CE50 – 2018 Foreword Caroline Norbury MBE

Creative England Chief Executive

It is my pleasure to introduce to you the CE50 industry tool. Previous CE50 companies have 2018. The people and businesses featured in this gone on to receive BAFTA nominations, opened book are at the very forefront of creativity. Through international offices, revolutionised the way western their work – be it games, film or TV productions, products are sold to the Chinese market, and interactive platforms or immersive experiences – received the prestigious Nora Ephron prize at the they produce the original ideas, the entertaining Tribeca Film Festival. This year’s cohort highlights content and the innovations which make this the move towards technology and creativity country truly world-leading in the creative industries. merging to create meaningful solutions to real-world problems, with many of the companies championing The creative sectors are a cornerstone of the UK’s diversity, giving a platform to unheard voices and economy and key to driving future growth and benefitting the wider industry. prosperity. They are worth £92bn in GVA and are outgrowing the wider economy by twice the rate. This year we have also included businesses that They employ 2m people – over 3m in the wider focus on improving the environment for creative creative economy when we count non-creative businesses – such as Platform in Stoke-on-Trent roles – and make over £21bn in service exports. who are building a cluster programme for creative entrepreneurs and InnovateHer who seek to improve Those exceptional statistics are being driven the gender balance of the tech sector. by the talented creative minds like those included in this year’s CE50 – those who continue to look Our job at Creative England is to ensure that at new ways of doing things, whether that’s the voices of our country’s creators and innovators bringing fresh ideas and perspective into the craft have the opportunity to be heard, and that they of storytelling, designing platforms that adopt are given the right support to build their businesses. the latest technologies, or creating new ways If we are successful, then the future will look very for us to interact with each other, the world bright indeed. and our environment.

At Creative England we support that talent to grow, particularly those based outside London who may lack the opportunities that exist within the capital. We back individuals all over the country to create highly inventive and original content, we invest money to grow creative companies and we work with key influencers, across industry and in Government, to make sure that the needs of our Caroline Norbury MBE, sectors are met and challenges addressed. Chief Executive Creative England

The purpose of our annual CE50 report is to highlight the most exciting, innovative and disruptive individuals and creative companies across England, and it has become a highly regarded and impactful

Design by Design Instruct Studio Foreword —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 3 1 Atomhawk North East The following individuals and businesses have been chosen 2 Bulbshare London 3 Cambridge Picture Company East of England for their talent, their ingenuity and their ability to turn a bright 4 Carse and Waterman West Midlands idea into a commercial success. Across games, TV, film 5 Chatta Yorkshire and the Humber 6 Claire Oakley London and digital media industries, this is ‘Creative England’. 7 Covatic South East 8 Creative Assembly South East 9 Duel South West 10 Engine House VFX South West 11 Enlighten West Midlands 12 Eva Riley South East 13 Fierce Kaiju Yorkshire and the Humber 14 Fourth State South East 15 FreelanceDiary South East 16 Gelato Visual Effects North West 17 Happy Goon North East 18 Inkle Studios South East 19 InnovateHer North West 20 Interactive Imagination East of England 21 Knowle West Media Centre South West 22 Landmrk South West 23 Laser Dog Yorkshire and the Humber 24 MAADigital North East 25 Mad as Birds North West 38 24 26 Newsubstance Yorkshire and the Humber 29 1 27 Northcoders North West 43 28 Ocean Spark Studios Yorkshire and the Humber 29 Pinball Films North East 30 Platform West Midlands 31 Production Park Yorkshire and the Humber 23 26 32 Quarter Circle Games South West 5 17 16 28 13 31 33 Quiddity Films London 19 27 42 39 49 48 34 Rachel Shenton London 25 35 37 35 Ripstone North West 4 47 36 Semaeopus South East 30 50 37 Sheffield Doc/Fest Yorkshire and the Humber 11 38 Shout Digital North East

