A Vision For The Future

Delving into the showreel of production company Mind’s Eye Media is like rummaging blindfolded in a box of chocolates. You really don’t know what you’re going to get. In fact the company’s output is so diverse, encompassing commercials, interactive campaigns, photography, experiential events and more, it’s hard to call it a reel and it’s even harder to call Mind’s Eye a production company in the traditional sense. “Ultimately we just want to make really good work, irrespective of where it is,” says Hughie Phillips, executive producer and founding member.

A family affair

Having spent much of their childhoods running around sets their father, celebrated BBC director John Michael Phillips, was working on, Hughie and his ten-year-senior brother Charlie both developed a fascination for film. Charlie became a director himself, while Hughie spent a few years working in production before, in 2007, they decided to launch Mind’s Eye with ‘surrogate brother’ Max Yeoman as head of production.

Back then the trio saw a gap in the market for producing interactive films and decided that would be the company’s specialty. “The bigger, more traditional production houses hadn’t started doing it because the budgets weren’t big enough. We came in picking up the smaller but really quite fun and creative pieces of work,” says Hughie, also explaining how carving a niche in a new genre is paying dividends now; “In the last few years things have changed dramatically. The budgets have gone up exponentially and the projects have got bigger.”

Their first job was a series of interactive films for drugs advice organisation FRANK, which they won thanks to Hughie’s friend-of-a-friend relationship with Sir David Attenborough and was the first of what Charlie refers to as the company’s ‘stepping stone’ projects, which seem to come around annually and propel Mind’s Eye to the next level. The second stepping stone was the Bafta-nominated Routes, a gargantuan educational, interactive project funded by Channel 4 and the Wellcome Trust. With a theme of genetics and bio-ethics, it combined ARG (alternative reality game) with broadcast drama, online content and live events where the actors were accessible to the gamers. “That got us through the door at big agencies like W+K,” remembers Charlie.

The problem however isn’t just about getting through the door, but what you say when you’re inside. Presenting interactive work, especially massive projects like Routes, is tricky. “We have a summary film because showing people a clip is pointless. It’s like showing them episode five from season four of The Sopranos,” laments Hughie.

Made to measure

What really works in the company’s favour when showcasing their work is how accurately the effectiveness of digital campaigns can be measured. 2010’s Keeping Keeley was an interactive web film for Lynx that put the viewer in the shoes of an average Joe who has to make a series of decisions to try to win the affections of glamour model Keeley. With 35 scenes shot in multiple POV the production was like making a short feature, says Hughie; “Editing alone was a massive project and we only had a month from shooting to the release date.”

The campaign was hugely popular and Mind’s Eye has the proof. “We tend not to get involved in measuring stuff but it’s useful when we go to see people and talk to them about Keeping Keeley and they say, ‘yeah but it’s 12 minutes long; is anyone going to watch it?’ I can say, ‘the average view time was 19 minutes, over one and a half times the length of it. In that sense it [measuring effectiveness] is invaluable.”

In 2011 Mind’s Eye undertook perhaps its most risky project. With agency Albion, it held a number of pop-up gigs in São Paulo and Rio with indie band OK Go performing on the back of a lorry promoting Cuervo Gold tequila. Thousands of fans turned up and the gigs were streamed live online. “In São Paulo outdoor advertising is banned and no trucks are allowed in the city centre. We were asking to drive an alcohol-branded lorry through the middle of town and put on concerts!” chuckles Hughie. “Everyone involved said it was the most challenging and rewarding project they’d ever worked on.”

Creativity is part of the Mind’s Eye DNA. Every employee is required to contribute ideas and regular ‘breakfast clubs’ see the whole team muse on various projects. “We love working with agencies and lots of different people but we’re quite keen on generating our own stuff as well,” enthuses Charlie. A writers’ room is being set up at the office for freelance scribes, as well as directors from the roster including comedy talents Ben Taylor and Ben Wilson. Creating their own content won’t stem the flow of more traditional work though, and online campaigns for Lexus through CHI and BT through AMV are about to be released.

‘Yes we can’

So with its multi-channel output should we call Mind’s Eye Media a production house? “We’re a production company with expertise in digital content and we’re looking to become a completely integrated production house, across all platforms,” says Hughie. “We’ve got directors, photographers, writers. People [clients] don’t want one thing, they want as many different things as people out there [the public] want.” His brother, Charlie is up for the challenge of providing it all: “We’re exceeding ourselves at the moment. We’re getting lots of opportunities. People come to us and say, ‘can you pull this off?’ Damn right we can.”