About Here Now Films
Every film is a documentary.
Some just have a client.
Here Now Films is a UK video production and film crew hire company, headquartered in London. Global campaigns, corporate films and customer stories for clients large and small, made by people who started out making documentaries.
500+ productions for brands, broadcasters and institutions
What we think
Documentary thinking, in every brief
Every film we make, from a 35mm campaign for Cohere to a customer story for Toast, starts the same way: find the real person, the real place and the thing that actually happened, and point the camera at it. That’s documentary thinking. We think every good film runs on it, whatever it’s selling.
It’s why a customer story can hold a room and a campaign can feel like it happened. The films people remember have something true at the centre: a restaurant owner talking about a busy Friday night, a founder in his family’s maple wood.
That’s what we mean by documentary. It’s how we make films people believe.
In numbers
Years since Ed and Ollie started Here Now Films.
10
Productions for brands, broadcasters, charities and institutions.
500+
Freelance crew on our books, for our films and other people’s.
2,800+
Countries we’ve filmed in so far, from Ontario to Uganda and Japan.
16
How we got here
10 years, one habit
We started out making documentaries. We never stopped. We just kept finding new places to use what they taught us.
What we put our weight behind
Three things we won’t trade
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We still make documentaries
Some of them we pay towards ourselves. When a film matters more than the margin, we put our own money and time behind it, and we keep which ones between us and the people we made them with. It’s where we started, and it keeps us honest about everything else.
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The customer story gets the same care as the campaign
Two people at Mr Fogg’s City Tavern for Toast. Around thirty in Oslo for Cohere. Same producers, same post team, same standard. The crew is sized to the film. The care isn’t.
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If it doesn’t move us, it won’t move anyone
We make work that makes us feel something first, because it’s the most reliable test we’ve found. KYN put the result in a review: “Assets produced by Here Now consistently delivered the highest click-through rates of any creative we’ve used.” Anya Chasovskaia, Marketing Manager, KYN, on Clutch.
Looking ahead
Documentary, in the age of AI
AI will make a lot of the world’s video, and some of it will be very good. As it does, the films built on real people, real places and things that actually happened become the ones that carry trust. That’s the work we’re built for, and we use AI wherever it helps us make it.
Cohere builds AI. We shot its campaign on 35mm.
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Real people stay real
When a film is about a person, a place or something that happened, it has to have happened. We don’t put generated people, places or events into a film that’s presented as real, and the people on camera know what they’re part of.
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AI where it helps the work
We use it the way we use any new kit: to search and log footage, find stock and get to a first cut sooner, so more of the budget and the time goes on the shoot and the decisions in the edit.
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Films for the people building it
Cohere builds AI; its campaign was shot on 35mm in four countries. Nevis builds AI for wealth managers; its film with Focus was shot in New York. More on our technology and AI video production page.
What we do
Make, crew, finish. One team.
The same producers, crew list and post team sit behind all three.
The team
The people you’ll work with
Ed, Ollie, Morgan, Meg and Alex run the work day to day, from the first call to the final grade.
Ed Smit
Managing Director & Co-Founder
Ed started Here Now Films with Ollie in 2016 and runs the business: clients, pitches and the crew hire service. He’s executive producer on our bigger productions, from Cohere’s AI for Empowerment to Toast’s customer stories and Nevis × Focus in New York.
LinkedIn ↗
Ollie Couch
Creative Director & Co-Founder
Ollie leads the creative on what we make, and directs. He directed and shot The Living Layer, Overall Winner at the Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival 2026, and was creative director on Nevis × Focus and Toast’s customer stories.
LinkedIn ↗
Morgan Cartlidge
Partner & Head of Production
Morgan joined as a partner in 2024 and runs production: budgets, schedules, crews, kit and travel, on our own films and on crew hire jobs. He’s landed a jetpack at Glastonbury for Domino’s, and was head of production on Toast and Nevis × Focus.
LinkedIn ↗
Meg Amos
Producer & Director
Meg produces and directs across our commercial and documentary work. She produced Toast’s London customer story and ran its interviews, produced the Joel Meyerowitz film for the Sony World Photography Awards 2026, and took Cellebrite’s customer story to Iceland.
LinkedIn ↗
Alexander Webb
Head of Post
Alex runs post-production: the edit, the grade and the editors we bring in. A director and DaVinci Resolve colourist, he joined in 2026 and has led post on Cohere’s 35mm campaign, Toast’s customer stories and Nevis × Focus. Before Here Now he directed and graded for Burberry, ASOS, HSBC, PwC and the United Nations, made broadcast work for the BBC and Discovery, and won Gold for Best Director and Best Cinematography at the EVCOM London Live and Film Awards.
Around them
Producers, directors and crew
- Producers including Giorgia Gray, who produced Cohere across Canada, Norway and the UK.
- A roster of 20+ directors, for films that need a particular eye.
