess you have to learn to compartmentalise the human you and the filmmaker. From that moment, Corky and I were on the same page about the film we were making, and I truly felt I understood him a bit better. He also trusted me to tell his story.
Corky taught me a lot throughout the filming. The power of human will; to get on with life and continue day after day. But more importantly that every life has value... It’s the lesson he wants to teach his son, but I think there’s a piece of that that all of us can take something from.
Some Extra Angry to End the Year
2020 is right around the corner but, before we face what sounds terrifyingly like the actual future (a semi-regular reminder that Marty McFly and Doc Brown travelled through time to 2015, friends), we’ve got two new faces to introduce: Producer Amy Saunders and Studio Manager Fiona Hegarty.
You might recognise Amy from our Insta feed, as she’s been with us for a little while now. But you’d also be forgiven (just this once) for not knowing that she joined us from Tanami in Edinburgh, where she produced branded content, commercials and idents for the likes of the Scottish Government, Royal Bank of Scotland, Holiday Inn and Gogglebox. She is super-passionate about the new encounters and travel involved in video production; you can ask her about trekking around Scotland to do interviews about migration, or why Wilmington, North Carolina is the greatest place on Earth. So, when the opportunity arose, it took a little less than one hot minute for us to invite Amy to be a Producer with us.
Fiona, our new Studio Manager, will probably be the first person that you speak to when you call or visit 3angrymen. She is going to be overseeing the whole Studio and everybody in it, making sure that our workflow is kept in shape and we all get paid on time (ta Fiona!). She has joined us from the independent film industry, where she ran a national distribution campaign for hundreds of films on Random Acts and spent four years as a Programmer for Cork Film Festival. Along with a genuine passion for meticulous planning and organisational management, Fiona brings a fierce, knowledgeable passion for all things documentary which we intend to take full advantage of in our side-project efforts.
We’re dead happy to have Amy and Fiona on our team as we look forward to 2020, and all of the new work, new people, new stories and new adventures that it will no doubt have in store.
From 'Can't' To 'Can' with Leonard Cheshire
Got a bit of a special one for you. New work, for an awesome new charity client, with a new behind the scenes bonus thrown in for good measure.
If you haven’t heard about Leonard Cheshire, they offer support to help people live, learn and work as independently as they choose, whatever their ability. They got in touch, wanting to make a film for their #ActuallyICan campaign, which would inspire people to shift from ‘can’ to ‘can’t’ and get involved with their volunteering activities.
From the get-go, accessibility was a priority in the production planning, and really opened our eyes to how inaccessible cities (or anywhere) can be - on set, off set and every single day. It's something we cover in this belter of a behind-the-scenes film we made, featuring star of the film Jack Binstead (Bad Education, BBC 3) and Pete Donnelly (Leonard Cheshire) talking about their personal experiences of disability.
A massive thank you to everyone who helped bring this film to life, particularly the Leonard Cheshire staff, volunteers and programme users who feature in the story. Extra special thanks especially to VisABLE People - the world's first agency to manage disabled talent - who helped us put together our brilliant cast.
Oh, and here’s the finished film, enjoy!
Autumnal Awards Update
Sound the gong - a quick awardsy-type update for you.
We've had a lovely little run of nominations and wins over the past couple of months so figured we should write up a little post/boast.
First up we got our very first EVCOM Clarion award, recognised in the Brand Communication category for our film, NSPCC - Every Day.
And that film also got awarded for Best Fundraising and Best Corporate Image Film at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards, so we've got two shiny silver dolphins headed our way from the south of France.
Last but not least, we've just found out we've got a couple of nominations for Best Brand Film and Best Internal Comms at the EVCOM Film Awards, so fingers crossed we'll have more good news to follow when the winners get announced in November.
As always, massive thanks to everyone who helped us make the films and the clients who trusted us to tell their stories.
Work in Progress / Men's Sheds - Part 03
So what's happening in the world of old men, I hear you bellow from the rooftops?!
Anyone?
No?
Oh well okay then, if you insist.
A quick recap - we put together a solid first edit but the whole team here felt we could delve a little deeper. So Jon and I spent a bit of time working on a new edit, looking into the men's past in order to understand how the Shed became so important to them.
And that was that, except…
Once the narrative was locked, we hit the inevitable wall of running out of footage. So with next to zero persuasion necessary, DOP Charles Mori and I set out to fill all those black holes in Jon’s Premiere timeline with gorgeous new, shiny images.
Things were going smoothly. A little too smoothly…
After a quick visit to the Shed to check on the guys and make sure they were happy with how we've treated their stories, I learnt that one of the members no longer attended the Shed.
