Category: Impact

Thanking Bury’s heroes

Post author By Ben Horrigan
Post date 26th March 2021

Bury Council have been really interesting to work with, because we’ve been producing video content for them throughout the pandemic. Think back to April 2020. The early days of the first national lockdown. That’s when my path first crossed with Nicola Appleby from Bury Council’s comms team. She mentioned that she had come across my guest blog for Mike Pye + co about how to film yourself using a phone. She had adapted it to send to councillors. Suddenly these people had a need to film themselves that had never really been part of their jobs before.

By the end of the month, we were editing films for Bury’s social media. The content used footage shot by various staff and volunteers, thanking “#TeamBury” for all the amazing work they were doing.

We’ve produced several films for Bury Council since then, using a mix of user-generated content and professional footage. The latest piece of work involved two videos. The aim was to thank volunteers and carers, and mark a year since the pandemic was declared. I spent three days travelling around Bury with Nicola, gathering footage, and Will spent the weekend editing the footage.

As many of our contributors pointed out, there are many of people in the borough who are carers but don’t even think of themselves in that way; they simply get on and do it.

The result is two pieces of content we’re extremely proud of, featuring some truly inspirational people. People like Tina, who is risking her own health to run a food bank, the lovely smiley volunteers at Trust House in Whitefield, and retired nurse Elaine who goes above and beyond to care for her husband.

We love producing video content that tells real stories, with clients who want to make the world better. This project in particular is one that will stay with us for years to come. It marks a period in history when times were hard but when staggering numbers of people stepped up to look out for those around them.

Impact Video

The Studio 91 Manifesto

Post author By Ben Horrigan
Post date 29th February 2020

We do gritty, not glossy. We do people, not products. We do storytelling, not selling. We do real, we do raw, we do social video with purpose.

This is the third version of our showreel, which we’ve refreshed annually since 2018 to show the most recent video content we’ve produced. But this is the first time we’ve really nailed our colours to the mast in terms of the type of content we want to create, and the clients we want to work with.

We’re very up front about wanting to work on content that makes a difference in the world, rather than just selling products. That’s what it’s always been about, but this is the first time we’re actually shouting about it.

If this sounds like the kind of video content that your brand or organisation needs, then we’d love to talk to you. Feel free to send us an email via our contact form.

Impact

Why we’re a Carbon Literate Organisation

Post author By Ben Horrigan
Post date 28th August 2019

One of the driving forces behind Studio 91 Media is our desire to make the world better. To make a positive impact both on digital platforms and on our physical environment. As part of that, we’ve been taking proactive steps to become as sustainable as possible. That includes working with The Carbon Literacy Project to achieve silver Carbon Literate Organisation status.

I know what you’re thinking – “What on earth does that mean?!” It’s more straightforward than it sounds.

What is Carbon Literacy?

Carbon Literacy is defined as:

An awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community and organisational basis.
The Carbon Literacy Project

The Carbon Literacy Project is a fantastic Manchester-based initiative. They aim to educate people on the need for change in this area, then to equip and empower them to do things differently. They award CLO status (Carbon Literate Organisation) to companies who have a demonstrable commitment to sustainability and a Carbon Literacy training programme in place for their team. Any organisation of any size can apply. We are a silver CLO, but there are also bronze, gold and platinum tiers.

I took a Carbon Literacy course while working for the BBC, and it opened my eyes to a lot of things. It made me realise where we’re headed as a planet. How fast we’re getting there. What we can do to try and turn things around. Since founding Studio 91 Media, I decided to go for CLO Silver status as a company. As part of that, we’ve made a number of commitments as outlined below.

What are we doing differently?

Our main area of impact in terms of CO2 emissions is around transport, i.e. getting to video shoots with heavy kit. Public transport is sometimes an option but is generally not practical due to the location and the amount of equipment. That’s why we’ve bought a Dutch-style electric cargo bike for getting to local shoots, big enough to carry enough camera kit for most purposes. When cycling is not an option, we’ll be using a plug-in hybrid car.

A cargo bike in Manchester filled with video production equipment — Meet Babs, our ‘bakfiets’ cargo bike, made in Holland by Babboe

A cargo bike filled with camera kit — Meet Babs, our ‘bakfiets’ cargo bike, made in Holland by Babboe

An important part of being a Carbon Literate Organisation is committing to training staff. Thanks to a partnership of broadcasters called the albert consortium, training is available to production companies for free. As our team grows, we will aim for any new starters to be certified Carbon Literate within 6 months of joining. And when reviewing team members’ performance, we will follow up on the actions pledged in their CL training and support them to fulfil these pledges in any way we can.

What’s next?

We’re not stopping here, because there’s lots more to do. As we grow as a company, we’ll keep looking for ways to be more sustainable. My hope is that being officially Carbon Literate will not only help us achieve our goals of making a positive impact on the world around us, but it will also make us more attractive to potential clients who share our values.

If you have questions about The Carbon Literacy Project or anything else, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.