18 39 Slanted Theory Yorkshire and the Humber 3 40 Slurpy Studios East of England 41 Smoking Bear Productions South West 40 14 7 44 42 Social Media Makes Sense North West 20 36 22 33 2 43 Spearhead Interactive North East 6 15 34 21 9 44 Ted Evans London 45 8 45 ThanksBox South West 46 Toxic Games South East 46 12 32 47 TriForce Creative Network East Midlands 41 48 Tyke Films Yorkshire and the Humber 10 49 Virtual Reality Associates North West

Where are the 50? 50 YouTeachMe East Midlands

4 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ CE50 Where are the 50? —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 5 Profiles C Chatta Yorkshire and the Humber

Chatta has created a multimedia learning app that appeals to children’s interests in technology, increasing the rate at which children develop spoken language skills through an interactive use of visual and audio technology.

Already adopted by many schools across the UK, the app has been shown to have a marked impact on speech and language development, including those who have been identified with a specific speech, language and communication issue, improving the skills and learning of children of all abilities. Chatta is a tool which can have a real Atomhawk impact on children’s education from a young age. North East

Atomhawk has an impressive track record of bringing ideas to life for movie studios, game developers and product designers, including Claire Oakley London creating concept art for Disney’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron and creating a new art style for the Claire Oakley’s award-winning short films have visually stunning Pottermore. marked her as an exciting new talent to watch and have played at more than 50 festivals worldwide Its success led to an acquisition by Sumo including the BFI London Film Festival, Edinburgh Profiles A – C Digital last year, allowing the studio to continue Image credit: Atomhawk International Film Festival, Toronto International to go from strength to strength, expanding Film Festival: Kids and Austin Film Festival. Her to open an office in Toronto in August 2017. debut feature Make-up is a psycho-sexual thriller Atomhawk has proved itself as a stand out choice set in Cornwall. This feature has been developed for some of the world’s biggest franchises, truly and greenlit through Creative England’s iFeatures living up to its claim to help bring visions to life. initiative and will go into production Spring 2018.

Oakley is a co-founder of Cinesisters, a collective Image credit: of award-winning female directors dedicated Carse and Waterman to the creation of more films by and about women. Bulbshare Cambridge Picture Company London East of England

Spun out of Latimer in August 2017, Bulbshare Ivan MacTaggart launched his film and television Carse and Waterman has already had a huge impact with its functionality production company, Cambridge Picture Company West Midlands to allow brands to co-create with their audience. in February 2018, following BAFTA, Academy Award Focused around three core principles of co- and Golden Globe nominations for his most recent creation, social good and collaboration, Bulbshare feature Loving Vincent. Since its inception in 2009, Carse and Waterman empowers audiences to shape brand’s products, has grown in size and stature and has produced causes and campaigns. It has already attracted Cambridge Picture Company is drawing on the a number of award-winning projects, working with an impressive roster of clients, including BBC wealth of scientific innovation Cambridge has to a variety of acclaimed names including Richard Three, Public Health England, The British Council, offer by forming partnerships with local industry Ayoade, Simon West and Keith Lemon. Carse Cornetto and eBay. leaders to develop and identify new technologies and Waterman’s service gives brands a way to tell and techniques to reduce risk and increase personable stories to their audience in a uniquely With social impact at the heart of what it does, effectiveness of development, production and engaging way. Bulbshare empowers audiences to shape the distribution of audio-visual content. causes and campaigns that affect their daily lives, Recent successes have kick-started further growth giving voice to diverse, often marginalised groups. The company’s first production is feature filmRed this year with the purchase of a new 4-storey studio Joan, co-produced with Trademark Films, starring (4,300 sq ft), an increased staff team of up to 20, Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson. and the facilities to deliver a new animation school supporting routes into the industry.

