Boards
On-Air Image Makers
This boutique shop has started to provide alternatives to traditional animation and computer graphics. Founded in 1997 by Steve Angel and Julian Grey, Head Gear offers everything from stop-motion and claymation to mixed media, live action and motion control. It has a core staff of seven and regularly augments its production capacity with freelancers. At this point, about half of the business is devoted to broadcast design. "The [BD] jobs have gotten progressively bigger," says Angel. "We're still taking smaller jobs for personal creative reasons but the networks are the larger part of the client base."
"One of the great things about BD is that you work directly with the clients and generate ideas from nothing," says Angel. "Often, it's creative conception from scratch." While Head Gear has done plenty of spots - some of them award-winning - he feels the creative control that comes with BD work is way more fun. "Everything has to come back to the branding of the station but you aren't taking such a linear route. People don't come to you with so many preconceived notions." Another benefit is the diminished amount of people, and therefore bureaucracy, involved. "You deal directly with who is calling the shots." Both Steve Angel and Julian Grey are former Cuppa Coffee directors (see pg.24).