Features

onedotzero

The're are contemporary digital arts organization that have become singlehandedly responsible for activating the creative industry into a commerce operation with all its artistry and intregity in tact. They produce interactive audio visual work, music videos, installations, live events and even fold up as an independent film company. Why so many trades? “by necessity” says Shaun Walter. They had to be set up as a hybrid venture in order to survive financially as well as creatively.

You also create music promos for various artists, do you find that this particular section of the industry repetitively deals with a handful of people making it harder for start-up companies in your industry?
I think this area is an incredibly tough area to operate in, there are some stand out companies that make fantastic work with very hard limitations to deal with. onedotzero industries occasionally produce a music promo but it’s not an area we actively seek to do. These come about because of a more holistic relationship – for example with the recent Pet Shop Boys promo, Love etc. We were working with the band on the visuals for their 10 minute Brits Award appearance. We were also in discussion with them about the upcoming Pandemonium tour, which we are currently working on. So we suggested a particular look and feel and director that would work well for a promo. And they took us up on that.

Because budgets have dropped so low but there is a string desire for young talent to make promos and it’s a great creative area the record labels feel they can be very demanding. I am amazed companies can operate with this as their core business nowadays.

What was your initial outlay when you started the company? Were you in profit the first year?
Well I was a part time freelance photographer, I ran a innovative theatre company and worked full time as multimedia producer when we started onedotzero. Money was not the motivating factor but I was keen for it to be a viable and sustainable venture going forward. The outlay was zero and we ploughed all money into the business. I did not pay myself for the first 2 years, then I earned about £5k a year but supplemented that with my other activities until I could roll it all into onedotzero. We achieved core-funding form the Arts Council of England after 5 years of existence.

There are so many divisions within a moving image and arts company i.e DVD label, publishing, production. Could you just explain all the services you provide and how you differ to other companies?
onedotzero by necessity had to be set up as a hybrid venture in order to survive financially as well as creatively. The motivating factor was always the work not the business venture however. But the goal had to be to create a sustainable economic model in order to exist as an entity, produce and champion work and the talent. So this model had to be flexible and have multiple income streams. This lead to developing areas such as production and distribution that not only brought in revenue for the company by also for the creators through commission fees, DVD royalties and commercial opportunities. This was married with public funding through the important culture and artistic role we play.

In a way it was about creating value or the great work that was being produced and give the creators confidence that they can begin to make a living from their artistic efforts rather than having to work in an unrelated job to supplement that. onedotzero in some respects was a forerunner of what people call the creative industries marrying art and commerce and making it work in your terms. Moving forward we continue to look at new models and opportunity for artistic expression and distribution of the work but also a sustainable financial model for us but also the wider community. This takes us into ideas of cross platform creation and what the digital platforms offer us.

We really felt strongly that onedotzero should have an international perspective and not be stuck to one geographic scene or clique. As well as attracting international work we also wanted to reach an international audience. And the best way to do that is to take the festival to them rather than just expect people to come to us. So we worked with partners and collaborators all over the globe. We could not do it without them as we do feel we want each festival to be for the city or place it is in – not just a London event coming in and going out three-five days later. We hope to stimulate the audience but also the creative scene in each place, the creators and potential creators, to be inspired and charged to do something different in the future. It also acts as a catalyst to new relationships, gathering people together to meet in the real word and hopefully sparking off new projects or collaborations.

I guess to some people it may seem complex and yes we do operate in a number of areas but to me it makes total sense. Everything feeds each other and is totally complimentary. At its heart the model is about a sustainable solution to support, exhibit and distribute the advanced moving image work we believe in and also bring some economic return to the creators where applicable. We have had to develop this mini-studio system in a way, as nobody else would do it. Now there are many others that are starting to follow this model.

The commercial production work really has the same ethos as the festival and all our projects and marrying that with innovation, access and new talent. For the work with onedotzero industries it just has a different context and one that the audience are perhaps more comfortable with. For example the U2 show designed by Willie Williams we developed not only the visual content but also commissioned the screen technology and systems. For me it is actually more akin to a huge media art installation. But the audiences attending the gig would never think that but at the same time marvel at. Because it was not called Art and they were going to a music concert – they did not have to be afraid to understand it and could enjoy it for what it is. That can be said of some of the other concert work we have done for the Rolling Stones or George Michael for example – but you need to have an open and trusting client to do this.