6 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ CE50 CE50 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 7 8 CE50 ­­­­­­­­­­­­­— Profiles C – D the audienceexperience. future foritsclients,withtheaimtorevolutionise and advertisingrevenuetoensureastrongerdigital platform allowsincreasedaudienceengagement where andhowindividualsconsumecontent.The experience –learningtheopportunitiesofwhen, content presentation,enablingahighlypersonalised Covatic developedaplatformtoradicallyre-think with industryexpertsinbroadcastengagement. academics specialisingindatasciencepartnered spin-out fromtheUniversityofOxford,when Founded in2016,Covaticwasformedasa million selling Sussex, withanimpressivelistoftitlesincludingthemulti- Creative AssemblyisahighlyregardedstudiobasedinWest that theteamcaredeeplyabout. to localeducation,communityandcharity, choosingcauses Project, whichmakessignificantandenduringcontributions Assembly isworkingtoimprovethisonethroughitsLegacy As wellascreatingincredibleworldsinitsgames,Creative and Develop’s IndustryExcellenceawards. of awards,includingrecentaccolatedBAFTA, Music+Sound an exceptionallytalentedteamofover500,amassedawealth South East East South Covatic South East East South Assembly Creative Total War Total series.CreativeAssemblyhas,with Mumsnet andVisitEngland. their clientbasetoincludeWWF, NBCUniversal, England’s investmentinJanuary2017,growing Duel hasshowngreatprogresssinceCreative Customer AdvocacyMarketing. their products.Itistheonlyplatformtoautomate customer generatedvisualcontenttouseacross brands tobuildtheirownexclusivelibraryof rewards customerstocreatecontentandenables generated content.Theplatformengagesand and collectingauthenticbrand-safeuser- Duel isanenterpriseplatformforincentivising West South Duel Image credit:CreativeAssembly business andtechnology is oneofonlyseven “woman intech”,whoregularly speaksathigh-level is ahighlyregardedfemaleentrepreneur and Enlighten’s co-founderandCEOSuzanneEdwards at astreamlinedcost. Enlighten isimprovingthelearner’s experience By embracingandleadinginnovationinthesector reducing themonetaryandenvironmentalcosts. to-face timewhenlearningandtransferringskills, learning resources,reducingtheneedforface- Enlighten isaddressingthegapinqualityonline of augmentedrealityande-learning. to becomeanauthoritativenameintheworld has grownrapidlyoverashortperiodoftime Enlighten isatrulyinspirationalcompanywhich careers throughthe“Powerof 1”campaign. more womenandgirlstoconsider tech-based CompTIA’s EmergingTech community, encouraging people globallywhositsonthe executivecouncilof Keepers already accumulatedmorethan1millionviews. number 1onYouTube’s ownVRchannelandhas another planet.Thevideohasbeenfeaturedas viewer, creatingtheimpressionofstandingon Curious. The360degreevideostransportthe University ofExeterinpartnershipwithWe The accurate virtualrealitytourofsixplanetsforthe In 2017EngineHousecreatedascientifically covers forStephenKing’s clients, includingbeautifullyanimatedonlinebook and innovativecampaignsforahostofinternational in Redruth,Cornwall.Ithasworkedonincredible animation, CGIandVFXcompanybased Award-winning EngineHouseVFXisa2D&3D West South VFX House Engine West Midlands Midlands West Enlighten , and End of Watch of End Mr. Mercedes, Finders Finders Mercedes, Mr. . Riley’s firstfeaturefilm Talent Awards. Festival, Edinburgh,Telluride andtheBAFTA New screened atfestivalsincludingBFILondonFilm Tomorrow thefollowing year. Hershortfilmshave She wasnamedScreenInternational’s Starof premiered incompetitionatCannesthesameyear. and isduetoshootin2018. the filmfollowsstoryofa teenage gymnast, via theiFeaturesinitiative.Set in Brighton, been developedandgreenlitfor production Eva RileyisapowerfulnewvoiceinBritishcinema. South East East South Riley Eva School in2015andherfinalyearshortfilm, Riley graduatedfromtheNationalFilmandTelevision Perfect Ten Perfect has Image credit:EngineHouseVFX Patriot Image credit:EvaRiley ,

