A neo venture for Sundae
Yesterday we worked with family-owned property company Bruntwood to reveal plans for its £8m redevelopment of Bank House on Portland Street, which will become a 15-storey 52,000 sq ft collaborative workspace known as neo.
The initial launch announcement had incredible pickup from all key property and business titles including Property Week, Estates Gazette, Prolific North, Move Commercial, North West Business Insider, MEN Business, Startups.co.uk, Place North West, CoStar, Downtown in Business, Pro Manchester and The Business Desk, along with regional publications such as Manchester Confidential.
I was absolutely chuffed to see the story picked up by so many titles, and getting that first announcement into all of the right places meant that we even had people telling us the story was “everywhere” that morning!
We’ve worked with Bruntwood before, when we produced the digital and social campaigns for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, an 18 month campaign in 2014/15 taking in live streamed online writing workshops, a social strategy for the launch of the Prize’s collaboration with acclaimed photographer Simon Annand and culminating in the live stream of the Prize’s Award ceremony in November 2015.
This was an amazing project to be part of and also meant it was really exciting to become more involved with the main remit of the company, especially for a name that I already admire so much.
neo is due for completion at the end of 2016, but with collaborative workspaces, a digital art space and a stunning roof terrace, no doubt it’ll be keeping us nice and busy in the meantime!
Jess x
Design for life: Design Manchester returns with film, music and fashion events
What a week at Design Manchester! It was great to work across such an illustrious programme of events, which this year also included fashion, music, film and animation to celebrate the crucial role of design in all walks of life.
Design Manchester has become a staple of the city’s diverse and thriving cultural calendar, whilst also functioning as a highlight for creatives across the UK. With such a vast range of talks and workshops held at key venues across the city it’s hard to decide on my favourites, but one of my highlights definitely included Music How, which welcomed New Order’s Stephen Morris in conversation following the release of New Order’s new album.
I found out about the design aspect of the album musically, and it was really interesting to hear where the ideas for album artwork come from. Stephen was joined by Music How and Luke Bainbridge from Festival No. 6, who also led a really insightful talk about the planning of the festival and its amazing programme, along with the issues the curators face each year.
Another favourite for me was Design Now, featuring Parisian illustrator Malika Favre, graphic design studio Hudson Powell and co-founder of Lemon Jelly and Airside Fred Deakin. They all discussed their work and the processes behind and all gave really engaging conversations about their work and the industry.
As a showcase of Print Now supported by GF Smith, another key event was Manchester Print Festival, which took place at the wonderful People’s History Museum showcasing over 50 stalls selling independent artwork, along with free hands-on workshops in letterpress, screen printing, origami, badge making, paper flower creations, doodle wall and collage work.
We had lots of positive words from everyone involved, with press including Creative Review, Design Week, Big Issue and Manchester Evening News.
Here’s to next year!
Becca x
Photos: Sebastian Matthes / MANOX
It’s ghouls and gross-out gags as Scream Street airs on CBBC
Following the hugely successful launch of Clangers, it’s been our pleasure to work on another of Coolabi’s amazing properties, as the first episode of Scream Street aired on CBBC yesterday.
A gross-out comedy-horror stop-motion animation series based on the book series by Tommy Donbavand, Scream Street features the voice talents of John Thomson, Debra Stephenson, Tyger Drew Honey, Claire Skinner, Rasmus Hardiker, Tala Gouveia, and Jim Howick. We were even lucky enough to go and catch some of them in action when we shot the BTS film, where we caught Rasmus voicing so many characters from one of the leads, a vampire called Resus, to surfer dude zombie Doug, and the gatekeeper to the Underlands!
We worked on Scream Street’s launch at the end of September, hosting a press screening at The Mondrian on London’s South Bank that welcomed press from national and kids’ publications, talent from the show, members of the production team and the BBC.
Along with an exclusive first look at two episodes from the series, the event also saw a talent Q&A with showrunner Giles Pilbrow, John Thomson, Debra Stephenson and Tyger Drew Honey. We also handed out branded goodie bags containing Scream Street books signed by Tommy Donbavand, novelty bone pens, chocolate eyeballs and zombie fresh mints.
The 52×11 series has been animated by our friends at Factory (Clangers, Newzoids, Strange Hill High), who have made the show into something that’s both a trick and a treat through clever, stunning and high quality stop-motion animation. It’s this craftsmanship and skill that has been an important strand of our campaign, and it was great to secure an on-set feature with Animation Magazine and a double page spread in Girl Talk focusing on the production process.
From the onset of the campaign we’ve also achieved press coverage with key national, broadcast, kids’ and online titles including interviews with Debra Stephenson on Good Morning Britain and in the Sunday Express, plus some great pieces in The Sun, The Observer, Girl Talk, National Geographic Kids, Mega, SPLAT, First News, Totally Tween, Fun Kids Radio, Female First and many more.
