News & Clippings

Sometimes, journos listen to what you have to say, and make a decent article out of your press release. Or they've already got a firm idea of what the piece needs to say, regardless of what you tell them! A nice example of the former here!

A few news crews showed up to David's 100th celebration at Broughton House in Salford, Gtr Manchester. ITV's crew made a short and fairly perfunctory piece (as is the way often in broadcasting), while the BBC's spent quite a while there.

The pandemic put a spoke in the grand wheels of dreams for many. Kevin Webber is one of our longterm collaborators as our company follows his fight against terminal disease, recording the positive effects of his obdurate resistance to his condition. Here he is on BBC1 Breakfast, talking about the grind one might face when given a grim prognosis by clinicians—and what we can all do to make the most of it.

As David approached 100, we organised a reunion between David and the Bedford QL we drove on juno in 2017. By now, it had been restored to almost new condition, replete with RAF markings and gear as it would have been in 1944. The Daily Express wanted to run a double-spread but time was tight so ran this full page instead. Not bad going.

Working with Macmillan this long-form film was mastered onto thousands of DVDs, given out to the newly-diagnosed over the following years. We even held a premiere at a hospital in Halifax (West Yorks), where many of those featured in the film could watch it for the first time.

A trip to one of coldest places on the planet to film a clutch of endurance runners, including Andy Murray, as they run a marathon in the extreme low temperatures. Husky rides, living with locals in homemade yurts and wolves are more common than people. What an experience!

We got some nice regional press, but struggled to get more than a line or two in the nationals, with a couple of exceptions. Still, bearing in mind that Rich was the only full-time media professional (and just out of university!), it was a job well done. He moved to Leeds and cast his sights on TV.

The 'C' Word mattered to Rich, as his mentor, Derek Rollinson, had been tirelessly raising money for good causes, encouraging him to do the same (as his Prince's Trust mentor). When Derek's wife Di was diagnosed with breast cancer, for the first time in his career, Rich had a little extra money in the bank. So he spent some making this documentary, used by the NHS as part of a primary care package for newly-diagnosed patients. 

The thing about marketing an 'edgy indie' film, is that the window for you to make an impact that people notice is VERY small. The world was moving on, and the THREE years invested work notwithstanding, the project was becoming stale in some minds. This was a last push to get it out there.

The lead American actors flew in from NY, NY to join us as we held limited screenings in Halifax. Offers came in for distribution, but, sadly, as Director and Producer, Dom decided to hold out for money upfront. By now, Rich was already well into the next big project: UK Uncovered was gestating...

By this point, thousands of hours had gone on filming, cutting, mixing—everything! So while Dom carried on cutting hair at his Halifax salon, Rich (still a solo operator as a producer) was seriously skint as rewards would only come from a revenue share once released. He needed to start creating projects for his company that would earn money!

With the internet in its very early days, we had no choice but to start back at the bottom; building press coverage by starting local and trying to get larger outlets to pick up the story. As Churchill said, "Keep Buggering On!"

After working endless hours cutting the feature-length film, and hand-making a beautiful 'bible' with which to accompany the master, Parcelforce lost track of the item, and that was that: Sundance was a pipedream once more.

We ended up taking Parcelforce to court, and won. And then came the revelation that there was little money left after fees and costs were paid to lawyers, etc. And out of that came this meme -before they were a thing- to help vent the proverbial spleen!

We'd finished our primary shoot by the end of August, 1997, but then came the hard work. Hundreds of hours in the edit suite logging and placing rushes, concurrent with pick-ups, ADR, second unit and even full new scenes. Still, we were learning something...!

Living in a certain catchment area of Bradford meant Rich had a local reporter interested in what he was up to. The name was wrong (even before he dropped it), but it does signpost an interesting time in his life. We were having a ball in Leeds, knew plenty of the @LUFC players—so much hope for the future!

This is not long after launching his first indie production company, borrowing a lot of dough from the bank to buy the kit that would allow him to compete with the big boys. About six months in, Rich met a guy called Dom who wanted to make a movie, and they got a boost from lottery grants.

Getting a bit of attention in the local/regional press back in the nineties was an odd affair. A massive undertaking like a film was overlooked by many, and, instead, stories of pet rabbit thefts would continue!

Just into the second year of his degree, the MD realised you could raise money AND have great fun at the same time. He ended up doing a few jumps, one while broadcasting live on radio. Pretty cool fun!

The boss, Richard Alexander, spent a couple of years performing with Terrorize (a rave outfit) doing PAs around the UK. This was another incarnation that led to a few "fun scrapes and tales for the grandkids kind of shizzle" (and, yes, that's him on the left)!!