CE50 CE50 9 ­­­­­­­­­­­­­— E Profiles Profiles G – I ­­­­­­­­­­­­­— 11 CE50 Image credit: Inkle Studios , released , due for release 80 Days Heaven’s Vault Inkle Studios South East Gelato Visual Effects North West Visual Effects is an Gelato Manchester-based forward-looking digital agency whose innovative visual effects to creating and selling approach apart from competitors. has set them a one stop shop of high Scan Store is Gelato’s 3D items ready to insert physically correct quality, and serving a growing into scenes, identifying games and VR. demand from film, television, is a blue print for the future The digital asset store and represents the creative of digital commerce of the English regions and technical excellence to a global market. Happy Goon North East cards, Happy Goon is driving innovation in greeting an industry ripe for new and original thinking. Happy Goon uses technological advancements to in image recognition and augmented reality their add an extra level of personalisation to bring are greeting cards to life. In a time when consumers physical choosing to spend on experiences over to make products, Happy Goon is combining both the act of exchanging cards more personal. in 2019. Made up of hundreds of meticulously hand-drawn frames of 2D art within beautiful 3D environments, the game is visually stunning. The concept sees players translate an ancient hieroglyphic language to delve deeper into the narrative, playing the role of archaeologist Aliya Elasra and her sidekick Six. in 2014, was named both TIME Magazine’s Game in 2014, was named both TIME Magazine’s 100 Top and one of the Telegraph’s of the Year Novels of the Year. It is followed by Cambridge-based Inkle Studios create compelling Cambridge-based Inkle Studios create compelling stories told in beautiful ways. FreelanceDiary is a smart app-based diary where companies can hire in-demand freelancers for free. By swapping the old job-posting model for a smart companies can view available app-based diary, freelancers immediately and hire directly. An industry ripe for disruption, FreelanceDiary uses a freemium model, which makes it cheaper, lean and more scaleable than competitors’ commission models. Founded and built by those who have worked in the industry for years and experienced the problems themselves, this has the potential to become the next big productivity tool. FreelanceDiary South East , a platformer game set within the pages of a young , a platformer game set within the pages

Fourth State has created a truly beautiful and original game in Fourth State has created a truly beautiful Lost Words Fourth State South East girl’s diary. Fourth State has incorporated original and stylised Fourth State has incorporated original diary. girl’s to life, with the words artwork to bring the story within the game and actions to from the diary providing the player with options work their way through the world. and Switch late in 2018, Due to release on Steam, PS4, Xbox One press due to its original the game has already garnered positive by Rhianna Pratchett. concept, style and featuring a story written series, where Viral , Fierce Kaiju has proven itself Image credit: Fourth State Call of Duty

Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption

Fierce Kaiju Humber the and Yorkshire Fierce Kaiju is a games studio built on key innovation, focus and principles of quality, ambition; paired with prior experience working on some of the biggest names in gaming, such as as a studio to be noticed. As well as offering a full-service studio to clients, Fierce Kaiju has created the and players must avoid the threat of infection. The studio is also releasing an upcoming VR project with previous CE50 company Coatsink in 2018. Profiles F Profiles ­­­­­­­­­­­­­— CE50 10 Profiles L – M Landmrk South West

