I. Don’t. Wear. Make up.
There. I said it.
But it just so happens I have applied make up. More than once actually…

Because sometimes I go on shoots. And sometimes the lights are hot and the actors need some make up to hide the perspiration. And sometimes I happen to be the closest to the powder puff. That’s what happens on shoots - you have to pull together - and so sometimes the Producer does the make up. Sometimes, as in the case of our shoot for the Criminal Justice Service (part of the Home Office) we have to do a whole lot more…

So here we are. It’s the last day of a three day shoot in London; The clock is ticking, there are eight more scenes to get through before we hit overtime. There are six crew, eight cast members (and two clients) filming in a Crown Court.  It’s a big space so we have lots of lighting. So it’s also roasting hot. The poor cast are dressed in robes and wigs. But the aircon is off because a) it’s too noisy for the sound man and b) it’s broken. Everyone is busy but exhausted and the energy levels are dropping fast. I do what needs to be done - tea and a Twix all round.

We finish (almost) on time, hang up the costumes, put away the gear, load the truck, tidy the location, kiss the luvvies goodbye, and head home. The next few weeks are taken up with editing, re-editing and approvals, resulting in three case studies that explain the process behind criminal sentencing. These will be cut up and put on the client’s website, joining a pilot programme we shot earlier in the year. Thousands will see it and interact with it. Perceptions will be changed. Our client will be happy. The hard work will be worth it.

My other tasks on that shoot included dressing a judge, checking a script, four trips to Marks & Spencer, directing the second unit filming, wearing a police helmet and, as you can see, taking the shine off an actress’s forehead with a powderpuff.

And it wasn’t just me - my colleague Lucy organised catering for 16, kept a written log of each shot, taxi’d folk to the tube station, and was an on-screen extra (as you can see, she favoured The Method when playing the Defendant’s put-upon girlfriend…). We did all of this so that our director Magnus could concentrate on the important job of getting the right shots and performances, so there was something to edit. Oh, and also taking embarrassing photos of his colleagues applying make up.

Hard work, but we love it. It’s not about the job description, it’s about a team effort, and if you want to see what all that looks like go here.

Mark Turner - Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News, Work Completed

Do your customers give you good service?

I know what you’re thinking - shouldn’t it be the other way round?

Well, yes it should. Except we’ve recently enjoyed a situation where the tables were turned, and a customer (”Client X”) asked us, and its other preferred suppliers, to organise an event… for ourselves.

The idea was that we, the suppliers, would all work together to organise an away-day that would allow us to get to know each other and the client team, find ways to improve how we work together, and come up with ideas for delivering Client X’s new Communications Plan. During the planning meeting, we overcame any concerns that we might find ourselves having to reveal trade secrets to each other, and instead focussed on our common ground. In fact, we designed the day to illuminate and make the most of these overlaps.

On the day itself, we adjourned to a country hotel, and spent a very productive time designing a more efficient way of working together, and a strategy for delivering the Comms Plan that would save us time and the client money. It was a fun day, and genuinely team-building. But the long-term effects will be good for us all. Now, rather than scrabbling to respond to last-minute requests and struggling to produce projects on time, we will be able to prepare for the work and create more effective, considered, creative and joined-up solutions.

In one day, we have gone from reactive and competing suppliers to proactive partners. Which is nice.

It all goes to show, the customer is always right.

Mark Turner - Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News

6 months into the year 2010 and Speakeasy have been very busy indeed. As well as the productions we make for our lovely clients, we have merged Orchard Communications into Speakeasy and moved all our London operations under one lovely roof in Covent Garden. Not only that, but we’ve been picking up some pretty amazing awards along the way!

In February we picked up several at the CIB Scotland Awards for productions we made for Lloyds TSB, Co-op Financial Services, MoD and HMIE.

In May we picked up a Silver at the 2010 Questar Awards. We also won a Silver and Gold at the US International Film & Video Festival and have been shortlisted for winning a Best of Festival Award as well and at The New York Festivals we picked up a Gold Award.

In June we had two videos shortlisted for the best video award at the IoIC Gala Awards Dinner 2010 (formerly CiB) for video productions made for Lloyds TSB and NHS Leicester City. And the Lloyds video won!

We have also just had an office-warming bash to celebrate the opening of our new office in Henrietta Street for current and new clients. It co-incidentally tied in with the England v Slovenia game and we just happened to have an HD tv in our new Boardroom – I wonder who chose that date and was it a co-incidence!?

We’re still entering more awards so watch this space….

Jim Adamson - Managing Director

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News

In a pained and laboured effort to develop my “voice”, I recently wrote a short story for a women’s literature competition. Jim has kindly let me put a snippet up here. Enjoy!

