sean@seanmacreavy.com
smacreavy@outlook.com
Mob: 0789 1781 345
Office: 01789 766929
West Midlands, Devon and nationwide UK
SEAN MACREAVY MEDIA COMMISSIONS ARCHIVE
A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF OUR COMMISSIONS FROM 2017 - 2021
2021 - exciting new territory!
Sean Macreavy Media has really ventured into new territory this year. While continuing our video and photographic work for our regular clients, we've been given wonderful new commissions which have proven exciting and ground-breaking!
Our tape baking and audio restoration work has expanded to private clients as well as professional studio archives. Strawberry Studios in Stockport, famous home of 10cc, continues to be a gift that keeps on giving! In July's 'Great Alcester Bake-off', we unearthed some extraordinary finds: among them not just an unreleased radio jingle and effects tape recorded by Paul McCartney in 1974, but the original demo mix of 10cc's timeless classic 'I'm Not in Love'! Suffice to say, this sounded absolutely incredible, and features a whole vocal section and lyrics that were cut from the released version. We're so privileged to have heard these tapes, let alone to have held them in our hands! You can see and hear our work on these two breath-taking tapes on our YouTube channel in the clips above. We've also restored tapes for successful 1980s artists Yachts, The Christians and The Kevin McDermott Orchestra.
In spring 2021 we began work with IDC College in Bromsgrove, working on a major and innovative multi-channel business model. Independent Design College offers a unique, blended range of online and on-site courses for sewing, dressmaking and tailoring skills. Fully accredited by City & Guilds, the professional and qualified team offer experience, industry expertise and have been a joy to work with. We're in the process of building their new website, YouTube channel and Moodle learner hub, and populating these with dozens of high-quality demonstration videos and learning materials. It's a huge undertaking, but it's also hugely enjoyable!
This autumn, we've delivered a fresh monochrome design and look for our established client SWL's website, as well as shooting the first in a new series of promotional videos for their Vimeo channel:
Our documentary 'The Great Stockport Bake-off' was released publicly on 25th January. Four music geeks. Three lost studio tapes from 1970s pop legends 10cc. One oven. What could possibly go wrong?
We'll keep you posted on what develops with this new film. We're dearly hoping to get it aired to a wider audience in the coming months. For the time being, we're hoping that as many people as possible head to YouTube and can share in the sheer joy, trepidation and surprise that the five of us experienced during this extraordinary project! The joy of music, indeed.
Read the full story here.
We've made several radio and TV appearances, including three news items on TV for BBC NorthWest, and radio interviews with BBC Manchester, BBC Hereford and Worcester and BBC CWR coming soon. Watch our newsreel here:
And it's fantastic to read what people have been saying about it, too. Here's what Danny Baker tweeted in February:
A new Business-as-Usual
Meanwhile, we continue to create important web-based promotional content for regular clients SWL Group and Studio 3, with other exciting and enjoyable film projects for Blend Commerce, all three companies based in Alcester. We've combined our expertise in many different forms of media to provide these companies with online content: video production and editing, graphic and website design, photography, market research and Thought Leader article writing.
We've continued to work with Northants Police on video production and graphic design for their hugely successful Safer Streets scheme. March 2021 also saw us working with Careermap once again, this time creating two films for their new joint venture with The Careers & Enterprise Company. This was the launch of an important initiative for young people, to blend ambitious online experiences in the workplace with more traditional face-to-face opportunities. The new website can be found here: https://wex.careersandenterprise.co.uk/step-by-step-guide/
In December we filmed our first live (and safely-distanced) performance since March's Lockdown, capturing a stunning one-man show 'Pavarotti & Me 2020' by University of Worcester dramatist Daniel Somerville. This was our first film project for the University since we won status as a preferred supplier last year. We're hoping to renew our long-running partnership with their Association for Dementia Studies later in 2021. Other forthcoming film projects include a virtual NEC catwalk fashion show and a startling new musical invention... All coming soon, COVID-permitting.