Landmrk is a truly exciting and innovative product for bands and marketeers and has achieved significant growth in the last 12 months. A location-based experiences platform, Landmrk gives marketers the ability to place digital content into physical locations, anywhere in the world in real time, and then reward customers for going to those locations. It has taken advantage of technological advances to revolutionise how consumers can engage with brands and their content, creating a more tangible and meaningful experience. InnovateHer Although a young company, Landmrk has North West secured great contracts with large brands like Lynx, who launched the Anthony Joshua range InnovateHer is working towards an important goal – to decrease on the platform using hotspots nationwide, MAADigital North East Image credit: InnovateHer the gender imbalance in tech. The InnovateHer programme is and Shakira, who launched her new album run within schools across the North West, delivering innovative, El Dorado on the platform. informal education via volunteers and industry experts to upskill MAADigital is a forward-looking creative studio and raise awareness that females can and do have successful specialising in emerging technologies. Known careers in tech. for crafting premium digital experiences, MAADigital has attracted a growing client Working together with national policy makers, local government, Laser Dog base of pioneering luxury brands across the schools and industry leaders, Innovate Her is tackling inequality, emerging digital beauty and fashion sectors, Yorkshire and the Humber improving young people’s life chances, and helping the UK leveraging the power of cutting edge digital compete on the world stage through its work. solutions for emerging digital experiences Laser Dog is a two-man games studio based and creating consumer experiences for use in Leeds. Focussing on mobile games, Laser Dog in-store, on mobile and online. has earned a reputation of creating games with beautiful visuals and personality. Each game has MAADigital is based at the Northern Design Interactive Imagination Knowle West Media Centre a bespoke score which perfectly tallies to the Centre in the heart of Newcastle-Gateshead’s emotion and intensity, meaning players stay creative hub, serving clients worldwide from East of England South West

Profiles I – K engaged throughout the game play. a North East studio.

Interactive Imagination devises innovative uses Knowle West Media Centre is doing exceptional Laser Dog’s latest release, Ava Airborne, sees of technology to create leading-edge interactive work within its local community, supporting players take on the role of Ava and attempt exhibits for their clients, across VR, touch-screen individuals and communities to get the most out to keep her in flight against various obstacles. and mechatronic interactions. They create and of digital technologies and the arts. The centre Already popular across the indie circuit, the thrive on original ideas, with an impressive works on projects which benefit every area of the studio continues to release updates to maintain Mad as Birds North West portfolio of work for clients including Selfridges community, from after-school groups to teaching interest with fans. and The Natural History Museum. volunteers digital skills, with work benefitting school children to the over 60s. Independent film production company Mad Based in Hertfordshire, Interactive Imagination as Birds made a huge impression with its debut is growing and developing as a company, Founded on a belief that bringing together feature Set Fire to the Stars and has gone embracing new technologies and broadening technology and the arts solves major problems on to develop a strong slate of films which meet its client base. and generates exciting and innovative ideas, its ethos of uncompromising indie film-making. Knowle West Media Centre is working on a Mad as Birds has shown care in making creatively community level to drive real change. motivated and internationally commercial propositions, driven by the team’s wide breadth of expertise.

Working as one, each member of the team is heavily involved in every project. The company mantra is to be the place where artists can thrive, helping them fulfil their vision and make the films they set out to make.

12 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ CE50 CE50 — 13 14 CE50 ­­­­­­­­­­­­­— Profiles N – P to payforfees. available forwomenintechandthoseunable and championingwomen,with25%ofallplaces and inclusion,offeringfullyfundedscholarships Northcoders hasastrongbeliefindiversity than theUniversityofCambridge(87.5%). at 89%within6monthsofgraduating,higher its coursesandemploymentratestands office, 128studentshavenowgraduatedfrom In thelastyearithasmovedintoanew, larger has goneontoachieveimpressivegrowth. since launchinginManchesterApril2016, Northcoders isacomputercodingschoolthat, West North Northcoders kaleidoscopically fracturedfamilyhistory, comical, musicalridethroughapart-remembered, by theHulsechildren.Anenergetic,jarring, a bizarreEnglishpunkbandformedin1979 promises tocontinuethistheme,following creative productioncompany. Forthcoming featuredocumentary boundaries tocreateexcitingandoriginalwork. work withmaverickfilmmakerswhoarepushing in bothfiction&documentary. PinballFilms producer ofuniqueanddistinctivecinema Newcastle basedPinballFilmsisabespoke Hippies customised dronesformingalightshowabovethe of aformwasinstalledovershoppingatrium,to80 home townofLeeds,whereanimmenseinstallation Its workhasresonatedaroundtheworld,fromits to createlarge-scalespectaclesforclients. which usesinnovative,cuttingedgetechnology Newsubstance isabraveandambitiouscompany to createtrulyincredibleexperiences. live theirmantratoimage,design,buildandperform Dubai World CupClosingCeremony. Newsubstance North East East North Films Pinball Yorkshire and the Humber Newsubstance embodiesthespiritofradicaland Image credit:Newsubstance The Hippies The The The