“Unlucky for Some”

On the first morning I went downstairs, I got horrendously lost and found myself in a porch with the door locking behind me. Not wanting another encounter with grandma, I hurried around the border flowers and pretended to inspect the rockery knowingly, in case anybody should be looking at me from inside and think that I didn’t know anything about rockeries. The garden certainly wasn’t in the best shape; they appeared to have left it to nature, in the same vein as the grandma. The grass had needed cutting about six months ago and was now in the process of becoming a field. It was covered in dew, and my flimsy floaty skirt which I’d brought because I thought it would make me feel like Elizabeth Bennett was soon soaked and probably see through. I ventured further from the house just in case the unsavoury uncle was getting any ideas.

A couple of hours later John found me wandering around an orchard looking pretty bedraggled. After he had ascertained that it was because I had snagged my clothes on a couple of twigs and hadn’t been cornered by a crazed feral pensioner, he took me on a walk to the maze like he’d promised. God he was gorgeous. He strode around like he owned the place- which he did. He pointed out all the plants worthy of notice and made insightful comments about nature, whilst I dribbled. A sexy, rich, unconquerable man- obviously he was Mr Darcy, but a Darcy who would rather feel up Mr Bingly than Elizabeth. It was depressing. I had never seen this side of John before. He was always playful and silly, but now he was showing me his home, which he clearly loved despite its insane inhabitants. He seemed like a real man, serious, very different from the John I had known back at home. Inside I think I started to swoon. It should also be noted that I hadn’t yet had any breakfast.

Amy Hawes - Events

If you’d like the full story, please email me at amy.hawes@speak.co.uk. Thanks for reading!

MarkM Team News

Last Friday was a pretty dismal evening for the England football team… but that didn’t stop Speakeasy cracking open the champagne!

As well as being a night not to remember for English football, it was the Institute of Internal Communication Awards in London. So suits and ties (for some) and dresses for others, were donned and we headed down to the Hilton Park Lane.

Two of Speakeasy’s videos had been shortlisted in the same category and we had our fingers crossed that one might come away with the prize. The evening started with a drinks reception and photographs with our certificates, before a delicious three-course meal. For the avid football fans amongst us, there was a handy big screen at the side of the room, and the really clever ones had the match streamed to their iPhones.

Promptly after the match finished, our host, Alastair Campbell stepped up and assured us that it was only a game after all… which wasn’t a popular statement with everyone in the room. He carried on with the jokes, probably for a bit too long and then moved onto the awards…

It was soon the turn of our category – Best use of Video / DVD / Webcast / TV. I couldn’t quite believe it when they read out Speakeasy’s name – we were absolutely delighted – and went up to the stage in a bit of a daze to collect our award. Luckily, no-one fell over, we smiled for the cameras and we made it back to the table in one piece! “On the Inside” produced for Lloyds Banking Group had just pipped the NHS Leicester film to the post – but everyone on the Speakeasy table was still smiling… especially when the champagne came out.

The IoIC Award is the fifth award “On the Inside” has won this year… it’s other accolades include a Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals and two awards at the US International Film & Video Festivals.

Lucy Trendle - Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News, Work Completed

Last week Germany experienced some of the worst flooding in 30 years, but that didn’t put me off attending the international IMEX conference, the event you must attend if you don’t want to be left standing at the sidelines of the event industry. The annual meetings industry exhibitors event this year was attended by a record number of well over 2800 hosted buyers from more than 60 markets, and had a visitor total of nearly 9000 people.

Every year I do my best to go to IMEX, which allows me to meet industry partners and try out cutting edge developments in technology and global trends within the events and meetings industry. This year Corinthia Hotels hosted my trip to IMEX, where Corinthia were proudly showcasing their new 5 star London Hotel (which just so happens is around the corner from the new Speakeasy offices in Covent Garden!) The Corinthia Hotel Group and the Intercontinental Hotel Group in Frankfurt were excellent hosts, and the service was second to none.

Lots of views were discussed at the three-day event. The big topic on everybody’s lips was the recent volcanic ash cloud. The ash from the Eyjafjallajoekull eruption affected everybody to some degree, and the snowball effect it has had on the events industry, in particular how we have all been forced to rethink our concepts, strategies, costs and processes, produced some very interesting discussions.

Healthcare remained as the primary industry sector, with an increase in business in the corporate, science and engineering sectors, but interestingly government commissioning of events decreased this year.

At IMEX I got to discuss burgeoning trends with industry colleagues who all have something to bring to the table. One of the trends that has become apparent is that customers are now expecting greater transparency through procurement processes. Green concerns also continue to grow, with issues of sustainability in the event industry on everybody’s minds.

