Dementia UK / Story Tellers
Gail’s Story
Client / Dementia UK
Director / Mike Forshaw
Producer / Jacob Penketh
Director of Photography / Stephen Roe
Sound Recordist / Adam Davies
Production Assistant / Ruby Davis
Dementia isn't just a diagnosis; for countless people worldwide it's a daily battle.
While the race for a cure is crucial, these films show Dementia UK and their Admiral nurses on the frontline - navigating the pain, the loss, the warmth, the enduring love, the everything that encompasses a life of living with dementia.
Capturing the essence of these intensely human stories demanded a delicate balance of flexibility and respect, prioritising our participants' dignity over everything. Using high frame rates, we extended fleeting moments - revealing the beauty in the smallest details, from flickers of frustration to sparks of recognition - all the time allowing space for unique individual experiences to shape each narrative.
Mahersh’s Story
Released during World Alzheimer’s Month, the films exceeded all expectations, engaging audiences on a meaningful level and amplifying awareness of the vital work Dementia UK does. Beyond the output, the true measure of success came in the reaction of our participating families, expressing gratitude that their experiences had been depicted in such an honest but dignified manner.
Nowadays / Chasing Circles
A Film by Nowadays
Director / Georgia Hussey
Director of Photography / Jack Dixon
Sound / Guy Dowsett
Editor / Jon Beagley
Colour / Ben Harding
Executive Producers / Guy Saville & Thom Wood
Travel down quiet country lanes and across golden corn fields to discover a man with an obsession as mysterious as the patterns that inspire it. A Nowadays passion-project, Chasing Circles is a film about belief and the strange places where we find meaning.
Shot over a single sweltering summer in the English countryside, this short documentary follows Paul, a crop circle researcher dedicated to the study and promotion of crop circle phenomena, as he faces derision and ridicule from some, but warmth and community from others.
Chasing Circles was first screened at our 15th Anniversary / rebranding event. It is currently under consideration for entry into several documentary film festivals.
Plexal / Member Docs
Plexal / MOONHUB
Plexal / Pinnu Analytics
Plexal / My Life My Say
Client / Plexal
Director / Tom Eagar
Producer / Charlotte Maxwell
Director of Photography / Tom McCagherty
Editors / Sophie Farrell & Ben Harding
Creative Director / Guy Saville
Whether proving that VR is the future of training, impressing the vital importance of diversity in data, or empowering young people to engage in politics, each of the subjects in this series, profiling Plexal residents, is on a mission to better the world through tech.
Having our in-house directors on the project allowed us the flexibility to properly connect with the individual founders over time, drawing out what made their outlook unique. We then designed each profile so that it creatively mirrored the subject’s approach to informing and innovating.
The resulting films were promoted widely on Plexal’s website and social media platforms and drove their 2022 marketing campaign, showing prospective startups just what is #possibleatplexal.
Nowadays / Wigmakers
A Film by Nowadays
Director / Jon Beagley
Producers / Georgia Hussey & Sophie Christophersen
Director of Photography / Joe Gainsborough
Editor / Becca Human
Colourist / Ben Harding
Composers / Ed Whitman, Josiah Steinbrick
Welcome to the little known world of the wig making workshop, where two individuals’ experience of loss has led to an unexpected change in career direction.
Determined to capture the intimate, unnerving quality of the wigmaking process, we enlisted cinematographer Joe Gainsborough, whose beautifully textured documentary work we’d long been fans of. The finished edit combines 16mm film and 4k footage with immersive sound design to create a uniquely mesmeric viewing experience.
Premiering at our Nowadays brand relaunch in the summer of 2022, the film has received an overwhelmingly positive response. It continues to encourage conversation around insecurity, loss and the power hair has on our lives.
BBC Storyworks / ThermoFisher
Client / BBC StoryWorks
Director / Guy Saville
Producer / Amy Saunders
Directors of Photography / Tom McCagherty + Sebastian Loosen
Editor / Jon Beagley
Science meets sports to tackle doping and ensure that the playing field remains level. Our film for BBC Storyworks brings together British Paralympian powerlifter, Ali Jawad, and experts from Thermo Fisher Scientific to discuss the impact doping has on athlete careers.
We love telling stories that strike a balance between real human experiences and informative content. Our visual approach compliments this here - contrasting footage of Ali’s intense powerlifting regime with the precise, detailed imagery from Thermo Fisher’s labs.
After being shared across social media platforms - with support from the BBC and Ali Jawad himself - this branded content continues to further the ongoing conversations about rampant doping in the sporting world.
HSBC / No Fixed Address
Client / HSBC
Agency / The Drum
Advertiser / Guardian Labs
Director of Photography / Tom Turley
Director / Danny Baldwin
Producer / Sophie Christophersen
Creative Director / Thom Wood
Editor / Jon Beagley & Greg Davenport
Colourist / Jon Beagley
How easy is it to lose your sense of identity when you have nowhere to live? And how slippery and steep is the slope to recover it? ‘No Fixed Address’ shares the story of former psychotherapist Corky, who lived homeless for over 8 years.
Guardian Labs asked us to make a film for HSBC UK’s existing ‘No Fixed Address’ campaign, wanting a company who could comfortably produce premium-looking content whilst working with real people and sensitive subject matters.
The film received incredibly positive responses. It was also recognised at the EVCOM Clarion Awards, taking home Silver for Branded Content and Bronze in the Film: Social Welfare category.
Nowadays / Sunnyside
Director / Danny Baldwin
Producer / Kezia Clark
Director of Photography / Charles Harrison Mori
Editor & Colourist / Jon Beagley
Composer / Daniel Sonabend
What do you envisage inside a ‘Men’s Shed’? A dusty armchair and a vintage TV just about picking up the footy? How about a place that brings people together, to help foster community through craftsmanship.
Preventing loneliness is at the heart of the Men’s Sheds cause, and we jumped at the chance to make this film about the work they do and to tell the intimate stories of some of the people they’ve helped.
We released the film to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week and really hope it provided some support and an understanding that we are never alone in feeling lonely.
Nowadays / Wallpaper
Director / Thom Wood
Producer / Arianna Meschia
Director of Photography / Guy Saville
Associate Producer / Titas Halder
Editor / Sam Woodcock
Colourist / James Angus
Shoreditch Trust / Blue Marble
Client / Shoreditch Trust
Director / Thom Wood / Guy Saville
Director Of Photography / Mike Simpson
Assistant Director / Ruth Sewell
Editor & Colourist / Siena Bevan
An intimate exploration of what it takes to train as a chef and why young people are drawn to life in a professional kitchen. Featuring profiles of Leanne, Jack and Lucca, who’ve all fallen foul of the conventional education system but found a passion for working with food.
We worked closely with the Shoreditch Trust throughout to make sure the documentary accurately and sensitively portrayed the three young and potentially vulnerable at its heart.
The film, which went on to receive a Lovie for Best Editing, has been used to successfully promote Blue Marble training to prospective participants and funders.