There are direct parallels with the adventures in motion festival and events we present around the world that are growing in stature and size – but chances are the audiences of the concerts for example may not think that the festival is for them because they don’t like art. So it’s a challenge to communicate this and make it more accessible without dumbing down the work. Some places we are becoming more successful at this like Buenos Aires for example - last year we attracted 50,000 people over 3 days. But I truly believe this kind of immersive and diverse mix is the future of arts, culture and entertainment and people really are looking for something different, that is challenging, inspiring and fun all at the same time. These audiences are more than just working creatives but creative minded individuals, and that potentially means everyone! It is very hard work, and the team is very dedicated, we don’t sleep too much.

Your animation division is interesting. Are your clients quite a niche market when it comes to animation?
We do a range of work with onedotzero industries from live action to LED via motion graphics, print design and animation. I enjoy the creative mix this offers. The hardest thing is actually we are very difficult to place as we are a very unusual model with a number of capabilities. Ironically many brands, and agencies in particular can’t work out how to work with us. We have very good technical competences and are excellent at getting the best creative solution from often challenging budgets to deliver stand out creative work. We have a huge network to draw on in terms of talent and connections internationally.

It often takes forward thinking clients that want innovative approaches to come to us. Most of the work we attain is primarily through word of mouth and recommendation. Hence why we seem to have a concentration of work in the live music and entertainment field. Although we on some respects one of the leaders in the area in relative short period of time this is only one element of what onedotzero industries can achieve. The potential for growth and expansion is huge as clients come round to new ways of working.

Did you find getting off the ground was harder because you were in a creative industry?
I think starting any new business venture in some respects must be hard to start if you do it from scratch and no funding. For me you need to have drive, resilience and a desire and interest in what you do. It does not making it easier but doing with you are passionate about makes it enjoyable and I think a good platform for business development.

The onedotzero festival has been running for a while now, why did you set that up and what did you want to present people with?
We started at an interesting time. Digital tools were suddenly accessible and not so costly and this opened up a whole range of potential moving image makers to thrust their work and ideas into motion. The first festival had new work specially produced for the event from a range of creators who worked mainly from disciplines such as graphic design and illustration –people who were already using Macs and visual software bit then adding a time-line to their work. The idea was to challenge the conventions of cinema – from a visual and narrative perspective, exploring and developing new aesthetics and new storytelling from a new roster of voices. Voices that were previously excluded from cinematic production and creation.

When we started we very much wanted to look at a new perspective on filmmaking, film language and narrative using the new digital desktop tools. This lead us really to explore the work of a new generation of director s coming from a non traditional film background – graphic design, new media and music video [remember these were not considered to be ‘proper’ directors]. Now over a decade later we have seen this kind of work have a huge influence over a lot of the visual culture in moving image – across commercials and feature films particularly but also contemporary art and the emergence of video art with higher visual standards than conceptual ones alone.

In some ways it is a continually evolving exploration and experiment but with renewed energy, new venue, stronger thematic directions this version is a transition from where we have been to where we are going. The festival continues to evolve. Over the next few years it will continue to do so but it will not loose touch with its great heritage and will continue to show the great work that it always has.

The festival continues to build on energetic programming, delivering a compelling mix of arts, culture and entertainment and bringing together ground-breaking cinematic work, sensory installations, explosive live audiovisual and music performances, stellar screening programmes, in-depth discussions, presentations + social events!

It is important to say the artists and works in onedotzero have always been chosen for their collaborative spirit, artistic invention and distinctive expression no matter where the creators come from.

What aspect do you personally prefer working on, video, distribution, consultancy?
I guess put very simply my main motivating factors are creating things that did not exist before and doing things that make a difference. So producing a work that makes a difference I something that I enjoy working in the most – to give one example [and there are many] a project we collaborated with MTV international on: onedotzero Bloom, a new talent quest initiated in 2007 and first delivered in early 2008, that actively sought and encouraged new talents to experiment with film making for the first time. The first wave of the internationalised project focused on aspects of identity pertinent to people and the cities they live in which profoundly facilitated cultural understanding and creative exchange around the world. The initial response followed by the incredibly high standard of work finally submitted was above the expectations of all producers involved. The films are currently on tour across the UK and around the globe in addition to broadcast in MTV networks internationally.

Bloom gives a clear indication of the breadth of new and established talent that onedotzero directly engages with, mentors and supports. It is also indicative of how onedotzero is able to align new talents with established creative luminaries, leveraging high end to support grass roots and vice versa all under the umbrella proposition of promoting new ideas and directions in moving image arts and getting the work distributed to a wide audience base. The fact that this activity generates such broad reaching international interest, achieving both global media coverage cultural export and exchange as well as smart business outputs in marcoms for large corporate are testament to the success of onedotzero’s approach.

