My business partner Lou Tonner and I started Wander Films as a video marketing agency nearly five years ago now, while we were travelling round the world. We made content as we travelled, and came home to Teesside to set up the business.
We’ve achieved amazing things and worked with so many exciting clients since then, while growing with support from DigitalCity, Launchpad and Teesside University, among others. We’re now a team of 20, with our own studio in the centre of Middlesbrough, and we’re working on some really cool new ideas, especially in the TV world. We knew that we wanted to launch the business in Teesside. When we were growing up, the assumption was that you’d need to move away to be successful, and we wanted to challenge that. It was always so important for us to create a space for creative people here in the Tees Valley, and stay in the region we love. We’ve faced plenty of challenges along the way. We were totally new to the world of business when we started Wander, so we didn’t know anybody, and needed to meet people, be seen and be heard. We first heard about DigitalCity through Teesside University’s Launchpad programme. We were introduced to David Dixon and the team, who have been incredible. We’ve received support from them multiple times over the years, starting with the Accelerator programme, which gave us the mentorship and advice to pivot and grow at speed.
DigitalCity also helped us access a community of businesses for us to learn from and collaborate. Had we not had that, our growth would have been much slower, and their support is invaluable for any growing business. In 2021 I was also named in Forbes 30 Under 30, which was mad and even now I think ‘how did that happen?!’. That’s a recognition of the whole team, how we do things differently and the huge growth we’ve achieved, working with big names like Hilton, Riot Games, KPMG. But I hope that it’s also a great reflection of our region. As far as I know I’m the only person from the Tees Valley in that list, and it brought a lot of positive attention for the area. There’s now a whole new generation of young entrepreneurs coming up, and I think that they are going to do something very special in the Tees Valley.
Website: wander-films.co.uk
