Creative Land Trust

Launch Video

NextShoot, with its strong track-record of producing video content for the Arts, was invited to make a video to mark the launch of the Creative Land Trust, setting out the imbalances it seeks to redress and how it intends to help ensure the survival of the creative sector.

The Creative Land Trust, an independent social enterprise, was set up to secure long-term, affordable work spaces for artists and creatives at a time when studios are fast disappearing. A rapid rise in property values, increases in business rates and changes to planning have all contributed to this problem, with London alone losing 17 per cent of its studio spaces in just 3 years. The consequence is that 14,000 artists are on waiting lists for space with studio providers.

Supporting artists and creatives by securing studio space is not pure altruism. The capital’s creative and cultural industries contribute £47 billion to the city’s economy each year and studios not only support the creative sector but are hubs for the local communities around them.

The Brief

The Creative Land Trust wanted a video that set out the issues around the lack of availability of affordable studio space, in particular for early career artists, and the vision of how this newly created trust could improve the situation. The video was to be in part an About Us, but also a tool for attracting investment to the fund.

The Creative Land Trust introduced us to a number of the stakeholders on their steering group and those representing the organisations that support the trust, including the Arts Council England, outset., and the office of the Mayor of London. From our conversations with each group we were challenged to develop a storyline and script.

The video was to be short enough to show at a launch event, but long enough to provide key information to those who watched it on the trust’s website.

The video needed to capture key editorial points, but present its case with visual flair and solid production values.

Our Approach

It felt important for a project of this nature that we spoke to those directly affected by the issues and those involved in solving them.

Among the artists we interviewed were Ron Arad and Sonia Boyce MBE RA. Sonia explained that over her career she has had to move from her studio space on average every 2.5 years, mainly due to the brevity of the studio lease. Anna Harding of [ space ], Bayo Obasaju of Make Shift and Juliet Can of Stour Space presented the challenges from the perspective of the studio providers. These workspace providers operate under a range of tenures but 87% (2017) are on rented or leasehold terms making their sites vulnerable to change of use or redevelopment should the landowner want to move the provider on. Many providers would like to obtain freehold sites, yet only 13% (2017) have a secure freehold.

Sir Nicholas Serota of Arts Council England contextualised the role of the Arts to society and the economy as a whole, while Candida Gertler OBE of outset. explained the Creative Land Trust business model in acquiring studios outright, assisting in the securing of mortgages and co-ownership structures. The final message was from Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, who called on developers, local authorities, funders and investors to get involved to help keep London the cultural powerhouse it is today.

Of course, we looked to make each interview, shot on two Sony FS7s, as filmic as possible, but we were aware also that this video was an opportunity to show artists at work, captured in an interesting way using our Dana Dolly slider.

The Results

Perhaps what video can do better than any other marketing medium is give its audience a confidence in the existence of a product or service.

For a newly formed trust looking to secure more partners and funds - even from the developers who are a part of the problem, but may provide a solution - a video that brings groundedness to a new entity, that shows the faces of stakeholders proud to be associated with the cause, and knits together an argument that is hard to refute and inspires action is serving its purpose well.

Above all, as filmmakers renting our own studio space in central London, we hope our contribution will play some part in creating surety for artists looking for workspace, freeing them to do their best possible work.

NextShoot is considered one of the best corporate video agencies in London with many years of experience in the production of thoughtful, provocative and inspiring videos for the Arts & Cultural sector. We produce films for arts organisations, art galleries and art philanthropists, we work with contemporary artists (Christo, Tai Shani and Olafur Eliasson to name a few) and produce educational content for programmes like the Louis Vuitton ‘Young Arts Project’ and universities like University of the Arts London (UAL) and the Royal College of Art (RCA). For more examples of our work see our Arts & Culture case study page.

For more information on the Creative Land Trust visit their website.