Digital Media
News & Events
out post sound wins coveted Best New Business Award
out post sound attended the Brighton and Hove Business Awards at the Hilton Metropole Hotel on Friday and won the coveted Best New Business in Brighton award, beating off stiff competition from three other finalists. The category was also the most popular, attracting over 60 entries from a range of diverse companies. out post were commended on their high profile client list, including Twentieth Century Fox, Gold Circle Films, BBC Television and Radio and Channel Five as well as their ability to attract international clients to Brighton.
The event, attended by over 400 people, was hosted by well known stand-up comedian, Steven Grant, and MD Rob Speight was there to collect the award on behalf of out post.
Brighton, a hub for digital media and production, was recently named by HSBC as a Super City in a commissioned report entitled, “The Changing Face of Business in 21st Century Britain,” stated: “Our super cities promise to change the traditional national and regional power bases in the UK because of their proximity to the one thing that does not depend on natural resources: knowledge.”
“This is the culmination of a couple of years of really hard and frenetic work by the entire out post team, including Robin St. Clair Jones and Charlotte White, who have really helped to shape out post’s fortunes. It is amazing to have all our work validated by such an experienced panel of judges. We would like to thank all of our clients, old and new, in helping to make out post such a success and the best place for film, television and radio post and production audio in the city,” said a very happy Rob Speight.
Chairman of Skype and co-Founder of Bebo invest in online start-up Crunch.co.uk
Skype Chairman Michael van Swaaij and co-Founder of Bebo Paul Birch and have backed online accounting start-up Crunch.co.uk by investing hundreds of thousands of pounds into the venture.
Crunch.co.uk is the UK’s first combined online accounting system and accounting practice dedicated to freelancers, contractors and independent consultants working across all professions. Brighton-based entrepreneur Darren Fell, who previously built and sold email marketing technology firm Pure for $7.8m, is behind the project. Crunch.co.uk launched in April this year.
Following van Swaaij’s intended exit from Skype after the company’s $1.9bn majority stake sale to a private investor group closes, Crunch.co.uk is one of the forward-thinking new projects he’ll focus on.
"The accounting industry is ripe for some disruption in order to make it more efficient, lower cost and less time consuming for freelancers,” said Michael van Swaaij. “Freelancing is booming and here to stay as a form of employment, giving millions of people access to work and income otherwise out of their reaches. I've been privileged to be involved with eBay and Skype, and like them Crunch not only aims to reshape an industry but will genuinely help freelancers and micro companies be more productive - thereby supporting an increasingly important part of our economy."
Paul Birch, along with his co-founders, sold social networking site Bebo to AOL for $850m last year and is backing Crunch.co.uk as a result of his own experiences as a freelancer. "I used to work as a freelance IT contractor with my own Limited company - I tried two accountancy firms, but both seemed to have weak processes and use Excel spreadsheets as the mainstay of my interaction with them,” said Paul Birch. “When I met Darren and discussed Crunch I was immediately excited about the opportunity to offer simple steps for people to follow and deliver a great accounting service for the lowest price in the market."
Crunch.co.uk, which was valued at £2m pre-trading, recently featured on Chris Evans’ Radio 2 Drivetime show in the ‘business innovation’ slot. Play the interview here: www.crunch.co.uk/radio2.
Crunch.co.uk provides a full end-to-end process, from setting up sole traders as Limited Companies to taking on freelancers who already operate as Limited Companies. Full assistance is given - checking VAT returns before submission as well as annual returns and corporation tax, and advising on all aspects of a freelancer’s accounts.
Wired Sussex awarded grant to support 100 internships with local digital media and content businesses
Wired Sussex, the independent membership organisation for digital media businesses in Sussex, has along with project lead the University of Sussex, won a grant of £600,000 to help the region’s businesses through the Sussex Internship Programme. The scheme will directly assist small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the digital media and content sectors – including web, software development, animation, games, e-learning, print, music, TV, film and advertising companies – by funding 100 graduate work-based training placements over the next year and a half, plus a number of other initiatives. Half the funding comes from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the additional funding from the University of Sussex, Brighton & Hove City Council and other supporters of the initiative.