Jess x
Stars line the blue carpet for the launch of Clangers
Sundae has just landed back on earth after the premiere for the new series of much-loved children’s TV classic, Clangers!
Four decades after they first appeared on TV screens, Clangers are now set to make a return thanks to Coolabi and CBeebies, and Sundae was tasked with creating and producing a launch event that officially introduced the pink, whistling space mice to a select audience. I was looking after the Blue Carpet and the photographers and it was great to see celebrities like Kate Garraway, Shaun Dooley, Shappi Khorsandi, Ranvir Singh and Rani Price join Clangers Costume Characters for some pictures!
Sundae created a Clangers Planet within a central London hotel, with beautiful felt flowers lining the blue carpet and the stage, wire copper trees and mini dustbin lids hanging from the ceiling (which were my favourite!) setting the scene for the children’s Clangers activities including tile painting, model making and the creation of a giant collage!
The highlight of the event was seeing narrator Michael Palin join creator Peter Firmin, executive producer Dan Postgate and, of course, Major Clanger on the Blue Carpet.
Among the first to see the Clangers episodes were a whole host of journalists from Guardian, Daily Telegraph, What’s On TV, Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph to name a few. Before the screening started, guests were treated to a musical performance from composer John Du Prez and Young Musician of the Year Sophie Westbrooke.
Swanee-ese expert Dan Maddicott then took to the stage to show the kids how the Clangers talk to each other, shortly before our fantastic host Maggie Aderin-Pocock was joined by Michael Palin, Peter Firmin and Dan Postgate to talk about what went into creating the new series.
The event saw coverage from Yahoo, BT, Independent, Sunday Express and Sunday Telegraph, among many more and the event was part of a huge press campaign for the launch of Clangers!
Clangers is on CBeebies every day at 5:30pm.
Katy x
Factory pulls the strings on new puppet animation show Newzoids for ITV
From foul-mouthed Prince George to alley cat Katie Hopkins, no one is safe in the new topical animation sketch show from Factory and Citrus Television for ITV.
After working on a pilot with Spitting Image’s Giles Pilbrow, Phil Chalk of Factory had ITV sold on the puppet animation that takes aim at celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Ant and Dec and Kate Moss and politicians such as David Cameron, Nicola Sturgeon and my personal favourite, Ed Miliband.
The first episode, which saw Brian Cox’s puppet commentate whilst a moon orbited Kim K’s bottom, clocked up an impressive 3.7 million viewers in its primetime ITV slot!
The success of the show caught the attention of the business press with Phil Chalk named Small Business Person of The Week in the Independent, a two page interview feature in Greater Manchester Business Week and The Times came to the studios to shadow lead puppeteer Tim Jones on set for the At The Coal Face feature.
With Newzoids on air and Clangers and Scream Street in production, the future holds bright for Factory!
Katy x
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting: Create Your Own Stage
To celebrate 10 years of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, we’ve been working with Bruntwood and the Royal Exchange Theatre for a truly inspiring campaign, exploring where some of the UK’s best writers get their creative juices flowing.
Acclaimed photographer Simon Annand was brought on board to capture well-known British writers in the places that inspire them most, and the result is simply stunning.
Who knew that Jonny Vegas likes to get writing in a purple shed at the bottom of his garden? Or that previous winner of the Bruntwood Prize, Anna Jordan, likes to take to the Royal Exchange foyer to tap into the ‘good Bruntwood vibes’?
One of my favourite shots was of multi award-winning playwright Simon Stephens, who was pictured amongst the clutter of everyday life, mountains of papers piling up around him whilst cats clambered the scene.
But the one that struck a particular chord with me was the imagery of Sarah Solemni, caught lounging in her very cosy bed and soaking in the bath. It shows simply that inspiration can be conjured up in the most mundane of situations; you don’t always have to be among beautiful, stirring or provocative things to feel creative.
The photos have been exhibited in London, but will make their way to Manchester to be put on display at The Royal Exchange Theatre tomorrow. With some truly fascinating shots unveiling the spots that inspire some of our great writers, I really urge you to make it down to this exhibition!
We’ve also been asking you where it is that you feel creative over on Twitter, and we’ve had some great responses… Where do you feel most inspired?
Jess x
Images © Simon Annand
Maxine Peake as Hamlet
As huge fans of Maxine Peake, the Royal Exchange AND Hamlet, we are delighted to be leading the publicity campaign for Maxine Peake as Hamlet, filmed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, and distributed by Picturehouse, which will be showing in 300 cinemas across the country from 23rd March.
The Telegraph Online exclusively revealed the trailer on Friday, and today the Guardian ran an exclusive interview with Maxine abut the role, her interpretation of the character and the feminist shift in theatre today.