Hot on the heels of our 10cc tape baking adventures, we'll be working on more analogue tape restoration, baking and mastering projects. The first of which will be a series of 1/4-inch master tapes created by Henry Priestman (formerly of 1980s band The Christians). These tapes include the debut demo and never-before heard mixes from his band The Yachts' recording in New York in 1979. Our brand new (actually early-80s!) Revox PR99 tape machine is ready and waiting alongside our dehydrator 'oven' for these new artefacts of buried treasure!
Sean Macreavy Media continued to keep busy and thrive throughout 2020. Adapting to our changing business landscape, our spring contracts focused on weekly web-based media and conferencing services for our regular clients. Some details of these are outlined below. The second half of the year has brought a rapidly-growing number of projects from clients eager to continue and build their marketing presence.
This summer we produced promotional films and publicity literature for Northamptonshire Police's major new initiative, 'Safer Streets' in Wellingborough. We designed leaflets and brochures for thousands of homes in seven different languages, as well as a selection of eye-catching window stickers to help local residents be better prepared to prevent crime. Our film has been promoted on the Safer Streets Wellingborough Facebook page, including excellent BSL signing by Sean's wife Sally Macreavy.
The new school year has brought two wonderful new commissions from local schools, and we produced promotional videos for both Our Lady's (Alcester) and St Mary's (Evesham) Catholic Primary Schools, for which the latter we also produced a brand new website. Their hugely positive feedback is much appreciated, and included within our Client Testimonials section.
We've produced a wide range of branding materials and social media video for our valued partners SWL Group in Alcester, who continue to drive forward their innovative solutions for operational efficiency and productivity in Retail New Normal.
Web site design work
In addition to our ongoing, weekly website work with SWL Group, we were enormously proud to be commissioned to design and launch a brand new website for St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Evesham. The site can be found here: https://www.stmarysrc.worcs.sch.uk/.
We also shot a short promotional film for the school, which has led to further similar commissions in Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
COVID-secure working practices
2020 has of course brought unprecedented changes to the way we live and work.
Sean Macreavy Media has implemented COVID-secure work practices in all of our on-site work in the days since the relaxing of Lockdown measures. Face masks, latex gloves, hand sanitiser, alcohol wipes and 2-metre social distancing have simply become part of our new Business-As-Usual.
Web conferencing expertise
We've provided expert guidance for organisations in Warwickshire in their delivery of web-based conferences and webinars. For Studio III in Alcester, we've used our branding and technical know-how to bring Zoom webinars alive. We combine simple but effective measures such as impactful use of framing, virtual backgrounds and logos, high-quality audio and interactive/anchorperson hosting methods.
Studio III's webinars and web conferences have gone from strength to strength, pulling in up to 1300 attendees per session.
Likewise, we've also provided technical web lecture and conference support to Sally Macreavy for her sign language interpreting for British Sign Language students and their deaf lecturers.
Corporate branding and logo design
We've continued our successful partnerships with SWL Group and Studio III in Alcester, providing continuous support in graphic design and branded visual, audio and written content for their websites and publicity materials. We now also provide continuous technical and administration support and content for the companies' websites, both designed by us: www.swlgroup.com and www.studio3.org.
The Consequences 10cc Podcast
Sean and Paul McNulty's ground-breaking podcast about this iconic band and its many parallel universes continues to blossom and spiral out of control!
Amazing guests have included 10cc members Kevin Godley, Graham Gouldman, Paul Burgess, Rick Fenn, Stuart Tosh and Iain Hornal, impresario Harvey Lisberg, Strawberry Studios founder Pete Tattersall, former head of Phonogram Ken Maliphant and in recent weeks music legends Paul Gambaccini and (knight of the realm) Tim Rice!
Look out for the duo's very first 'podcast road movie' later this year...