Ocean SparkStudios Image credit: games, includingtheupcoming Alongside creatingfunandmemorablevideo with femaledevelopers. way ithastakenactivemeasurestoengage awards andacclaimforitsleadershipthe Year at university, thestudiohasgoneontowin Yorkshire. Set upinthefounders’Enterprise development studiobasedinHuddersfield, Ocean SparkStudiosisanIndiegame enhance itscommunityandindustrybyinspiring West Midlands Midlands West Platform Yorkshire and the Humber Spark Studios Ocean leads togreatproductivityandsuccess. living proofthatabalancedanddiverseworkforce workshops andseminars.OceanSparkStudiosis such asschoolsandcollegestodeliverengaging students, workingwithexternalorganisations and nurturingthenextgenerationofgamesindustry Awakening coming fromStoke-on-Trent andStaffordshire. an eventatparliamenttoshowcasethetalent region andlobbyinggovernment.Platformhosted as anadvocateforthemovingimagesectorin increasing theindustry’s economicvaluebyacting running localeventstoitsgrowingnetwork,whilst and Games,offeringsupporttraining, working intheregionFilm,TV, Animation Platform connectscompaniesandindividuals in theregion. development oftheMovingImageeconomy on-Trent, createdwithamissiontodrivethe Platform isaMovingImageClusterinStoke- , OceanSparkStudiosstriveto Tetra: Elemental Elemental Tetra:

CE50 — 15 CE50 Profiles O – P – O Profiles Profiles Q – S Quiddity Films Ripstone London North West

Quiddity Films is the production company of UK Ripstone is an independent video game publisher producer Emily Morgan, a talented and confident that fully fund the development, distribution, producer with international experience. Morgan marketing and sales of games made by indie made a name for herself producing award-winning teams worldwide. Founded in 2011 by publishing short films including Gabriel Gauchet’s The Mass and film industry veterans, to date it has financed of Men and Claire Oakley’s Physics, before and published 16 games across 15 platforms and her career reached new heights early in 2018 had worldwide sales in excess of 10 million units. with a BAFTA win for I Am Not a Witch. Production Park Their focus is on supporting indie developers Morgan is producing the psychological thriller to make games for PC and home consoles, Yorkshire and the Humber Make-up, from writer-director Claire Oakley made making sure gamers know about them, and through Creative England’s iFeatures programme. rewarding talent for it. Ripstone’s back catalogue Production Park is an impressive pre-production She was named Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2015 includes Ironcast, Stick It To The Man, Pure Pool and live events centre based in Yorkshire. Founded and received the BFI Vision Award in 2016. and Extreme Exorcism. At their home in Liverpool, with the intent of being ‘Where Live Industry Lives’, England, they also have a first-party development Production Park is now home to more than 20 live studio, and their stunning first titleChess Ultra event businesses and 7 studios and has established launched in Summer 2017. itself as an international destination of choice for technically challenging live productions. Clients Rachel Shenton include artists and brands such as U2, Jay Z, London Muse, ITV and RedBull. Image credit: Production Park Production Park has set itself apart as an active Rachel Shenton brought the issue of profound Semaeopus South East player in both the local and industry community deafness to the public’s attention when she wrote Image credit: Quarter Circle Games through the formation of Backstage Academy. and starred in short film The Silent Child, which then An educational institution for industry-led learning, went on to win Best Live Action Short Film at the Independent games studio Semaeopus’s debut Backstage Academy trains students on the Academy Awards. Leaning on her own experience game Off Grid is a timely adventure, satire and knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the to portray the loneliness and isolation of children stealth game which follows real-world events live events industry, creating a supply of skilled who are affected and the attitudes of society, surrounding data privacy. The contemporary workers needed to help the entire industry Shenton crafted a touching screenplay which storyline mirrors real-world events surrounding continue to grow and thrive. resonated with audiences. data privacy and gameplay utilises unique mechanics that allow you to manipulate the Shenton is now working on turning the film into world and people around you with the data they a feature and has lent her voice to promote her unwittingly leave behind. hometown of Stoke in its bid to be the new home Quarter Circle Games of Channel 4. Semaeopus has expanded out from a two man team initially and has received positive coverage South West ahead of the game’s launch, winning praise for the way Off Grid holds a mirror society’s flippant Quarter Circle Games is a small, dedicated attitude to data sharing without the enjoyment independent games studio based in Bournemouth. of the game being hampered. Its first game,The Peterson Case, is set to release Image credit: Semaeopus soon following an overwhelmingly positive response to its initial reveal on a Steam Greenlight page. Since releasing the first trailer it has received over 5 million views.

