A SHIFT TO THE EAST

Is the UK film industry moving east? Hermann Djoumessi investigates by taking a look at a few of the many film companies residing and working in the eastend

[continued from the previous issue]

Part II
Unruly teenagers to real heroes, we wanted to bridge the generation-gap between the two, following the role-model pathway by retracing the journey of two east-London boys with a lot of dreams, who started in the east-end, went all around the world and finished…in the east-end, wealthy and famous. Enter Skylet Andrew and England's football team stalwart, Sol Campbell. Skylet Andrew or 'Sky' is a former Olympian and winner of 3 Commonwealth gold medals and was acknowledged for excellence in business with a Barclays Bank EPN Men of Merit Award in 2003. His first business venture was to look after the interest of Arsenal's finest Sol Campbell. Sol is not the sole player on the agency's books boasting the like of England's Jermaine Defoe & Pennant, TV Presenters Jonathan Wills among others. The plush interiors, the smart and welcoming PA's reflect on the success of a company that went from a talent agency for footballers and TV presenters to a film production outfit producing documentary films like SolMan. The community is never far away from their projects as Skylet Andrew grew-up in Wanstead and based his company there in South Woodford and still insists on developing '"meaningful projects, educational if possible" and his views on the general polemic surrounding football and footballers, the message again is of the responsibility of his agency to "portray footballers and sport icons in the right light" and to build a strong relationship with his portfolio of clients. The future seems to be focusing on the television horizons though, with the possibility of a series on footballers and their lifestyle but unlike MTV 's Cribs.

A few words can be the fiercest of weapons, as in Lyn Turner's case: "To support and enable the creation of still and moving-image work." These words could sum-up Four Corners, the longest established independent media training center in London. You could add those of Mike Leigh, "Four Corners is unique and very special. It is one of a few organisations in the country genuinely concerned with practical grass-roots filmmaking." So where did it all go wrong, then? As pointed out by Film London when it described the building facilities as "woefully inadequate." Well it takes a group of passionate people who believe in what they do. Bring in the astute Lyn Turner who runs the centre, add to that, entrepreneurship, luck, character, desire, passion, vision, patience and in 2008 Four Corners will be able to double its training opportunities, increase its digital output by 80%, double the use of the darkroom and raise its level of commitment to educational projects with young people and artists from all walk of the arts in the newly built venue. You end-up with an organisation with one foot firmly rooted in a thirty years tradition of involvement in the arts while the rest of the body is turning optimistically towards the 21st century.

The beginning of the 21st century and the 'nasty noughties'; new technologies and new buzz-words came along: Viral Films were born and there to stay. The perpetrator? Agile Films in Hoxton Square. With a list of clients boasting the likes of Wonderbra, Lloyds, Sony Ericsson. Agile Films still produce the odd short-films, promo & music video, DVDs, like any classic production company and still operate along the lines of working with a team of full-time and part-time staff; but as mentioned earlier, Viral Films are there to stay: A re-occurring practice or pattern of Internet use made of film or video files that moves from user to user. Yes, we've been googled! David Staniland, Agile Films Managing Director is enthusiastic about their seat on the creative square, "We looked into several areas including the traditional locations in the West End. However on consideration we felt that Shoreditch not only offered more for our money, but also had a real buzz about it. I could see the potential for a shift from West to East as there were already several competitors and suppliers in the area so in no way felt we were making any sacrifice on the basis of postcode." There must be a little more than that, asked the inquisitive citizen-reporter: "We all really enjoy working in the area and clients are always very complimentary about our choice of location. The bars and restaurants around Hoxton Square provide the perfect range of venues whether it be a formal lunch business meeting or an after work morale boosting drinking session. In short, we have never looked back!" Neither did we.

Hermann Djoumessi