Producer records major wins

AN audio and video production studio set up in the North East by a former BBC radio producer is celebrating one of the biggest contract wins in its short history – just weeks after being named as a finalist in a prestigious international competition.

Middlesbrough-based Kirkwood Media has been selected by Teesside University to produce the live action scenes of a short film promoting the university's animation courses and world class resources to prospective students. The five-minute film will be used to showcase the courses at film and animation festivals throughout the world.

Their appointment came just weeks after Kirkwood Media was named one of the three best entrants into Content 360 – a competition to unearth the best cross-media content ideas in the world, which is judged by the BBC, Microsoft and Ogilvy Interactive. Having been selected as one of the finalists, Kirkwood Media travelled to the MipTV festival in Cannes, France, to pitch their idea to the judging panel.

Former BBC Radio Tees producer Frances Calvey, 27, launched the studio in July 2008. She says: "It has been a fantastic couple of months for us. To beat hundreds of competitors from around the world to the final of Content 360 was a dream, especially coming less than a year after I set up the company.

"The deal with Teesside University is further validation that we're producing work and ideas of the highest quality. The university's animation courses are known as among the best in Europe, so to be selected to help showcase them is a real honour."

The short film – with a working title 'In the Zone' – tells the story of a young animator who is struggling for inspiration. She falls asleep and is transported into an Alice in Wonderland style world, surrounded by all the different types of animation that students can learn whilst at Teesside University. Frances will be the live action producer for the film, with Stuart Varrall of fellow Middlesbrough company, Fluid Pixel Studios, acting as animation producer.

Frances adds that business has been good, despite setting up in the midst of the credit crunch. "It was a tough decision to leave the BBC, but I felt there would be more opportunities for me to progress – creatively and professionally – by setting up on my own.

"I was apprehensive about launching my own business, but from day one I've been run off my feet. Digital technology has dramatically lowered the cost of producing and distributing video and audio, so more and more marketing managers are using it to engage with their customers via websites and other mediums. Of course, they need a reliable, creative hand to produce that content, which is where we can help."

Frances – who received a £4,000 DigitalCity Fellowship to create her business – says she plans to expand the company by the end of the year. "At the moment we're doing a lot of work with freelancers, but I hope to take on at least one or two employees by the end of 2009."