The funding supports the development of a scheme which has been piloted by Wired Sussex over the past two years, which successfully placed 40 interns in 35 different companies - 40% of whom went on to be offered employment after their internships were completed. The pilot scheme was the most successful of its kind in the country. In addition to the internships, this new funding also enables Wired Sussex to expand its successful Jobs + Skills events and also to work with higher education skills providers to ensure that they understand the needs of small creative companies when it comes to graduate employment.
The success of this bid reflects growing concern at local and national government levels about graduate unemployment in the current challenging economic times. Unlike recent government schemes which have provided for internships in much larger companies such as Microsoft, and another recently announced which involves companies paying the interns themselves, the Sussex Internship Programme is designed to specifically meet the needs of the smaller end of the SME sector, where a 30 day funded internship with a recently trained graduate could have a significant impact. Interested businesses from the sector within Sussex should register their details at www.sussexinternshipprogramme.co.uk to find out more.
Managing Director of Wired Sussex, Phil Jones, said yesterday ‘We’re delighted to be able to deliver such an innovative scheme. We understand better than anyone the needs of smaller companies in the creative and digital sectors where a commitment to taking on an intern demands precious time and resources and so needs to also have the potential to deliver real value to the company involved. We also know that an intern wants to receive really useful training and experience out of their internship, so these internships are carefully monitored by us and every intern receives training which will really set them up for a career in the sector. We expect the programme to be very popular with companies and interns alike.’
Sharon Phillips, Head of the University's Regional Development Office added: ‘Wired Sussex is an integral part of the digital media sector in Brighton and Hove and we are delighted to be working with them and our supporters, including the City Council and SEEDA, to make this project happen.’
Anyone interested in finding out more about the scheme should contact Wired Sussex directly on 01273 692 888, or register for more information at www.sussexinternshipprogramme.com.
Use8 launches the first UX social network
This month Hub client Use8 officially launch www.use8.net, the first online network dedicated to those that have a shared interest in the user's experience.
It is the premier forum for discussions in user experience. The network is ideally located at the intersection of different creative disciplines that all come together to form an open sharespace; that encourages idea exchange, knowledge transfer and emergent collaboration.
We invite you to sign up to the network using the Enterprise Hub affiliation code ESEH8 - you will be prompted to enter this into the Affiliation Code box during the simple registration process at www.use8.net/signup.php.
Grants and Funding
Technology Strategy Board: Creative Industries Competition
For information on what competitions the TSB currently has open for the Creative Industries, please go to www.innovateuk.org/ (you'll need to create a login to view the information).
UK Media Desk
Various EU funding available for media companies, including Interactive Projects and TV broadcasting. Please visit www.mediadesk.co.uk/funding for more information.
Screen South
Screen South administer various funds available for film and media projects in the South East, including RIFE (Regional Investment Fund for England) and the Digital Film Archive Fund. For more information on what's available, please go to www.screensouth.org.
Skillset
The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media has funds available to both individuals and organisations towards training for the creative industries www.skillset.org/funding.
Arts Council England
The Arts Council administer a range of funding schemes across the creative sector. These include 'Grants for the Arts' and 'Own Art' as well as regular funding for organisations. To find out if you are eligible for any of these awards, please visit www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding.
SEEDA/Finance South East
SEEDA (South East of England Development Agency) and Finance South East have range of grants and loans available to enable businesses to grow. Please see www.seeda.co.uk and www.financesoutheast.com for more information.
Please don't hesitate to contact the Enterprise Hub for further information on any of these funding opportunities.
Useful Organisations/Links
Wired Sussex works with Digital Media companies of all sizes helping them to develop and grow. If you are working in or running a business in the digital media industry in Sussex - or if you'd like to be- please visit their website to see how they can help. www.wiredsussex.com.
The Use8 Society aims to bring together students, professionals, academics and industry who are interested in the User Experience design discipline. To find out more about the activities of the network and upcoming events, please go to www.use8.net.
Online resource focusing on the Sussex digital community. For news, information on events, jobs and anything else digital visit www.sussexdigital.com.
Independent industry-led group that represents the creative industries sector in Brighton & Hove. For more information please visit www.creativebrighton.co.uk.
The South East Media Network is a business led consortium providing strategic focus for the regions digital content sector, it exists to enable the South East of England's digital content businesses to increase their share of the global market. For more information please go to www.southeastmedianetwork.co.uk.