How did you come across NESTA, and what exactly were you looking for in a potential funder or sponser when you started the company?
We were embarking on a long strategic re-evaluation of onedotzero, its brand values, positioning in the market, perceptions internally and externally and how the company may look in the future. At the core of this was to develop a digital strategy and how that could fuse, and propel all the areas of our operations into the future. We had appointed a strategy and development position and the NESTA Take12 scheme came at the right time to stream with this. I was always aware of the good work that NESTA undertakes but could never find a clear path to them in terms of assisting the organization.

How do you cost things out and decide prices for a potential customer as a production company?
It must be hard to value and sell projects as they’re not just objects straight for retail with a standard value. It’s an age-old question – we prefer to start with a given budget and respond to that in terms of what we can realistically achieve. This is chiefly as people’s expectations of what things are worth and really cost and how easy some items are to produce vary wildly. You can always find something cheaper elsewhere – soothe cheapest costs is not always a driving factor for us but we are attuned to getting the best results often when time and budget is tight – something learned from the live music business!

How long does it take typically from consultation, to making a short film and sorting out issues of rights through to acquisition?
It really depends on the scope and nature of the project and where the funding or budgets are coming from. For the one minute animated shorts we made for Asics Japan’s sponsorship of the Tokyo Marathon, we produced three of them in two months from sign off to delivery. For the 10-part User Guide Series of animated shorts that ranged in length from 2-4 minutes we created all those in a variety of styles in six months. The most recent 15 minute short, Albert’s Speech which was a mix of live action, animation and motion graphics, the whole project probably took around 12 months but that included script development and raising money.

Brand development is also another area of onedotzero. Tell us more about how you help your clients and why your branding differs?
I think it comes down to finding enlightened clients to try something different. Our branding work for TV has had very innovative approaches from creating a character, Geek Boy for Sci-Fi channel to interactive idents for S4C.

Do you think the recession has had an effect on your clientele/ or sales?
The easy answer is yes, particularly on the brand partnerships for the festival and we have seen a decline in budgets for the live music area. However we seem to be very busy which is great just the level of achievable profit is smaller. Clients still want more and want to be safer in some choices. I hope this will give way to others trying smaller design firms to get more for their money and be a little braver creatively – I think this is smart in a recession as it will also allow for standout work that will make the client/brand/product stand out.

What do you predict for the UK moving image business in ten years time?
I feel there is a definite digital culture and it feels as if we have been living in very exciting times. There have been massive transformations in the last 15 years in so many industries not just the arts. This is all a backdrop to an ever-evolving creative playground where art forms have collided, hybrid creators have risen and more importantly the appetite of the audience has skewed to a more progressive and diverse entertainment experience.

I think we are now at the beginning of a new true revolution as people who have grown up with computers and digital tools are reshaping our world. Cross media thinking, web 2.0 attitude, communities and collaborative production are all there now to offer new forms of art that mix and meld cinema with clubbing, theatre with photography, graphics with live music, opera with computer gaming.

Any organization starting today or wanting to be around in the next ten years needs to embrace this and strive to push forward and not merely ride off the coat tails of innovators.

What regulations or schemes would you like to see more of to assist independent creative companies to start-up and be successful?
I think in terms of education there is a real skills gap in preparing students to think about creative opportunity, convergence and collaboration. onedotzero has developed an educational platform to look at this area called onedotzero_cascade.

The onedotzero_cascade programme brings groups of students together from different disciplines, educational establishments and ages to co-create, sharing the development of a sustainable project brief by onedotzero and established practioners. The workshop develops in stages, passing from one collaborative group to another, delivering various creative outputs decided by the students, which were publicly exhibited within the onedotzero festival. They were supported by professional development personnel to learn about group dynamics, creative process, presentation skills. The learnings were deeper than expected, opening the possibilities of collaboration, team working, using a variety of references outside of their subjects and broadening the sphere of knowledge of the creative industries. It is developing into almost a finishing school and transition between college and the workplace.

How large is your team? Do you outsource work to different countries, for example I know some companies have animation teams in Japan.
The team in the UK is normally between 8-12 people. We also have many more helpers and staff when we stage the large annual festival in London. Then we work with partners and consultants all over the globe throughout the year so it’s hard to define exactly. We work on the festival, concept, curation, programming and event management etc but also across live event production, commissioning, education, DVD label, short film distribution, exhibition curation, installations, technical productions, consultancy, writing and product development. For onedotzero industries the model is much leaner and simpler as we have head of production expertise and we build teams and creatives for each project. We have a core team now for the live event visual work that we draw upon but always look to add and commission work from a range of talent. █

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