The Dependable Diaries: 6 Months behind the scenes
Wait what? Is it June already?! It’s fair to say it’s been a busy first half of the year for us at Dependable Productions. As well as BAU, we’ve been busy updating our website, exploring what role AI might have in the future and welcoming a new team member, Camera Operator Stuart Purcell, who joins us with experience honed at the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and more!
As ever, our lovely clients have been keeping us on our toes: Their challenges always drive us to be more dynamic and creative, while still keeping their core goals at the heart of the project. Here are a few of our highlights.
Here’s Stuart at work!
Every day is a Learning Day!
We’re incredibly proud to call Durham University a long-term client. One of the reasons we love making films for them is how much we learn every time we visit! We get a snapshot into a huge range of courses: If only there were a degree in “a little bit of this and that’! This term, we’ve dipped into the GBDA, Law and Finance, and employment opportunities for graduates, to name a few. Our highlight, though, was meeting Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, who visited the University to deliver the opening speech to the Coimbra Group Climate Symposium. Warning that climate change is no longer a “future threat” but that “we are living in the era of consequences”, he gave us plenty to think about. But, he is also one of THE best performers in front of a camera we’ve ever met. Fluent, engaging, interesting. We could learn a lot from One Take Tony!
Building the Future…
Nuclear power has been hitting the news a lot in the past few weeks with the confirmation that the Government has committed over £14 billion for the construction of Sizewell C. We’ve been making films about the journey to generation at Hinkley Point C for several years but began 2025 by producing this film to showcase progress and impact at the Sizewell C. Created to educate MP’s and other stakeholders for Nuclear Week in Parliament, we developed a script for our wonderful rookie presenter, apprentice Tabby who delivered to both ground and aerial cameras flawlessly! The film showed how the Suffolk site is taking shape and the positive impact it’s having on the local community. Watching HPC take shape over the last few years has been a real privilege, though never without curveballs and challenges! So it’s exciting to be there relatively near the start of the SZC project and imagining how it will evolve in the future.
And considering another one…
Speaking of the future, it was the Future of Accountancy we were considering back in March as we covered the annual partner conference for our long-term client, BDO. The conference was a great example of the “full Dependable service”. Ahead of the event, we created an animation for their digital team all about AI Agents (that got us thinking!). Then we filmed the 2-day conference with a three-person crew, covering keynote speeches, breakouts and voxing delegates, to deliver a fast turnaround highlights film. Plus, in-house presenter Kate Simms acted as facilitator for the conference plenary “What does the Accountancy Firm of the Future look like?” Phew! We’ve also delivered a TikTok-inspired internal comms film and three Live internal programmes for BDO this year. (BTW- if you’re considering live programming for your team, have a read of this– or better still give us a tinkle! We LOVE being live!!)
Presenter Kate Simms facilitating a discussion around the Future of Accountancy
New Starts
Spring is all about new starts, so it felt apt to make this film about the success of a scheme to get people back into work after long-term absence, for our client Thirteen Housing Group (THG). Rachel and Bailey were our stars, and despite having no experience in front of the camera and being pretty nervous, we worked together so they were able to tell their own stories in a really authentic and powerful way. Working with THG is always a privilege and allows us to tell stories about positive impact on real people’s lives.
Happy Birthday CSCS!
April and May saw us on a lot of construction sites, filming new drone footage at Hinkley Point C as well as preparations for some BIG moments that are coming soon – watch this space! But we also wished our client, The Construction Industry Card Scheme (CSCS ), a very Happy 30th Birthday with a graphics-based film for their big party. We first worked with CSCS back in 2017. Fast forward a few years, and our work in Construction since means we are now qualified to hold the cards ourselves!
What’s Next?
So here we are — halfway through the year, and already bursting with stories, new faces, and a few big ideas that have kept us on our toes. From boardrooms to building sites, and live streams to life stories — we’ve loved the variety (and the challenges!) this first half of 2025 has brought.
We’re proud of what we’ve made so far — and even more excited about what’s coming next.. including a really special film for the Christie Charity (sneak preview below!) and some BIG things happening at Hinkley Point C.
Here’s a sneak preview of a really special film we’re making for The Christie Charity
If you’ve got a project in mind, want to chat ideas, or just fancy a nosey behind the scenes, we’d love to hear from you.
Drop us a message, give us a call — or keep watching this space. There’s more to come.