Luna Tides Productions Article

Over the years, we've had the pleasure of collaborating with some truly remarkable companies here in Wales. Among them is LUNA TIDES Productions, whom we first connected with nearly three years ago. Since then, we've entrusted them with creating some truly stunning video content for us. Recently, we had the opportunity to catch up with Thomas James, the founder of LT Productions, to learn more about the company's history, their range of services, and their vision for the future of LT Productions.

When did Luna Tides Productions start and can you tell us a bit more about the origin of the name?

In 2016, the name LUNA TIDES was coined, beginning it's life originally as an idea for a band name and a place for all my creative endeavours, which involved a lot of film and graphic design. During this time I was studying a Bsc in Audio Engineering at the University of South Wales, and had the opportunity to work on a lot of music/audio based projects, which often lead to opportunities to work on projects in film.

By October 2019 LUNA TIDES Productions was formed to support the growing demand for video production, with our creative team striving to produce outstanding high quality video productions, which has ultimately led us to producing content for the likes of Bad Wolf, Sky, NOWTV and Netflix, to name a few.

Due to the huge amount of Film and TV productions that are being created in South Wales have you found it ‘easier’ to cater to this medium rather than music?

Absolutely! Film & TV in Wales has had considerable growth in recent years, and with the rise of social media, it has created an all time high demand for video content, we’ve been fortunate to enter the industry at a time where creativity is on the rise and I personally couldn’t be more thankful for that. It was a natural pivot for myself personally to move from audio and music to video production, like a lot of musicians COVID-19 was the nail in the coffin. What was an already difficult industry to work in, got completely wiped out - and whilst video productions also decreased, it was possible to still work, and in some cases being remote was in our favour as everything moved online, so there was an increased demand for post production.

Can you give an overview of the services that you provide?

We offer a full range of video content solutions, from TV/Film and EPK, to Brand Films and Documentaries, to Corporate and Not-For-Profit films. We also offer bulk content production, usually over the course of 12 months, a very effective and popular choice for brands.

Due to our background in audio and music, we also cater to the audio sector, with the likes of podcasts and SFX for film. Lastly, we offer specialist marketing campaigns, which is a bespoke service that offers a campaign run designed to support video productions we’ve produced.

Do you find that every project undertaken by LT Productions is unique in its own way?

Everything we do is custom and bespoke. Each project has different goals, budgets and time frames. Often we break down a campaign into 4 principles - Pre-Production, Production, Post Production and Marketing. This is a nice format for us to categorise projects into and also allows flexibility for a client to choose a package that fits their requirements. Starting with pre-production, we like to discuss the project over a coffee, finding out goals and project requirements as well as getting to know the client as well, we’re big fans of good working relationships! From there we'll do the necessary research and develop video concepts before moving onto scripts, storyboards, mood-boards, shot-list and the all important, logistics.

Once the concept has the thumbs up, it’s straight into production, which involves producing the films with high end cinema camera’s and techniques, industry professionals, actors, sets and lighting. Depending on the requirements a production can be a simple as a 1 day shoot, or something that requires months of work, regardless of complexity we aim to produce the highest quality work possible, and everything we produce should be unique from the last.

Often we’re now in post-production whilst in production, remote working and the highest end computers allow for a faster turn around. We dissect the production, crafting it into its final production, often including a custom score, sound effects and colour pallet unique to the project requirements.

Lastly nearly every project now includes some form of marketing campaign, at its most basic level this can be a blog and social media post in support of the project. For larger campaigns this can involve full PR and ad campaigns to push the product to the right audiences, as well as producing content to fit audiences in different spaces e.g. Instagram, TicTok, Youtube

This is where we differ from traditional video production companies, we’re diverse and able to cater to lots of different clientele, but at the same time we value quality over quantity, all the while offering a competitive price in the market. Lastly, one of our core ethos is to support small independent businesses, which often means giving good solid advice and support whilst producing great content for their business.

We have recently adverted a new role for an assistant editor on our website for LT Productions. Can you tell us a little bit more about this?

We’ve been keen to connect with video editors, specifically an assistant editor to help out with the increasing workload. Screen Alliance Wales has helped us to find a superb list of candidates and we’re currently under going interviews. As a small production company based in Wales it’s important for us to find local candidates that meet our requirements, growing our list of freelancers to call upon. In the future we will also be using SAW to find any additional staff we require for our productions.

Thank you so much to Tom from Luna Tides for taking the time to speak with us about the company and the exciting future projects! Make sure to check out the LUNA TIDES website, as well as following them on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

To view our exciting new 5 Year Anniversary video, created by Luna Tides, please follow the link here to visit our Vimeo page.