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books, booked at the APA/Bectu card rate.
Recognition
Awards and recognition
Festival juries, broadcasters, trade awards and client reviews. Each one is tied to a named film or a public listing.
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Overall WinnerEdinburgh Conservation Film Festival · The Living Layer
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Regional Panorama AwardCineEco · The Bio Estrela Project
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Top Video Production Company, LondonClutch, from client reviews
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Highly Commended, Best Small Agency (Global)The Drum Awards
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Best Media StartupUK Business Awards
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BroadcastBBC World News · Survival: To the Brink & Back
- Commissioned: the Outstanding Contribution filmSony World Photography Awards · Joel Meyerowitz 2026
- Featured Project, UK Films DatabaseBritish Council · Survival: To the Brink & Back 2025
- SelectedGood Fest · The Regenerative Farm, for Heligan
Members of EVCOM, BIMA and Bristol Creative Industries.
Offices
HQ is on City Road in London. We’ve also got offices in Manchester and Bristol, and in Newquay, where we started.
London
124 City Rd
London EC1V 2NX
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
Shoreditch, just off City Road: opposite Barclays and above the opticians, in the red-brick Victorian building. Nearest tube is Old Street. No parking on site.
Manchester
Jactin House, 24 Hood St
Ancoats, Manchester M4 6WX
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
Jactin House overlooks Cutting Room Square. Manchester Piccadilly is about seven minutes on foot, New Islington tram stop about four. Check in at Colony reception and ask for Here Now Films.
Bristol
111 Gloucester Road
Bristol BS7 8AT
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
Near the Ashley Down Road junction, above a row of local businesses: the red-brick building with the big windows. Montpelier station is a ten-minute walk. Limited on-street parking.
Cornwall
5-7 The Crescent
Newquay TR7 1DT
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
The C Space building, overlooking Towan Harbour. Ed and Ollie are based here. Parking on site.
New York
And shooting in New York
Our producers run shoots in New York with New York crews, employed and insured for each job. Nevis × Focus was filmed there twelve days after the first email, and AlTi Tiedemann Global's fireside chat was shot multi-camera in Chelsea. Further afield, we've filmed in sixteen countries so far, from Ontario to Uganda, Singapore and Japan.
FAQ
Common questions
Something we haven't answered? Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Drop us a lineWhat makes Here Now Films different?
We make every film, from a global campaign to a customer story, with documentary thinking: real people, real places and things that actually happened, in front of the camera. We started out making documentaries in 2016 and we still make them. The same team produces, directs and finishes our films, and we crew other productions in the UK and New York from the same crew list. Our prices are published: every production starts at £9,500.
Do you use AI in your productions?
Yes, where it helps the work: searching and logging footage, finding stock and getting to a first cut sooner. We don't put generated people, places or events into a film that's presented as real. We also make films for companies building AI, including Cohere's 35mm campaign AI for Empowerment and Nevis × Focus in New York.
Who founded Here Now Films?
Ed Smit and Ollie Couch founded Here Now Films in 2016, and it was incorporated as Here Now Films Ltd in 2019. It is headquartered at 124 City Road, London. Both founders still run it: Ed as managing director, Ollie as creative director. Morgan Cartlidge joined as a partner and head of production in 2024, and Alexander Webb leads post-production.
Where is Here Now Films based?
Our headquarters is at 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX. We also have offices at Jactin House in Ancoats, Manchester, on Gloucester Road in Bristol, and in Newquay, Cornwall. Our producers run shoots in New York with New York crews, and we've filmed in sixteen countries so far.
Are you a creative agency or a production company?
Both. We come up with the idea, write the script, direct and shoot the film, and finish it with our own post-production team in London. Everything is directed in-house as standard, by Ollie Couch, Meg Amos and the rest of our team. When a job needs a particular eye or style, we bring in a director from our roster of more than 20: Charlie Coombes directed Cohere's AI for Empowerment.
Can we hire a crew without you producing the film?
Yes. Film crew hire is its own service. Crew are paid the APA/Bectu card rate, and we add a 10% booking fee and 2% insurance on everything booked, kit included. That insurance covers employers' liability for the crew we book and insurance on kit bookings; public liability and the rest of the shoot are only covered when we're the producer of record. We crew shoots across the UK and in New York.
Who does your post-production?
Our own post team in London, led by Alexander Webb, our head of post. The edit and colour grade happen in-house, in DaVinci Resolve; sound design and mix go to specialist studios. We take post-only jobs too, with edit days from £550.
How much does it cost to work with Here Now Films?
Every production starts at £9,500, and most single films we make land between £9,500 and £25,000. A shoot-only day with a two-person crew is £2,690. Crew hire is priced per role at the card rate plus our fees. Prices are published on every service page, so you can check the numbers before you call.
Tell us what you're making.
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Want to work with us? See careers, or email careers@herenow.film.