Like every year, I enjoyed meeting fellow colleagues, networking and exchanging ideas, meeting new people, reconnecting with industry colleagues and networking with the best global suppliers. Perhaps the most important part of attending IMEX is listening to the concerns of the event industry as a whole. This year there seems to be a greater sensitivity towards costs, a greater pressure to justify our actions and a greater demand on ROI.

There was a fantastic atmosphere at this year’s show, with exhibitors attending from all over the world. I am already looking forward to next year!

Catrina Cochrane-Mills - Events Producer

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News, Tech chat

Chris will testify that I know very little about the beautiful game. It’s not that his near-constant trivia questions fall on deaf ears, just that beyond remembering important things like Eric Cantona’s birthday, Sieb Dijkstra’s full name and Michael Owen’s debut goal for England, I struggle to keep tabs on it all.

Mirroring my ineptitude for football knowledge is my playing ability. Despite my height, I am utterly useless in the air. My ground game is similarly shambolic, with a first touch more like Marco Boogers than Marco van Basten. However, like one of the Neville brothers, none of this stops me playing, and this weekend I gathered a ragtag bunch to play in a charity Five-a-side tournament at Gussie Park, Dundee.

Driving through from Perth, Clare’s boyfriend Jason regaled us with tales of meeting Jason Scotland, and bragged about his new move; the ‘Bee Sting’ (he can only do it once, it results in his death). Meanwhile, Graham promised to bust out the Cruyff Turn, and I ensured everyone I would celebrate any goals scored with the robot. Then I broke the passenger side window, and we had to rely on the good people of Dundee to protect the car while we unleashed fury on the pitch.

We were nearly playing in the shadows of my beloved Tannadice Park, but as the sun was directly overhead and there was zero cloud cover, a refreshing shadow was nowhere to be found. It was scorching. Cue some very laboured stepovers, a few dozen shots from well outside the box and minimal tracking back to defend.

In the end, we couldn’t justify our price tags (or sponsorship money) and it wasn’t until the final game of the afternoon that we gelled as a team and ran home 7-0 winners. Graham was undoubtedly man of the match, but I bagged a couple and managed to emulate the great Peter Crouch by dropping the robot to a cheering crowd (of two).

Alex Insch - Production Assistant

MarkM Team News

Speakeasy producer Mark Turner was joined on stage by Tim Hadfield, Head of Employee Engagement at Co-operative Financial Services, to deliver a presentation on the landmark roadshow events produced for CFS to mark its merger with Britannia Building Society last Autumn.  As a sponsor of Melcrum’s 6th Annual Employee Engagement Conference Speakeasy had the opportunity to present our creative solution to 150 of the world’s most prominent internal communicators.

The roadshow, entitled ‘The Next Chapter’, included 21 events at five different venues, and reached nearly 12,000 delegates over a 3 week period.  Themed around books and story telling, the captivating centre piece was a 15 ft high book, complete with turning pages, onto which the speaker support visuals and videos (9 in total) were projected using the ground-breaking Pandoras Box projection system.

Last year Britannia and CFS seized the opportunity presented by the collapse of public confidence in the banking system to create a new force in financial services, one that is member-owned, customer-led and ethically guided.  Their merger is a tribute to what can be achieved when two like-minded organisations work together.  The overwhelmingly positive evaluation feedback from the roadshow events is a tribute to what can be achieved when you add a third (that’ll be us).   An average of 90% of respondents said that they had a better understanding of the organisation’s strategy, were excited about its vision and proud of the business, with a clear 95%  wanting to be part of its future.

Now that’s co-operation for you!

Jeremy Hewitt - Head of Production

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News

It was a pretty nice day on Saturday (17thApr), sunny, a bit of nip in the air but a good day for the footie. So I had decided to go see the super Saintees (from Perth) take on another bunch of Saints (the Mirren variety - from Paisley) and give them a sound whipping. As it transpired we were lucky to get one point out of the encounter. So I should never take anything for granted. However just as I was thinking about making my way out, (I was doing some emails in at Wildwood), we got a call from a client who had a very important business person who needed to travel out to the far east to make a presentation on their behalf but the mountain dust had kept him firmly in his place. His place was in Northern Perthshire. So could we make a film of what he had to say so that they could play it at the conference and Sharon, one of our new producers, said “sure of course we can.”

So I kinda got roped in, my own fault really, by saying I’ll fix that up. She’d already phoned Simone but Simone was busy being the vice-chairperson of the PBN (Perthshire Businesswomen’s Network) so I thought that was a bit unfair so I should just fix it up – football being an unneccessary distraction from serving our clients. We needed camera, lights, sound, autocue and to get an edit done. By this time Maggie had made her way up here and very kindly offered to edit any bits that needed to be done. We hoped that with the autocue there would be none but suspected that some black magic may be necessary. Then when she heard how long the piece was to be she thought “No way can we get that onto an ftp site, and so she set about devising how to make the file size smaller. Which, of course, she did.

