More Work

The Slow Fashion Show is a spectacular event held at Exeter Cathedral, run by Sancho's Shop. It showcases the beauty of sustainable and ethical fashion, celebrates the Slow Fashion Industry and raises awareness of the ethical and environmental issues caused by Fast Fashion processes through discussion and collaboration. Sancho's asked us to create this moving, dramatic piece to be projected during the event, prior to the final catwalk run. Braving the autumnal waters of the River Teign, we created this stunning, poetic film that presents an arresting reminder of the devastation that our environment is facing.

Learn Devon provides adult and community learning courses on behalf of Devon County Council. They commissioned us to make three films and to do photography for them over the summer of 2022.

One was an introduction to their courses that would welcome participants and talk them through what to expect. The second was a closing video, to be played to course participants at the end of their course. The third was a promotional film to show off the courses and the great work that Learn Devon do. The three films were shot in Learn Devon centres in Tavistock, Bideford, Newton Abbot and Exmouth with a variety of participants and staff.

InFocus provide specialist services for young children and young people with vision impairment and complex needs and they commissioned us to make a short promotional film to raise awareness and help with fundraising. It was a lovely film to make, seeing the incredible work the staff and volunteers at InFocus do and meeting the students.

This film showcases how research by University of Exeter academics creates a fundamental difference and benefit to the work, practice and/or development of an external organisation and its participants or audiences. We had the opportunity to visit the people behind great local and international projects and learn more about the transformative effect of collaborating with the University of Exeter by drawing on its world-class research.

"The brief was to produce a film that showcased the scope of heritage-facing research being conducted at the University of Exeter – meaning, a huge range of source material, diverse locations and numerous people with fascinating stories to contribute. I’ll admit to feeling overwhelmed by the prospect, but from day one I knew I was in safe hands with Preston Street Films. The team helped me to articulate exactly what we wanted to convey, and were masters at narrative-shaping – and they were brilliant at getting the best out of interviewees, some of whom had never been in front of a camera. The result is interesting, informative and beautifully shot. I hope to work with them again, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them."

Belinda Dillon, Culture Innovation Consultancy Manager, University of Exeter.

What do our table manners say about us? And where do they come from? Table Manners explores the wide range of rules and habits that have evolved around the simple act of eating. Why do we care about them? These habits are rooted in our personal histories. They are paramount to our social, professional and even romantic success rate. They matter.

What do your table manners say about you? was commissioned by BBC Ideas, July 2019.

This short documentary tells the story of how Quirk Theatre stepped into the world of publishing and created a beautiful children's book; Mary the Pigeon Who Never Gave Up.

The Royal Albert Memorial Museum commissioned us to make this film to be shown in their exhibition A Picture of Health. The exhibition charts the history of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital from it's founding in 1743 to the present day. The film features interviews with a range of current NHS employees who talk about the highs and the lows of working in the RD&E today. This is cut with an interview with exhibition curator Holly Carter-Chappell who gives historical context with stories from the hospital over the ages.

SETsquared Exeter commissioned us to create a series of case study videos that showcase the work of their Business Accelerator program. Filmed on location at their offices in the Exeter Science Park, these films show the variety of businesses who use SETsquared and the exciting work that they do.

We have now made nine films for the popular BBC online strand BBC Ideas. The films pack complex ideas into entertaining short films. Some of the films we have made in partnership with the Open University or the Royal Society and with each we aim to create something stylistically different and visually engaging.

The films we have made are:
Table Manners. What do your table manners say about you? An exploration of the history and cultural significance of how we eat taking in perspectives from around the world. 2019.

What Do We Stand For? A film all about standing! Why do we stand on two legs, and what does the way we stand say about us? 2019.

Sporting Tips. Top tips for everyday living from the world of elite sports. Made in partnership with the Open University. 2020.

