As YourFilm celebrates its 20th anniversary, co-founder Matthew Newman reflects on two decades of creative evolution, hard-earned lessons, and an enduring passion for storytelling. In conjunction with Prolific North and this year’s Marketing Awards, Matthew shares the journey from scrappy beginnings and burnt-out gear to national clients and creative independence. Marking the milestone with a full-circle moment, YourFilm has launched the First Shot competition, a new initiative aimed at giving young Northern filmmakers the very opportunity Matthew and his co-founder, Kevin Owens once dreamed of. With the submission taken via the Prolific North Marketing Awards portal and the winner to be announced at the awards ceremony in November, the project is both a celebration of the past and a bold investment in the North’s creative future.
Matthew, YourFilm is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year – How does it feel to reach this milestone?
Naturally, reaching this sort of milestone means I’ve been looking back over our history, and, frankly, remembering a lot of the pain!
Mainly, though, I feel very proud. We’ve got a great team, some awesome clients – most of whom we’ve worked with for many years – and we’ve produced work which has delivered results.
And, we’re still here. No small achievement, particularly in a challenging marketplace.
When you cast your mind back to 2004, what was your original vision for YourFilm?
We’ve been open about having made every mistake in the ‘business’ book. We were two kids who knew how to make videos and decided to set up in business. We’ve had to learn (a lot!) about running a business.
The original hope was that we’d make enough money to buy our own kit, and would therefore have the means to make shorts and features.
Suffice to say, the ‘running a business’ part took over our lives, so the original vision was quickly lost, in all honesty.
We were asked by a consultant, about 4 years in, what ‘success’ looked like. I said that I envisaged us with a team of about 10, some long-standing, reliable client relationships, and Kevin and me not necessarily having to be involved in production.
Which neatly describes what we have built, as it turns out.
What was the first project or moment that really made you feel, “Yes, we’re onto something here”?
For the first couple of years, we weren’t reliant on the business for our living, and as such didn’t really do the 9-5 thing.
In 2007, we won our then-biggest contract – by a big margin – to create a series of films for the Tiger Tiger chain of nightclubs, plus a few others operated by the same company. We travelled all over the country, had a great time filming and even managed to find the editing process pleasurable. When we presented the cuts to the client, he said “thank god we went with YourFilm.”
That was probably when I felt like we’d started to build something.
Over two decades, how has the landscape for production companies in the North evolved – and how has YourFilm adapted?
Things have changed a lot. We are (we think) the only production company in the region which is still trading as it was in 2005. (A couple of reshaped/downsized and came back as slightly different entities).
We launched in April 2005, two months after the first-ever video was uploaded to YouTube. Our first website said, “If you have a website, you have your own TV channel,” which wasn’t quite accurate, but it did express our belief that video was about to become ubiquitous online and a key element of most marketing strategies. We had no idea of the impact YouTube would go on to have, but its evolution has always been an interesting point of reference.
We’ve adapted by sticking to the promise of our name. We set out to create content that clients actually need, and part of that equation is the platform it lives on. We still make the same sort of stuff we made in 2005; it’s just chopped up into sections and distributed online now, as opposed to being a long-form single video pressed to DVD then posted to potential clients (which is how the Tiger Tiger work was delivered).
The First Shot competition feels like a full-circle moment. Can you tell us where the idea came from?
We were discussing ways to celebrate our 20th anniversary. One suggestion was to sponsor some local awards, which we have done before (and are doing this year, strategically). Based on the typical costs associated with category sponsorship and the often short-term brand exposure that comes with it, we started thinking about ‘better’ uses for the money.
As you say, it was a full-circle moment: realising that we could close the loop somewhat by producing someone else’s short film – the 2025 versions of us, basically.
You’ve said that when you launched YourFilm, you had ambitions to create a short film like the ones you’re now asking young filmmakers to pitch. Why didn’t that happen back then – and why now?