Not ideal. Documentary making dilemma alert.
I’ll not go into all the details (I’ve got a bad enough rep as office gossip at 3AM), all that matters is that after a few calls to check in with everyone, I got the all-clear to proceed - both parties were still keen to carry on regardless.
Phew. Relief all round.
Once that was dealt with Charles and I took the Shedders out and about in East London to get some fresh pick-ups - and boy did they give some terrific performances. In another life these boys really could have made fantastic actors.
Ingesting the footage back at 3angrymen HQ, I couldn’t have been happier with the shots we got. I’ve worked with Charles a good few times over the past couple of years and he really never fails to make a little go a very long way - such a great attribute in a Director of Photography. The photos in this post are all from the additional day of filming. Looking great, right?
The good news just kept coming - we were blessed to have the very talented Daniel Sonabend compose a score for the film, which is (I promise) sounding really beautiful already. Somehow he’s managed to create something that feels just perfect for the Shed. Suddenly, having discarded the (pretty awful) guide track we’d been using, the edit has sprung a whole new lease of life.
And that's where we’re at — the new footage slots in perfectly, the picture is locked, music is almost finished and we're working on the grade and sound design...
So next time you hear from me, I'll hopefully be inviting you to a screening. And from what I hear, there are a few more 3angrymen side-projects snapping at our heels so we’d best get cracking. More on those another day.
Making weather with the Scouts
Wind. Rain. Snow. Sunshine.
Our shoots often involve battling one or two of these elements but rarely do we actively encourage them all to happen in one day. This was the challenge we set ourselves, shooting our latest collaboration with Scouts, ‘Before & After’.
The film features the ever-evolving relationship between a dad and his two children, all set within the confines of their family car. As time rolls on by in the story, we shift from one season to the next - meaning our production team had to squeeze several seasons out of two chilly October days in London.
We thought you’d like to witness a bit of the madness, so here’s a behind the scenes video to give you a sense of what went on.
It was, as you can see, a fairly challenging shoot, with a heck of a lot of moving parts and many a damp cast member. But thanks to the brilliant crew, led by Laura Scrivano (Director), Kezia Clark (Producer), Kate Reid (Director of Photography), Natasha Guiness (Art Director) and Rosie Owen (1st AD), everything remained on track.
As always when working with Scouts, they were very happy to get fully involved in the filmmaking process, whether that involved a prop-making workshop with Scouts Ambassador and film legend Warwick Davis, or making their Head of Creative, Kevin, get drenched as an Extra on set.
It’s worth noting, we don’t do weather creation every day, so we got in the fantastic specialists at Artem Ltd to help us on this one. They were amazing and, judging by the size of the machines they brought along, are used to working on some very big budget disaster movies. The wind fans were particularly popular, as long as you closed your eyes and mouth to avoid digesting a faceful of leaves.
A massive thanks to everyone who put in so much effort over the course of the production. And last but not least, here’s a link to the finished film, hope you like it.
From running the Sahara to speeding the Salt Flats
We’ve just released the latest in our branded content series for Schroders - following Roland Jones and his team as he attempts to break 200mph on Utah’s salt flats. Watch it here:
Over the years, we’ve been lucky enough to create a wide variety of videos for the global asset manager, Schroders, including some brilliant short documentary films.
One of our favourite formats we’ve produced is a series called Hidden Talent - which takes us out of the office and into the lives of employees with particularly impressive, sometimes unusual, past-times and passions.
These are definitely not your average corporate films - the series has seen us shooting triathlon runners in Rotterdam, following a six-day ultra-marathon across the Saharan desert and dancing in the dark after-hours at Schroders’ headquarters.
To celebrate the release of our profile film of Roland, we thought we’d look back over the series and pull out some of our favourites.
1. Devere, Muay Thai fighter
There’s a lot we love about this film. Firstly, there’s the stark contrast between the office of a global financial institution’s Manhattan HQ and the sweaty, stripped back Sitan Gym in Queens.
And while in the Schroders office Devere was a friendly, assured, impeccably mannered Investment Consultant, as soon as the gloves went on he completely transformed and we got a visceral sense of his dedication to fighting excellence.
And then there’s the fact that the whole thing was shot in the space of only a few hours, with us running and gunning, and nearly having our cameras kicked out of our hands within the confines of an intense training session - it’s not often branded films require the dodging of female MMA champions.
2. Nick, Marathon Des Sables competitor
Shot in the scorching heat of the Saharan desert in Morocco, this film follows Fund Manager Nick Kirrage as he took part in one of the toughest races on earth: a six-day ultramarathon, running the distance of six regular marathons in temperatures often over 50 degrees.