Photo and film shoots
Despite obvious constraints this year on external client shoots, Sean Macreavy Media has delivered effective and highly professional photographic and video publicity content for St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Evesham, David Kirby Chiropody in Alcester and Smart Homes in Dickens Heath.
We're also very excited to have been awarded a long-term contract as one of three preferred suppliers of video and multi-media services for the University of Worcester.
Restoration and digitising of analogue audio and video - audio tapes and cassettes, vinyl records, camcorder and VHS video
We bring years of expertise to help numerous clients retrieve precious memories and artefacts, and relive the pleasure all over again! We're currently working with music archivists in Manchester to restore a wealth of rare and historic recordings, some as much as 60 years old.
We've professionally restored recordings from a huge range of sources:
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VHS, Hi8 and DV camcorder tapes
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Reel-to-reel and cassette audio tapes
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Vinyl records
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Tape hiss and vinyl scratch reduction
We've transferred these recordings to a wide spectrum of media, including DVD, CDs, YouTube videos, mp4, mp3 and WAV files. We've even repaired broken tapes, fitting them with new tape reels and cases before rescuing and preserving the precious contents!
A compendium of our incredible projects in the last two years
2019 and 2020 have been SMM's most dynamic and dramatic years to date. This summer we produced promotional films and publicity literature for Northamptonshire Police's major new initiative, 'Safer Streets'. In September, the same Police force released our Modern Slavery drama film 'Take a Closer Look' from last year to Police and Emergency Services personnel nationally. We produced three drama-educational films for Warwick College Group's drive to promote adult literacy, numeracy and IT skills. We've also continued our partnerships with University of Worcester's Association for Dementia Studies and local businesses, offering multimedia services to SWL, Studio III and Claire Field Consulting, among others. We've produced a series of NHS training films, focussing on the Health Assessor programme run by the Health Education England.
We produced our first film for a new client, Careermap Ltd, with a hugely ambitious one-hour film of the World Skills UK Live exhibition from Birmingham's NEC. This was shot and edited within 24 hours, and was broadcast to hundreds of schools the very next day. We've also added significantly to our portfolio of private commissions, from portrait, property and corporate photography, music videos, wedding, crowdfunding and promotional films.
Finally, April saw the launch of Sean's new Consequences 10cc podcast, produced with Paul McNulty. It's been a real success with music fans, with 11,000 downloads already, and several hugely important interviews, including creative mastermind Kevin Godley!
Here's a small selection below to give a cross section of some of our amazing commissions this year!
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Our moving and powerful mental health film and learning resource, 'SELFie - Where's the HARM?' has finally been released nationally. It's available for download via the TES Resources site.
Please click the link below to view details.
Here are some short highlights from Sean's first choir session of his song Because We're Friends on August 8th 2018. The singers are the wonderful visitors and staff at Leominster Meeting Centre for people with dementia and their carers.
The song was originally written in 2016 for the Fix8 Films video, made to promote the launch of the Droitwich Meeting Centre. The staff and visitors at Leominster contributed to some last-minute lyric changes, that helped the song be more relevant to what makes this centre special and unique!
Many thanks to Rob Salmon at Orfactor Productions for capturing our efforts on film.
Here's the new promo of 'Lemons' by Kerry Smyth, shot by Rob Salmon and Sean. Thanks to Birmingham's Custard Factory for a fab location!
Sean Macreavy Media have been working with local Alcester businesses to create more dynamic, visually stunning website, promotional and interior design images, as well as powerful promotional films. Here are some of the recent examples of commissions from SWL, Studio III, Smith Brothers & Webb and David Kirby.
Our promo videos of Jack Blackman's recent live session have been released to promote his new album 'Too South for Heaven'. Our photos adorn the sleeve too!
Jack Blackman -
Lucky This Time
The first two Sean Macreavy solo albums are finally released in digital formats! 'Dumb Angel' from 1995 and 'Through My Telescope' from 2001 went to online outlets Spotify, Amazon, iTunes etc in June 2018. Check out our Discography page here:
