We’ve been working with pianist and composer Janette Mason, creating videos for two tracks from her latest album, Red Alert, released in March 2018.  We wanted to capture the energy and feel of some luscious, contemporary jazz by focusing on sublime improvised, musicianship. So we filmed in the challenging setting of a live recording session, kept light on our feet, and lit for black and white.

Janette Mason I See Seven

View the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tZpi0C8hjo 

An innovative,  multi-layered film featuring some of the UK's brightest new acting talent - the National Youth Theatre. The film's starting point is the early day workshops for a new age of consent play set against a backdrop of sexting and sexualisation. The film is an exciting mix of documentary footage and scripted scenes written on location in immediate response to the material generated at the workshops.

Want to know more? Read our blog http://www.christmastvandfilm.com/blog

National Youth Theatre // nyt.org.uk

BROADCAST: Sky Arts.

One of Erasure’s Andy Bell’s solo projects. Andy has teamed up with Grammy-nominated producer and remixer, Dave Audé, to deliver a great summer dance track and we’ve created his video.

www.andybell.com  //  www.daveaude.com

Dead End Kids // IVCA Clarion Award Winner, Charity and Social Enterprise. We created Dead End Kids for the International Planned Parenthood Federation to promote sexual health amongst young people. 

IPPF website www.ippf.org/

Lifelines // Clarion Award Bronze, Advertising and Promotional. Created for Prisoners Abroad, the film was hugely successful as a fundraiser and has been featured as a shining example of a fundraising film at Digital Storytelling conferences.

''Christmas TV & Film understood exactly what we needed. They dealt with us sensitively and made our clients feel safe sharing their personal stories. They delivered a powerful, stylish film that increased our fundraising and delivered the key messages that we as an organisation want to convey'' Laura Martin, Major Donor and Events Fundraiser, Prisoners Abroad

Prisoners Abroad website www.prisonersabroad.org.uk

Criminalize Hate Not HIV  Created for the International Planned Parenthood Federation to publicise a global campaign. It was translated into more than a dozen languages.

IPPF website www.ippf.org/

An intimate portrait of one of the world’s most compelling characters and actors, Peter O’Toole. Reluctant to dwell upon his acting, instead he revealed to us his inner world. In this excerpt he talks about his father, who sounds almost as charismatic as PO'T himself

We gained rare access to one of our greatest living musicians, Stevie Wonder, at a time when he, and Los Angeles, were reeling from the effects of riots. Stevie talks about his life in music. We also meet Berry Gordy, Motown’s charismatic founder. Nominated for a prestigious Golden Rose Award.

'Occasionally the South Bank Show defies all it's critics with a faultless profile. This is one of those occasions.' The Sunday Times

A darkly comic short feature film about a woman who hires a hitman to kill her. Shot in London’s Clapham and Shoreditch, preview audiences have described it as ‘Clever’, ‘Cinematic’ and ‘an entirely original view of women as 'victims'.’ 

Starring Amanda Drew (EastEnders,Silent WItness and Enron) and Alastair Parker (RSC's Production of Matilda - the Musical; The National Theatre's People and Jerry Springer - the Opera)

The Staying In Show, our groundbreaking comedy quiz show about sex and sexuality was created for Channel 4.  It challenged not only bigotry and homophobia but also the on-screen male domination of TV comedy quiz shows.

It beat BBC 1 with its ratings, whilst Heat magazine called it the ‘sweariest show’ on TV! Featuring Amy Lamé, Jackie Clune, Scott Capurro, Katie Price, Doon Mackichan, Gina Yashere, Andy Bell, Lucy Lawless, Arabella Weir and Germaine Greer amongst others. Nominated for the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreaux Award.

k.d. has a once-in-a-generation voice, with a unique power to connect to audiences. In person she's charismatic, and open hearted as we discovered during the two films we've made with her.

The first documentary was made for ITV's The South Bank Show. k.d welcomed us into her home and her studio and talked to us about matters of music and the heart. 

Our second film, made at k.d.'s invitation, was a film of her performance in Sydney, Australia. It was an amazing show, with k.d. delivering classic versions of songs like 'Three Cigarettes', ' Barefoot', and 'Crying'.

'The rapport between the programme makers and Lang is clear,and the result is an intimate and revealing portrait.' Time Out

 '…charming and thoughtful' The New York Times

www.kdlang.com

We gained extraordinary access to this story which continued to develop as we were filming it. 30 people gave up their homes, their jobs, and said goodbye to loved-ones believing they were going to be the stars of a new reality TV show. In fact the show only existed in the mind of one person - an ambitious young man, whose production office was in truth his friend's bedside table. Within days of broadcast our programme had spawned international media coverage and several conspiracy theories. Made for Channel 4.

'In a bizarre twist of fate, the contestants of a fake reality show now find themselves the stars of a real reality TV show.' Variety

'Breathtaking, the truth about reality TV is stranger than the lot' The Guardian

'Fascinating and disturbing' The Sun

We’re proud to say that we were the first UK creatives to spot Lea’s talent. We saw her performing comedy in LA and flew her over to London to be in our Christmas Eve prime time show for Channel 4. Since then we’ve cheered her as she’s stormed Broadway, swung Blondie and Soundgarden, and revealed her inner Teddy Bear as Big Boo in the hit US TV series, Orange Is The New Black. Here’s a little something we filmed with her a while back; Lea, live, singing one of our favourite songs.

Terry Gilliam generously invited us inside his home and mind to film this South Bank Show. Gilliam talked openly about his creative life and processes and battling the Hollywood system (he had what he described not as an agent but, typically, as a secret agent). He also talked about the Pythons and why they worked creatively. This film was a finalist at BAFTA. 

A film of an extraordinary show - Erasure live at the Royal Albert Hall for the first time ever.  Energy. Showmanship. Hits.

We also went behind the scenes in Andy's home and at the Royal Albert Hall to get a glimpse of the man off-stage.

'Sheer entertainment, brilliantly filmed' The London Film Festival 

www.erasureinfo.com

Burt Bacharach is one of our musical heroes. The New York Times described our film about him (commissioned by the BBC) as being  as urbane as the man himself. Look out for the interview with Richard Carpenter - it made the crew cry.

In our excerpt here, you see Burt working with Dionne Warwick, one of the greatest living singers and another of our musical heroes. It was the first time they'd worked together for many years and when she started to sing it was almost overwhelming.

'...a film that is as elegant, urbane and untricksey as the man himself.' The Observer

The jaw-dropping tale of a handsome young Italian who sold himself to British clubs as a hot, goal scoring midfielder on-loan from the Italian FA. We discovered that his credentials were fake and that his glowing letters of recommendation from the Italian FA, lead back to his parents' flat near Turin. Commissioned by SkyOne.

One of a series of films we've made about conmen and their deceptions. In this we uncover a scam in which families who had sent off for paternity testing were given false results. We unravel the con and reveal the heartbreak caused by this deception. Commissioned by SkyOne.