Planning where we were going to film Nick was the biggest challenge on this shoot; about a mile from the finish line, as our crew raced over a sand dune to get into position, our 4x4 got completely and predictably stuck.
Seeing Nick approaching in the distance, our Director, Guy, sprinted to the finish line himself, catching Nick just as he completed the epic race.
We did eventually rescue the jeep by digging it out, long after the race was over.
2. Addie, Bachata dancer
A corporate shoot with more heart than most, Addie reveals in this film how dance helped her through a really difficult time in her life, and how important dancing Bachata is to her mental health now.
We joined her dance group as they brought a touch of Dominican rhythm to New York city, and we think the Bachata music brings a beautiful pace to this mini-doc too.
As well as spending time with her dance partners, we interviewed Addie’s colleagues at Schroders; both very clearly benefited from Addie’s positive energy... as did our profile film of her.
Our final scene captures Addie dancing to the backdrop of the sun setting on a blue New York sky. With the Salsa, the music and the lens flare, it looks more Havana than Harlem - it’s the perfect note to end this beautiful short film.
Welcome, Welcome!
Our two new producers, Sophie Christophersen (L) and Georgia Hussey (R)
That’s right, we’ve got two new members of the team to welcome this month: producers Georgia Hussey and Sophie Christophersen.
A tiny bit of background:
Our paths crossed with Georgia a couple of years ago and we’ve been eagerly following the great work she’s been producing as a freelancer ever since. Branded content has been Georgia’s focus, creating films for the likes of Google, The Samaritans and Converse - this work, for Youtube Music, was a particular favourite of ours.
Sophie joins us from fellow production company Beagle Media, where she worked on a variety of commercial and corporate projects for the likes of Amazon and The Royal Academy of Engineering. As a producer at Beagle, Sophie traveled the country producing a series of 16 mini-docs for The Prince's Trust Awards, one of which won Silver at the Brand Film Festival Awards.
With both producers super passionate about branded, documentary and charity content, we know they’re going to fit into the team pretty seamlessly.
Keep an eye on the site for the great things they’re about to make!
Work in Progress / Men's Sheds Part 02
The edit has begun (again)!
We're now a couple of months into the editing progress and things are shaping up. Admittedly we don't have a finished film as quickly as we'd hoped but with this being a passion project, annoyingly, I guess that's to be expected... especially as we've been even busier than usual here at 3AM HQ.
Having ingested everything (including the processed film), our in-house editor, Jon and I sat down to start assembling an edit. It can be tough going keeping the ball rolling on a side-project like this, so we made a pact to dedicate our Thursday evenings to getting through it. Bit of a commitment but it's been worth it.
Thursday nights with Danny (left) and Jon (right)
I've worked with Jon for a couple of years now and both being in-house means that we've developed a really good, sometimes slightly scary, understanding - we already know what each of us is going to like and shortcutting the usual get-to-know-you slow start you sometimes get with new projects.
And shortcuts are a very good thing when you've got as much content to play with as we had. 45 minutes of interview audio per contributor meant that we faced a real uphill struggle getting to a manageable edit - not helped by the fact there was SO MUCH GOLD. Honestly, these guys are amazing to listen to. I could happily make a film about each one of them.
What really helped at this stage was the extensive conversations I'd had with the team (Kezia, Charles and Jon) earlier in the planning process, it gave us a really solid focus in the early cutting stage and empowered us to make some pretty brutal decisions about what to bin from the timeline.
Before long we had a first edit we were pretty happy with so we booked in a crit session with Guy and Thom (3andgrymen founders), who'd so far left us to our own devices.
Getting fresh eyes on a film for the first time is always a slightly nervy, sensitive moment, you've built your house of cards and you'd really rather someone didn't come and knock it down. It turns out it's no less difficult when it's a project that you feel so personally invested in.
The results were in and the feedback was mixed. The shots were lovely and the edit was undeniably tight and while they could see how amazing the raw materials were, as a documentary, it felt a little flat. This is probably because Jon and I have worked together so much on branded content films for our clients, it felt like it was trying to give a balanced overview rather than tell a powerful story. With no time limit, with no specific message or brand to promote, there was room to make something different, something more personal, so what was holding us back?
Weeks into the process we all agreed we could do better, we decided to begin again, to start from scratch. And weirdly, rather than disheartened, I found myself more excited for the film than ever. We're already deep into the second cut and I can already feel a more emotional, resonant story emerging.
Did I mention this was the first documentary I've ever made?
(Special treat, here’s a little snippet from our first edit.)