The Werks is an open working environment in Hove where freelancers, creatives and small businesses can come to share, develop and work on their projects on a daily basis. Our space is run for freelancers, by freelancers, so we understand how important collaboration, flexibility and social contact can be. If you're interested, why not drop by with your laptop and try it out? www.thewerks.org.uk. As well as the Westwerks in Hove, we now have spaces at Lewes Werks www.leweswerks.org.uk and an artists and makers space in Brighton called Coachwerks www.coachwerks.org.uk.
Supporting Film and Media in the South East. Screen South is the Film and Media agency for the South East of England, helping people get their ideas off the ground. For more infomation please go to www.screensouth.org.
Lighthouse identifies and develops creativity and innovation in filmmaking and media arts. They design and deliver high quality initiatives for practicing and emerging professionals and young people. For more information on Lighthouse and their activities please visit www.lighthouse.org.uk.
Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England, distributing public money from Government and National Lottery. To find out more about the Arts Council please go to www.artscouncil.org.uk.
Case Studies
Hub client Swift Connect Ltd have developed Conexall, a unique working proof of concept unified group communications system. This innovative platform allows messages to be sent by email, voice or text, which can then be received by any of these means, depending on the recipient's 'routing preference'. It also combines information collaboration (through a user interface website) with instant conference calling services. Conexall are currently seeking investment to allow them to build the infrastructure, develop the unique billing system and initiate their first phase of marketing.
Out Post provides post production and production audio for all kinds of productions. We specialise in sound design, adr, mixing in 5.1 surround and voiceovers for film, television, radio, videogames and multi-media. Out Post can also provide voiceover artists and full production for radio commercials. The company is also in the process of developing licensed programming for of high profile film and television spin offs.
Of late out post has completed post production work for 'Dustbin Baby', broadcast on BBC One, television and radio commercials for the 'World Future Energy Summit' and 'The National Homebuilding and Renovating Show' and is currently in the final throws of full post production sound on a feature film entitled '31N 62E'. The film stars John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones) and Marina Sirtis (Star Trek - Next Generation) and a host of other well known names. The company is currently swamped with work and is looking to expand its facilities in the very near future and is open to investment opportunities.
ScreenPlay Productions Ltd specialise in ideas development and production of comedy and drama for TV, Film and new converging media platforms. We are constantly involved with sourcing, developing and raising funds for projects aimed at both UK and international screens.
We identify and nurture relationships with new - but equally well-established writers and directors; acquire copyrights for ideas, develop, package and pitch projects; produce programmes to the highest standard possible and sell worldwide traditional and multi-platform broadcast and exhibition rights available to us.
Currently, we develop new business models for cross platform entertainment aimed at the teenage generation. We invent and create new formats for interactive, participatory entertainment products to take advantage of the converging media landscape. Investors with an interest in these new, vast markets are welcome to contact us.
Di8it provides user experience design and consultancy services to clients and partners in the UK and internationally. We specialise in the development of applications for Digital Television and also target services to web development and human computer interfaces e.g. software, kiosks, displays, mobile phones etc.
Established in 2005 and headquartered in Brighton, East Sussex, Global Digital Broadcast (GDBTV) provides technical services in order to enable internet protocal television (IPTV) to be delivered by broadcasters around the world, to viewers around the world. It is the first to develop and implement such a comprehensive, end-to-end, IPTV application, including the G-Studio middleware; an IP set-top box (IP-STB); the online virtual set-top box (VSTB) application; secure age verification processes; and its pioneering MyPVR application, which enables the user/viewer to access previously screened programmes, including saving them in full, in addition to facilitating remote capacity.
GDBTV maintains and operates IPTV networks in America with SuncasTV, delivering Asian content across the US and globally; US based and Canal Sur run Via America, which delivers Latin and Brazilian content across the USA and Europe; Canada based IPQube which delivers Filipino content to the US and Canada; and Something TV in the United Kingdom. Further networks, planned for 2009, include Brunei, Malaysia and Australia. GDBTV can deliver to 86 countries worldwide, has existing clients in over 30 countries; and territory IP-STB re-sellers positioned in Germany, Sweden, Chicago, L.A., China and Canada.
Please see www.gdbtv.com for further information.
If you would like to know more about any of the companies listed, please get in touch with rhodrialexander@seeda.co.uk.