Luton film company win silver award at prestigious National Film Awards

Luton-based film and video production agency, Clearhead, has been praised by the British Film Institute (BFI) after winning an award for one of its short films.

The agency, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary, won the silver award in the Diversity & Inclusion category of the annual EVCOM London Live and Film Awards for its ‘Follow Your Voice’ film for Milton Keynes College.

Patrick Russell, senior curator of non-fiction at the BFI National Archive, said: “I am impressed. A subtly confident mastery of the short-film form has been effectively applied to important messaging, conveying faith in the talents of our young people in the face of modern obstacles.”

This is the second EVCOM award for Clearhead – last year winning gold in the best animation category with a campaign for Bedfordshire Police to help tackle organised crime.

Clearhead chief executive, Gavin O’Brien, said: “This has been a brilliant collaboration with the team at Milton Keynes College, who are always looking to push boundaries and try new approaches. The response has been incredible. Winning the EVCOM award tops off what has been a superb 12 months for Clearhead.”

The film was written and directed by Clearhead’s creative director Alex Lawrence. He said: “Follow Your Voice is a campaign built on the message of self-belief. The characters in the film are talented, yet lacked their moment to shine. Our belief is that young people in Milton Keynes are talented, passionate and powerful. With this campaign we are telling them that we believe in you, so believe in yourself and follow your voice.”

Director of Marketing & Communications at MK College, Lee Parker, added: “We wanted to work with an agency that understood that to attract attention, we needed quality content that stood out. We have enjoyed a great long term relationship with Clearhead, so we knew they would deliver.

Clearhead is an award-winning digital content agency, founded by Gavin and Alex in 2007. Over the last 15 years, they have worked with big brands around the UK and the world, including the BBC, Channel 4, the NHS, Royal Air Force, Houses of Parliament, as well as colleges and leading universities in the UK and North America.