Patron VMI wins National Climate Award

Together For Our Planet campaign announces Bristol and London’s award-winning green small business.

VMI.TV, Bristol and London-based camera rental company, crowned Hero of Net Zero at COP26 awards ceremony.

Small business celebrated for original and creative actions taken to cut their own greenhouse gas emissions.

The company urges other businesses to commit to net zero at UK Climate Hub.

Camera rental company VMI.TV has been crowned winner of the Heroes of Net Zero competition yesterday at a special awards ceremony hosted by Intuit at the COP26 international climate change summit in Glasgow.

More than 160 businesses entered the competition, making a commitment at the UK Business Climate Hub to achieve net zero by 2030, 20 years ahead of the Government’s own climate commitment.

The rental firm, based in Acton, London and St George, Bristol won in the small business category by demonstrating a range of measures taken on their journey to net zero, including installing solar panels and insulation, purchasing electric vans and recycling and reusing, sending no waste to landfill in 15 months.

They won an exclusive prize package worth over £4,500 from competition partners BT, NatWest and SSE.

Barry Bassett, Managing Director, VMI.TV said:

“We are incredibly flattered and really pleased that our efforts are being recognised, as this will spread the word more widely about the benefits of companies making decarbonising efforts.”

Full details here: https://vmi.tv/blog/news/vmi-wins-national-climate-award/

Who Needs Sleep? - Documentary by Haskell Wexler

A documentary that highlights the deadly combination of sleep deprivation and long days of work. Focusing in particular in the film industry's. Unsettled by the preventable death of a coworker, filmmaker Haskell Wexler learns that sleep deprivation and long work hours are a deadly combination. Interweaving medical findings with personal accounts, his camera reveals how a 24/7 work culture affects all Americans.

Geoff Boyle NSC FBKS: July 20th 1950 - October 5th 2021

Geoff Boyle was born in a council estate in the Northeast of England in 1950. At eight he was given his first Brownie 127 camera, which started him on lifelong image-making. He dropped out of his final year in art school to work as a stills assistant at the studio used as the location for “Blow Up”, working mostly in fashion and advertising. He also worked as a stills photographer covering music for notorious underground magazine Oz.

One day in 1973 he was asked if he knew anyone who could film a concert, and of course he did! He switched to film work entirely, shooting news, documentaries, and music promos for everyone from Bowie to Zeppelin. In 1985 he moved to commercials, and by the '90s Kodak said he was one of 10 cinematographers shooting 80% of national spots in the UK. After 20 years in commercials he focused on long-form drama, from the digital production “Mutant Chronicles” in 2006, to multiple 3D projects, the series “Wallander” shot on REDs, and action film “Streetfighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” shooting 3-perf 35mm, among others. In the process he garnered awards from SMPTE, BKSTS, BSC, ACS, and NSC.

In 1996, while bored late one night in a hotel room during the middle of a shoot, he started the Cinematography Mailing List, which has grown to over 12,500 members worldwide. He has also taught workshops in the USA, UK, Europe, Australia, and Asia, and was appointed a Visiting Professor at the University of the West of England in 2013. He was always eager to exploit new technologies, but always in service to the image: “F*** the numbers!” was his rallying cry whenever people would obsess over resolution or bit rates instead of looking at the picture, along with “‘good enough’ is not good enough and ‘close enough’ is miles away from good.”

Geoff died Tuesday October 5th in Zoetermeer, NL after a long and feisty battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Deborah.