We didn’t know what we didn’t know. And what we didn’t know was how running a business sorta takes over your life. Add to that the typical shifts in priorities as we moved into our late 20s – marriages, houses, kids – and it just fell down the priority list, to be honest.
Doing it now is, I guess, a little symbolic. Kevin and I used to say that video is a young person’s game, and that by the time we got into our 40s we should have a team of 20-somethings producing work for us, ha.
Why did you decide to frame it specifically for “young Northern filmmakers”? What gap or need are you hoping this competition fills?
It’s arguably harder than ever to find funding for creative endeavours. Certainly post-Brexit, a lot of the pots of funding have dried up.
Meanwhile, the technology has progressed so much that frankly, you can shoot a better-looking film on an iPhone than we could have dreamed of with our Sony ZX1 back in 2005.
It seemed daft to us that it’s easier than ever to create great-looking film content, and arguably harder than ever to find financial support to make a film. This felt like a chance to give someone an opportunity we would have killed for back then, in all honesty. It’s a great feeling to be in this position.
Walk us through how the competition will work — from initial pitch to final selection.
Initially, we just want people to submit video clips of themselves pitching us on the film they want to make.
Based on those pitches, myself and Kevin will shortlist the projects we’re most intrigued by.
Then, we’ll ask the film-makers to submit something – could be a treatment, a script, a proof of concept clip, whatever – that fleshes out their idea and gives us the full picture of what they want to produce.
Our judging panel will then review all of the pitches, and decide who to announce as the winner at the Prolific North Marketing Awards in November.
What are you hoping to see in the first round of ideas? What makes a pitch stand out?
Passion.
We’ve interviewed many young people over the years, and given many of them jobs. Creative talent of course has to be on display in some way, but we have learned that passion is the key. It leads to having the right attitude (a positive one!) to the project, and we want to help harness that passion as we shepherd the winner through the production process.
After the shortlist stage, entrants are asked to develop a more detailed treatment. What kind of support or guidance will they receive during that process?
We’ll make ourselves available to answer any questions that entrants may have, but we want them to develop the idea at that stage on their own.
We’re not looking to penalise people if they don’t do things the ‘right’ way, for example, if they submit a script sample which isn’t in the standard format. As long as we can understand what they’re pitching and can see that they’ve thought it through properly (as far as they can, without help) then we’ll assess it based on the strength of the idea.
How will the winning idea be brought to life? Will YourFilm be involved in the production?
Myself and Kevin will serve as executive producers, and will guide the winner through the entire process.
Our creative team will be involved at every stage, bringing their combined experience to the table.
We have got some fantastic partners on board, too. No Drama are our kit suppliers, and will provide us with awesome cameras, lenses and lighting to make the film look fantastic.
Some of our trusted freelancers will be on the production crew, too. We have vastly experienced cinematographers, art directors, sound recordists, makeup artists and more who have kindly agreed to get involved. We’ve been overwhelmed by the level of support we’ve been offered, to be honest.
It’s not *just* people and kit though, we are committing cash too, which will be used as needed on external costs like locations, actors and props.
Our judging panel also has tons of experience with film festivals, so the ultimate dream is that we can submit the finished film for festival/awards consideration, too.
You’ve worked with major brands and clients — what does returning to grassroots creativity mean to you at this stage?
It feels a bit like plugging back into the energy we felt in 2005, which is exciting.
Working with huge brands and organisations with global name recognition is very exciting! But, ultimately, whatever we make belongs to others first, with our creativity naturally shaped by the needs of the client.
The chance to select, develop and produce a purely creative idea just because it excites us is going to be hugely rewarding, I’ve no doubt.
Looking back, what would 2025 Matthew say to 2005 Matthew as he was just starting out?
Honestly, I’d say: “It’s going to work out well. Try and enjoy it, and when opportunity presents itself, be bold.”
Where to submit your entry?
Head to the Prolific North Marketing Awards portal below and find the ‘First Shot’ Competition section.
If you have any questions, email [email protected]