So then I phone up Jackie to try and organise autocue; everybody phones Jackie when they want autocue, but her phone’s off, I leave a message, and she calls me back a wee while later and in an unusually ‘soto voce’ tone she says “ hi Jim were you looking for me? “ she doesn’t say “hi Jim it’s Jackie” but Jackie never needs to say it’s Jackie. Her voice is totally unmistakable, and I said “yeah where are you?” she says “I’m at the match” “what match?” I said, she says “the Celtic match”, I said “what on earth are you doing there?” She says “I’m working for Sky” “Oops” she says “I’d better go but I cannae help you this afternoon”. No probs’ I said so I had a fish around and I found another name inside the Bubble (our MIS), Ros. So I phoned Ros.

I said do you do tele-prompt and she said yeah. I said you won’t know who I am but my name’s Jim from Speakeasy. She said “sure I know who you are, we work for you frequently through your London office and up there with Simone and Sarah” Oh do we have an account with you?” She said “yeah”, I said “ok can you get me somebody this afternoon?” “Where’s the shoot?’” and I told her . “She said I’ll try, I’ll definitely get back to you”. Then I thought I’m kind of running out of options here and I phoned Fraser, who’s an old pal, and his phone rang as if he was in a foreign country which indeed he was - on holiday and stuck in Puerta Fuerteventura because of the mountain dust. Oh no! more seafood and Bacardi – what a shame – but he suggested a name and Frank it was who came up trumps. Later in the day to be fair Ros phoned me back to say she could get somebody but they’d have to come quite a long way so we stuck with Frank who did a sterling job for us and the shoot went ahead, the gentleman did his piece; it was shorter than we thought so the compression problem was not what we’d expected. It duly went online and our clients were jubilant.

I heard the last 10 minutes of the super saintees game on the radio and I was less than jubilant. We were 2-0 down then grabbed one back to make it 2-1 and then in the 93rd minute we got a penalty and then the wizard who is Paul Sheerin spotted the ball and slotted it into the onion bag to give us a share of the points. I suppose I should accept that even though we have thrashed Rangers 4-1, Hibernian 5-1 and had several others such results this season, the other saints are quite a decent team. There you go that was the Saturday job.

Ps. The super saintees were celebrating their 125th anniversary this year and Speakeasy produced the commemorative DVD. There might be the odd copy left if you hurry.

Jim Adamson - Managing Director

MarkM Speakeasy Company News, Team News, Work Completed

I almost never get time to take all of my annual leave, so I’ve started taking off a day or a half-day, here and there, to indulge my passion for cooking.  This week I have made broccoli and Stilton soup with a big chunk of cheese I got from a pal. Pretty easy: Stella and I had it for supper with fresh-baked crusty rolls - and a few bowlfuls left for the freezer. (This has been a winter for soup.)  Having about a kilo of the cheese left I thought I might make an improvised or “invented” dish with the remainder.

Tomato with Chickpeas and Stilton soup;

Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients

• 10Floz Vegetable Stock
• 6 cups of water
• 4 tins of plum (or chopped) tomatoes
• 2 tins of chickpeas
• 3 Tablespoons of rapeseed oil
• 1 Red pepper
• 7 cloves of Garlic
• I teaspoon each of White Pepper, English mustard powder,
• Thyme and Oregano (both dried).
• 2 rashers smoked back or streaky bacon
• I handful of roughly chopped Basil (and some to garnish)
• 700 gms of Stilton
• 600 gm chestnut mushrooms
• 2 -3 Tablespoons of double cream

Method

1. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of rapeseed oil into a big soup pot or stockpot.
2. Add the chopped bacon and fry until crispy.
3. Add the chopped onion and Garlic, Carrot, pepper, and sliced mushrooms.
4. Add the herbs and the remainder of the rapeseed oil. Put a lid on the pot and sweat this lot down on a lowish heat until they’re cooked.
5. Pour in the vegetable stock. Add the chickpeas and the tomatoes along with the 6 cups of water.Bring the whole lot to a rolling boil and then on a low heat simmer for about 45 -60 minutes.
6. When it seems ready blitz it either with a hand blender or transfer to one of the bigger processors and return the contents to the pot. Crumble in the Stilton and stir over a low heat until it has all melted in.
7. To finish remove from the heat and stir in the double cream.
8. Serve garnished with a few bits of Stilton and ripped basil leaves.

Yum!

MarkM Team News