Sporting Parents. Being a parent can be hard. This film examines how best parents can support their children in sport. Made in partnership with the Open University. 2020

The Hidden Clues That Reveal Who You Are. This film examines how we now leave clues to our identity behind us wherever we go and how these clues can be used against us. Featuring a range of experts the film was commissioned by BBC Ideas in partnership with The Royal Society. 2021.

Why Are We So Fascinated by Ghost Towns? Shot on location in an abandoned manor house this film explores the phenomenon of Ghost Towns. From war to industrial accidents - we are often drawn to places that have been abandoned. What is it about ghost towns that intrigues us? Made in partnership with the Open University. 2021.

5 Books That Helped Shape Our World. Books inspire, entertain and help us escape into new worlds - but some have also had profound and lasting impacts on society. Made in partnership with the Open University. 2021.

The Secret History of Witches. Persecution, torture and swimming ‘tests’ - what it was like to be accused of witchcraft in 17th Century England. Made in Partnership with the Open University. 2022.

Endangered Languages. In this, our ninth film for BBC Ideas, we explore Endangered languages from around the world and the efforts being made to save them from extinction. Featuring language experts Dr Oliver Mayeux and Lindsay Williams and contributions from people all over the world the film is full of fascinating information about the way languages work and the threats they face.

At Preston Street Films we have years of experience creating film and video work for theatre. We have created promotional work in the form of creative or live trailers for shows, onstage projection work, behind the scenes and rehearsal videos and marketing films for theatres.

SetSquared commissioned us to create this motion graphic to explain what it is they do. They wanted a clean, text based look that reflected their brand and conveyed a lot of information in a quick, stylish and engaging way. The video has been used online and on screens at trade fairs and conferences.

Over the past few years we have made well over 100 films for the University of Exeter, showcasing a wide variety of their graduate and post graduate programmes.
Working closely with the University's marketing and campaigns departments we have provided work that is of a consistently high standard in a range of video formats from short promotional content to longer form documentaries.

It was great fun making this music video style trailer for the excellent Jack Dean to promote his show Jeremiah.

We produced this video for the British Science Festival 2023. Filmed over two days in Exeter the video gives a feel of the excitement, diversity and range of activities at the festival.

Five books that helped shape our world.
Books inspire, entertain and help us escape into new worlds - but some have also had profound and lasting impacts on society. This playful short film for BBC Ideas features experts from a range of disciplines.

How can you best support your child's sporting activities, without getting over or under-involved? Here are a few pointers.

This film was developed in the lockdown of the summer of 2020.

A short film showing the variety, diversity and excitement of the Festival of St Thomas Stories in 2022. As part of the festival 6 Community groups, 8 artists, 5 schools, 8 St Thomas businesses and 7 organisations from the wider Exeter area contributed to and ran events over the weekend. In total, there were 21 events, reaching over 3000 people.

8 films made to showcase the 2020 SWCTN Automation prototypes from across the south west.

Our relationship with the Northcott Theatre predates the formation of Preston Street Films, with our director Chris making content and TV commercials for them since 2015. More recently we have made a range of films celebrating the heritage of the theatre, highlighting its work with the Kickstarter scheme, interviewing the stars of the show Antigone and setting the stage for the future with a film about the theatre's new business plan.

Exeter Northcott needed a trailer that would drive ticket sales for their production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal.

Focussing on the all star cast we created this video that portrays the themes, mood and tension of the play.

Starring Sarah-Jane Potts, Nick Moran and Simon Merrells.

Exeter School asked us to create this promotional film featuring testimonials from a range of students.

Filmed in care settings in Devon these short documentaries explore issues around the provision of social care research within the NHS.

This video was the brainchild of Jonny at All Saints and features a dancing roast chicken. South African rapper Moonchild Sanelly was very pleased with the video, which went on to gain something of a cult following!

Devon Climate Emergency commissioned us to make a series of films giving viewers Top Tips to help improve the environment. The films were produced on a very tight deadline and released to coincide with the COP26 conference in Glasgow. The films combine talking heads with 2D animation made from existing illustration assets.