An innovative horror game, The Peterson Case combines fear with a compelling story, stunning and artistic visuals to build hype and momentum with its audience. Playing through the eyes of Detective Franklin Reinhardt in 1979, the audience is drawn in through atmospheric horror, suspenseful narrative, and engaging puzzles in what promises to be a popular release within the genre.

16 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ CE50 CE50 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 17 Profiles S Smoking Bear Productions Spearhead Interactive Sheffield Doc/Fest Slanted Theory South West North East Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber Smoking Bear is an independent production Spearhead Interactive is an award-winning Sheffield Doc/Fest has created a must-attend annual Slanted Theory is a virtual and augmented company founded by journalists turned filmmakers, ideas and solutions company, specialising event for documentary filmmakers and audiences, reality company that adds a new dimension Rubika Shah and Ed Gibbs. Their films have in creating augmented, virtual and mixed celebrating the art and business of documentary to data visualisation, through a platform that screened at Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, Hot Docs, reality solutions which visualise data and all non-fiction storytelling. allows customers to enter their company’s data Tel Aviv, Sheffield, BFI London and Sydney. to solve commercial business challenges. Profiles S and visualise it in new 3D ways. The festival champions innovative storytelling Based in the UK, Smoking Bear specialises Spearhead Interactive is at the forefront techniques through its Alternate Realities programme, Slanted Theory’s offering is based around in arts and music-led documentaries. The critically of immersive technology, applying new a leading forum for interactive, augmented reality, the concept that companies need to better acclaimed mini-doc Let’s Dance: Bowie Down innovations to clients’ real-world business and virtual reality projects, bringing focus on the understand their data to improve and grow, Under was shortlisted for a Grierson Award, challenges to create meaningful solutions. technologies which are changing the way stories which is far easier to achieve when that data and director Rubika Shah was named Screen Spearhead Interactive focuses on B2B are told with fully immersive experiences. is visualised in a meaningful way. Embracing International Star of Tomorrow in 2017. markets, offering visual communication, new technologies, including virtual reality and data transformation and real-time immersion augmented reality, to offer an interactive edge, The upcoming White Riot, which will explore which allows clients to convey, understand Slanted Theory empowers its clients to gain how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, and experience their business in unique a better understanding of their customers. is based on Shah’s short White Riot: London, and instructive ways. Shout Digital which saw success at festivals including Berlin, Tel Aviv and Sheffield Doc/Fest. North East

