A Natural Progression

Increased demand for high quality photography and videography has led to the coming together of creative minds as one of the North East's fastest growing agencies expands.

The Bigger Picture Agency based in Newcastle’s prestigious Biscuit Factory is spearheaded by Angela Carrington who has seen her business grow from sole trader status to a blossoming limited company employing five members of staff. Indeed, growth is projected to increase by a further 50 per cent by the end of 2019 based on current figures and the appointment of a new member of the team.

With the ever-increasing of popularity of social media and video, The Bigger Picture has developed its services into video production having worked with a number of key clients over the last two years. With successful video projects undertaken with Meldrum Construction, Virgin Money Foundation, high-end estate agents, a legal practice and many more in the pipeline, Angela has identified a natural and complimentary progression for her business.

“The landscape of content marketing has changed over the past couple of years with video projected to form around 90 per cent of all web traffic by 2019. Simply adding a video to a marketing campaign can enhance click-through rates, conversion rates and hugely increase brand awareness. Viewers are far more likely to remember a video they have watched than a blog post or other text based marketing piece,” she said.

Feedback from her clients has been exceptional and the success of the ongoing projects and relationships have led to the appointment of Jason Thompson as ‘Head of Video Production’ on a retained basis.

“Jason was already working as an associate videographer with us and it seemed natural to bring his expertise in-house in a more formal way. He has an enviable track record as a Producer/ Director of Photography and brings with him a wealth of experience and a passion for beautiful film-making,” she said.

The Bigger Picture Agency is committed to providing affordable but visually engaging videowork to their commercial clients and offer the same level of professionalism and creativity that their existing clients have come to expect from their stills work. Jason and Angela have over 40 years combined experience in visual practice and

their coming-together represents a meeting of minds with a common appreciation of aesthetics along with cutting-edge technical know-how.

Jason said “We realised that not only did we work well together, but our combined skills and creative vision enabled us to create films that had a professional edge. They are engaging, personal, cinematic stories that feature clients in a positive, memorable way. There’s no such thing as a typical project – everything we do is planned as an individual perfect fit for the client and their audience.”

With Jason’s extensive track record, Angela is looking forward to their creative mix of stills and video photography propelling the region’s business community onto a new, higher level of marketing excellence.

“I firmly believe that we can help companies in the region to deliver regular, quality video content to push out across their various channels for a fee that encourages a long-term approach to the use of film in their arsenal of marketing collateral. No longer will a general video overview of a company ‘cut the mustard’ for successful company promotion – viewers want more and they want it more often. Visual storytelling with a strong message, on a regular basis can raise a company from successful to exceptional in a matter of months.” she said.

Jason added “Increasingly, the online space is being populated by more and more video content, and what will matter now is the quality, approach, professionalism and vision of your production

crew.” The Bigger Picture’s most recent commission is to produce three films for The Auckland Project, documenting the multi-million-pound restoration of Auckland Castle. It’s not the first heritage project that the agency has tackled as they documented the step by step progress of the old Co-operative Building in Newcastle as it was transformed into a new hotel.The team are rolling out a series of packages whereby companies can benefit from quarterly or even monthly filming to give them fresh content year-round; all with an emphasis on quality – using specialist techniques and equipment that would be out of reach to an inexperienced film-maker. Video has now become more accessible to all – just like photography did ten years ago. Angela however doesn’t see this as a barrier or a threat – she regularly trains in-house marketers and helps them to develop the skills to create their own content.

“Where we can really add-value is by producing creative, engaging, memorable video content that elevates a brand or organisation. The emphasis is on quality – produced regularly to fit the demand of today’s consumer”.