With follow up coverage on the Independent and Red Online, this is a taste of the full campaign to be revealed in the coming weeks. Watch this space!
Fiona x
Life of Ryan
In a befitting warm up to Sports Personality of the Year 2015, Sundae led the PR campaign for the DVD release of Life of Ryan, the cinematic documentary celebrating Ryan Giggs’ illustrious career at Manchester United. With special appearances from Class of ’92 players like David Beckham, you really don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy this one!
Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film celebrates the beautiful game and gives Giggsy fans a sneak peak into the man behind the football. In light of the Red Devils’ post-Ferguson travails, the entertainment and sporting press were hooked from the outset.
Soccer AM were the first to exclusively broadcast the brand new trailer to 500,000 viewers on Sky Sports, followed by Mirror Online. These initial pieces sparked a buzz, with further coverage secured in Mail Online, Digital Spy, Manchester Evening News and Sky Sports.
Sundae also led the Life of Ryan press junket and, tasked with three hours of Ryan’s time, we arranged and managed 10 broadcast, print and online interviews with key titles including Sky Sports, Telegraph, Manchester Evening News, ITV Granada, BT Sport, Radio 5Live, TalkSport, Press Association and Match of The Day Magazine and Kickabout.
The junket resulted in blanket next day coverage with significant mentions for the DVD in The Independent, Yahoo, Daily Mirror online, Express online, Sport.co.uk and Mail Online to name a few.
With film reviews including Total Film, The Sun, Daily Star and the Sport Review, the tribute to the unique footballer was celebrated amongst audiences and fans alike, all on the Manchester United Stalwart’s 41st birthday!
Katy x
Roscoe leads the Red Carpet at SPOTY
On Sunday, the Sundae team headed north to Scotland where Lewis Hamilton was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015.
This year’s prestigious awards ceremony was held at Glasgow’s SECC and we were proud to run the biggest red carpet SPOTY has ever seen.
This year Lewis Hamilton’s dog Roscoe stole the show, making the front page of the Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail online. Press including The Scottish Sun, Scottish Daily Mail, Scottish Daily Express, Daily Record, ITN, P.A. and BBC Radio 5 Live chatted to a star studded guest list including Tom Daley, Rory McIlroy, Judy Murray, Sir Chris Hoy, Foggy and Rebecca Adlington, who hit the press with first signs of her baby bump!
The show was another glittering success, with performances from Clean Bandit and Jess Glyn, a lifetime achievement award for Sir Chris Hoy and a surprise appearance from Prince Harry!
It was such an amazing feeling to see blanket entertainment coverage the next day in the Daily Mail, Reveal, Yahoo, Digital Spy, Mirror Online and Express Online and making the front pages of The Scottish Sun.
Katy x
Design Manchester 14: The Science of Imagination
Last Friday we produced the core conference day of Design Manchester, an originative festival celebrating creativity, collaboration and inclusivity in the worlds of art, design, illustration, animation and photography, now in its second year.
The Town Hall was packed out with a brilliant mix of designers, artists, students and creatives, all coming together for a series of inspirational talks from speakers including Michael C Place (Build) in conversation with Angus Montgomery (editor of festival media partner Design Week), Rejane Dal Bello, Ross Phillips, Rob Lowe (Supermundane), Tony Brook and Adrian Shaughnessy (Unit Editions), hosted by Manchester School of Art’s Professor David Crow.
We officially announced the festival back in late September, launching with a collaborative exhibition, Design Manchester: 10×10, which saw local artists and designers team up with creatives from varying backgrounds to respond to 2014’s theme of The Science of Imagination. Set within Federation House’s vast fourth floor space, DM 10×10 featured work from The Neighbourhood, Barney Ibbotson, DR.ME, Jane Bowyer, Textbook Studio, Sneaky Racoon, Sam Meech, Graeme Rutherford, Mr Hass and more – I particularly loved Brendan Dawes’ stunning 3D sculptures of the soundwaves from classic Mancunian songs.
An undoubted highlight of the festival was the adidas Spezial exhibition, featuring over 600 pairs of rare, deadstock, re-issue and collaboration styles from adidas collectors. This garnered a lot of attention from both festivalgoers and press, with some great coverage from Creative Boom, Design By Future, Manchester Evening News and Time Out Manchester. The exhibition was so popular, in fact, that the gallery tour hosted by curator Gary Aspden sold out within 50 seconds of going on sale. People and their trainers…
Another high point for me was being able to see the breath-taking Dress of Glass and Flame, an artwork created by designer and social artist Helen Storey MBE exploring the chemistry of – you’ve guessed it – glass and flame. This was exhibited for just one day at Manchester Art Gallery, so it felt pretty special to catch it as it passed through the city so briefly.
This year has seen the Design Manchester mould expand to accommodate its whopping ten-day run, which is an impressive growth considering it’s still only two years old. See you there next year?
Jess x