It all started watching a makeover programme featuring Joan Collins in October 2009. To be honest, we were really more interested in the tea we were drinking and whether we should have another slice of malt loaf each. At the time, I was in the world of recruitment advertising and – despite working on corporate video - was getting tired of the uninspired projects being churned out and Karen, after starting a family, wanting to get back into her world of TV production. But there didn’t seem to be an easy solution to our problem. So we demolished the rest of the malt loaf and brewed another pot of tea.
That evening – and don’t ask us exactly how or at what point because, despite my good memory, I couldn’t tell you – we decided to set up our own production company. We’d been moaning about stuff we were watching on TV and I was moaning about stuff I’d been working on and just thought... we can do this. So we did. We found an accountant. We had to think of a name - and there’s a whole separate post about that task! We had so much to sort and the next six weeks were a blur. But on December 3rd 2009 Lewin Hall Productions was sent a company number and we were off.
We look back now after five years to see what’s changed and fundamentally there’s not a lot really. It’s still just the two of us at the heart of the company, but we continue to build the right team from the people we have known and trusted for years – our cameramen, our soundmen, our editors, our animators, our assists, our directors. Even our accountant has stuck beside us! We love their work and we love working with them – so why would we change that? We still work with the very first client we billed – but, of course, we’re now lucky enough to work with a fantastic range of clients and companies. We still ensure the quality is as high as it can be on everything we create in film and video. We always look for the best solution for clients and our teams. We still want to inspire people to work with us. And we still use stories to inspire audiences through the moving image.
So we’re going to pat ourselves on the back. We don’t do it very often but we think this is a great milestone to celebrate. We’re even planning a revamp of the website in the next few weeks and our New Year resolutions include keeping our work portfolio up-to-date... we just can’t keep up! But, back in 2009 we made a promise to ourselves and that was to always make time to laugh. And we have. Even when we were driving from Bedford to Bristol in freezing fog to film in the airport overnight and have to drive back the next morning with the rushes. Even when a voiceover artist lost his voice on the morning of the recording. Even when we run out of malt loaf (which is very rare)... we find time to have fun. We’re still here and we still love every minute.
Happy 5th Birthday to us!