STOCKPORT TV COMPANY CELEBRATE 30 YEARS BEHIND THE CAMERA

Stockport based Acrobat Television, a gem of a production company in south Manchester, has packed more than a few ‘Pearlers’ into its 30 years of film and TV production as they celebrate their pearl anniversary this month.

Having begun by sharing a small office in Altrincham, their idea was to bring broadcast standard productions to the then embryonic corporate video market. Having quickly won contracts with Littlewoods, Owners Abroad (now TUI and still a client) and establishing a niche presence within the travel business, Acrobat moved to larger studios in Manchester.

Dave Hill, (pictured left behind the camera) Managing Director, takes up the story:

“We had several more staff by then and had picked up other clients including British Telecom, H J Heinz, Coloroll, Pilkingtons etc and, sometimes it seems inevitably, almost all the main breweries. We tied in with a number of advertising agencies and sporting bodies, including The Royal Yachting Association and the Ski Club of Great Britain, and picked up some broadcast work for Channel 4 with Simon Reed – Oliver’s brother and an equally consummate drinker.”

Despite not having edit suites or camera equipment – they were shooting on ‘U’ Matic, BVU and sometimes on the laughingly named ‘portable’ 1 inch tape machines – Acrobat always tried to stay ‘state of the art’ and when Betacam was introduced they were early adopters.

David continues:

“In 1986 we produced our first sell-thru videos alongside the Royal Yachting Association and established an enduring relationship with the charismatic Peter Hart. We almost single-handedly championed the cause of ‘how-to’ sports videos and won many national and international awards along the way.

“Within a couple of years we were constantly filming abroad, either in sailing locations or ski resorts, and as a result we purchased our own cameras; our clients now also included Hepworth Building Products, BAe Systems, J&G Greenall and National Power.”

The move to Stockport came as a result of Acrobat’s relationship with Vector Television (where most of their post-production had taken place) and the opportunity to rent offices and production space proved an ideal arrangement. Unfortunately Vector went into liquidation; Acrobat moved to their own premises on Wellington Road North, investing in their own edit suites and where they arestill operating from today.

David remembers the years fondly:

“I have been involved in producing over 3,000 projects in the last 30 years. They’ve been everything from a 30 second commercial to a 2 hour documentary, a 14 camera outside broadcast to a single camera conference shoot, programmes or content for every conceivable sport, historical pieces to futuristic animations and in doing so I have visited every continent on the globe (except arctic and Antarctic). I’ve devised treatments, written scripts, filmed, edited and produced graphics. All in all it’s been a fantastic journey and I’d love to do it all again.”