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

It’s been a while since we last did a newsletter but that’s because we’ve been so busy – here’s just some of the things we’ve been up to in the last few months.

For the view here for the actual Speakeasy Summer Newsletter 2010.

USER GENERATED MEDIA –
ENGAGING YOUR STAFF
We recently completed a job for Co-operative Financial Services where we suggested the use of some ‘user generated’ videos for the on-screen content in an awards ceremony. We sent out 50 low cost HD cameras along with mentoring instructions and asked each participant to film a single one minute piece. We got the cameras back edited the pieces and gave them a bit of polish then played them in at the ceremony. It was a fantastic way of getting the teams of staff round the company involved and produced some very funny and unique videos. View more on staff engagement

OUR OFFICE WITH A VIEW

In April 2009 we took over Orchard Communications. Since then we’ve merged them into Speakeasy and moved that operation and Speakeasy’s existing London operation into a new production office based in Covent Garden. If you’d like a wee tour then please just give us a call and we’d be happy to see you and introduce some of the team. As part of our new expanded team Andy Zanelli-King formely of The Edge Picture Company has joined us as Head of Client Development.

LLOYDS 2012
“A Journey of Opportunity” was produced to engage and enthuse Lloyds staff about the London 2012 Games.
It features three young athletes on the Lloyds “Local Heroes” scheme. We hear their thoughts as we see them training, giving the audience an insight into their aspirations for the future.
The entire film is shot on the RED camera, to give stunning, high definition footage, which includes slow motion and time lapse sequences. View a clip

AWARDS
We’ve picked up some pretty amazing awards in the last 6 months. Most recently, in June, we had two videos shortlisted for the best video award at the IoIC (formerly CiB) Gala Awards for video productions made for Lloyds Banking Group and NHS Leicester City. Lloyds won!

DEPT.FOR HEALTH REGIONAL EVENTS
The month of March kept us extremely busy with the Department of Health’s “National Strategy for COPD” regional events roadshow. They were staged in 10 regions throughout England. Delegates travelled from all over the country to listen to Chief Scientific Officer, Sue Hill, and the Clinical Directors for COPD discuss the new strategy. They then voted on the suggested recommendations.

By Magnus Wake, Director, Speakeasy

MagnusM Speakeasy Company News events, Lloyds 2012, new office, newsletter, staff enagagement, video

Well one of the big buzzes at the moment is User Generated Material (UGM) or maybe it’s CGM or possibly UCC but whatever acronym you know it as - the principal is the same. Getting the end user to generate some kind of media content.

Not essentially a new idea (’Letters to the editor’ in that old fashioned newspaper world for example) but now being utilised in a very hi-tech way, where corporate and public sector organisations can get their users to create useful and interesting content about their company.

So how can this work in practise. Well recently a Scottish pop singer asked her fans to make a pop video for her. She posted the track online and got inundated with ‘unique’ video promo versions of her song. However in a more practical sense companies can enhance their employeed engagement programs through using UGC with their staff.

Our latest example of this was at an awards ceremony for Co-operative Financial Services. We were providing the backbone logistics for the event and also supplied the on-screen content. As part of this we suggested getting entrants to film a one minute piece shot and edited on the camera. This was then sent back to our in-house edit suites where we added a bit of gloss and made them ready for the ceremony. We facilitated all of this by sending out 50 low cost HD easy shoot cameras along with instructions and mentoring on how to go about it. The resulting videos were surprising and genuinely engaging.

There are a number of benefits to this approach. It extended the feel good factor of the awards by getting the staff really involved early on and everyone seemed to have a great time making the videos. On the night, well lets just say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house and the feedback from the event suggested it was one of the best ever.

So, ‘user generated media’, no matter what it’s called can really add to your armoury of communication tools.

Give one of our producers a call to find out more.

Magnus Wake - Head of Post Production and UGM mentor extraordinaire

MagnusM Speakeasy Company News, Tech chat, Work Completed, speak360

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

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

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

One thing Tom Crawford, Head of Internal Communications at E.ON, probably wasn’t expecting as he took to the stage at Melcrum’s Internal Communication Change Conference in the Connaught Hotel on Tuesday was that he would be upstaged … by a rodent. Even quite a large one (which it undoubtedly was).

But that is exactly what happened when a mouse took to the floor roughly five minutes into his presentation, causing havoc around the front tables before setting off on a grand tour of the stage area, including the podium where Tom battled valiantly to retain his composure. Just think - an entire conference of the UK’s most accomplished business communicators reduced to a giddy rabble by a dashing four-inch fur ball. Forget bottom-up. Forget top-down. Forget Al Pacino in “Any Given Sunday”. This was live entertainment at its best. Unplanned, Unpredictable. And completely uncontrollable. Even when the entire event management team applied itself to containing the beast. They were despatched in search of mouse traps - the ‘humane’ variety they reassured us when certain members of the audience showed signs of sympathizing with the tiny tyrant.

All to no avail, and we were all ushered out while (I assume) the team engaged in frantic negotiations with the creature to stop it monopolizing the remainder of the event. And in this they were successful, because it never came back.

So if you happen to come across a mouse with an uncanny grasp of change communication and handling uncertainty in the workplace you’ll know where it was last Tuesday.

One of the speakers quoted psychiatrist and holocaust survivor Victor Frankl who wrote “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”. Know what I’m saying? (no, me neither - but it’s a neat quote isn’t it. Please take it and make it your own). Oh, and in case you’re wondering what this has to do with Speakeasy - we sponsored the event. But not the mouse.

MagnusM Speakeasy Company News