Newcastle based Shout Digital is a full service digital agency creating cutting-edge solutions for Slurpy Studios East of England its clients’ problems with smart, outside the box. Social Media Makes Sense It creates modern, innovative, digital solutions for Image credit: Social Media Makes Sense North West industry leading clients spanning educations from Slurpy Studios is an award-winning animation education to health and fitness to travel, with a studio creating strong content across TV, online, reputation for taking the time to understand each education and app development. Its full in-house Social Media Makes Sense is a niche marketing project’s unique needs to find a viable solution that facilities allow it to take a project from concept company specialising in social media marketing works. Shout Digital has recently worked to create to delivery for a wide range of clients working and training. Growing significantly in the last two the Great Exhibition of the North’s Wayfinder app. in industries as varied as advertising, broadcast years, Social Media Makes Sense identified the and education. need and importance of developing a recognisable On top of this, Shout Digital invests in emerging social media voice for productions, notably technologies to stay at the forefront of innovation As an agency Slurpy Studios champions in television. and pass its learnings on to its client work. employment within the region, boasting a young team of talented animators, storyboard artists Experts in online storytelling, Social Media Makes and sound designers working on projects Sense curate informative and engaging content for impressive clients including Comic Relief, specifically designed to engage an active online British Council and BBC Learning. audience. Following the success of building an online following for the first series of BBC’sPoldark , Image credit: Slurpy Studios it has gone on to win over Mammoth Productions, the BBC Academy and ITV from its understanding of online platforms and audience engagement.

18 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ CE50 CE50 —­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 19 Tyke Films Yorkshire and the Humber

Tyke Films, run by producer Rebecca Mark-Lawson, is Sheffield-based production company developing and producing projects ranging from cinematic documentary, original dramatic feature films, adaptations and TV drama. Profiles T

Working with Forwardslash Films and director Iain Cunningham, Tyke Films is producing Irene’s Ghost, a feature documentary following a son’s search to find the mother he never knew. Set for release in 2018, the documentary follows Cunningham’s journey with a uniquely magical feel captured by stunning animation, whilst also hitting on a serious issue, raising awareness and educating on postpartum psychosis. Image credit: TriForce Creative Network Ted Evans London

Ted Evans is one of the UK’s leading deaf filmmakers. Starting TriForce Creative Network his career in TV, Evans progressed from researcher to director East Midlands at BBC See Hear and in 2012 he co-wrote and directed two short Image credit: Ted Evans films for the Paralympic Opening Ceremony. Ted’s award winning short films have travelled the world many times over, receiving TriForce Creative Network works to provide critical acclaim and establishing him as an emerging writer- opportunities within the creative industries, director with a unique perspective on deaf culture. championing diverse writers, directors, producers, crew and actors through initiatives Ted’s debut feature Retreat, developed and greenlit through which benefits the wider industry discover talent the iFeatures programme, will break new ground as the first ever from across the country. As well as initiatives film in British Sign Language. A thriller set in a deaf-only commune, to develop upcoming talent, TriForce set up it explores identity and to what lengths people will go in order TriForce Productions to create TV, film and to fight for what they believe in. online content, with a focus on diverse content for mainstream audiences.

TriForce’s programmes are recognised by industry leaders as a valuable way to discover ThanksBox Toxic Games and nurture upcoming talent which will help to grow the industries and provide a much-needed South West South East entry for diverse and original talent to make their mark on England’s creative industries. Formed in 2014, ThanksBox set out to create Toxic Games was established in 2010 by former a product which makes peoples’ working lives classmates, Daniel Da Rocha, Dave Hall better. ThanksBox is a SaaS start-up revolutionising and Jonathan Savery who began development employee engagement with a fresh approach of Q.U.B.E. as a student project in 2009. The three to workplace communication. By taking existing core members were all game designers but were channels and making them smarter via a suite of able to bring Q.U.B.E. to fruition without any prior tools, ThanksBox is able to surface the things that programming expertise. really matter to employees, making work a better place to be. Toxic Games was able to go from student hobbyists to independent developers upon Over the last 12 months, ThanksBox has expanded graduation from University, with sequel Q.U.B.E. its team and gained further client traction with 2 receiving recognition, awards and positive businesses from a range of sectors. Recent clients reviews from across the board for the way include; Sky, Gartner, Atlas Hotels, Nuffield Health, it addressed user feedback from the original game Royal United Hospital Bath, William Hill & Horwich to develop an engaging and fresh experience. Farrelly. They are now raising finance to scale and expand internationally.

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