Micro-documentary production
Short films for brands, made the documentary way.
- Length
- 60 seconds to three minutes, plus cuts for social
- Made for
- Brands, corporates and institutions
- Clients
- KYN, Tate, Airbnb, AlTi Tiedemann Global, JA Brooks, Nevis, Toast
- Filmed in
- London, Cornwall, New York and British Columbia
- From
- £9,500
A micro-documentary is a short film, typically 60 seconds to three minutes, made for a brand using documentary method: real people rather than actors, real places rather than sets, contributions drawn out in interview rather than read from a script. The brand’s value is carried by a true story, not a scripted message. Here Now Films has produced twenty films for KYN’s London care homes since 2024, a four-film micro-documentary series for Airbnb in Cornwall, and an ongoing artist-profile series for Tate.
20
Films for KYN
Five commissions, 2024 to present.
+20
Points of favourability
Airbnb in Cornwall, from independent polling. The target was +5.
12
Days from first email to shoot
Nevis × Focus, New York, 2026.
34
Edits from one KYN programme
Belong, the careers films and the homepage film, with their social cuts.
Micro-documentary series
One brand, told through the people who make it, over as many films as it takes.
Adam Ellis in his studio · Meet the Makers
The kitchen · the careers series
Lead series
KYN
Micro-documentaries and recruitment films · London · 2024 to present
KYN wanted families choosing a care home to meet the people who made it. Meet the Makers came first: interior designer Nina Campbell with graphic artist Adam Ellis, garden designer Randle Siddeley and executive chef Tristan Welch. Then Belong, told through three resident families and the carers they know best, and a careers series for the front of house, kitchen, housekeeping and nursing teams.
Twenty films across five commissions, cut for KYN’s website, paid social, newsletters and careers pages. The scripts were cut from what people said in interview.
Corporate, made the documentary way
Leadership films and announcements where the people on camera are talking, not reading.
Adam Birenbaum, CEO, Focus Financial Partners
Justin Ferri, COO, Focus Financial Partners
Nevis × Focus
Announcement film · 3 minutes · New York, September 2026
Focus Financial Partners chose Nevis as the AI platform for its whole business, and Nevis asked us for the film that would tell the industry. Two chief executives and a chief operating officer, one afternoon in a panelled library on the Upper East Side, questions shared in advance and no lines to read.
Twelve days from the first email to the shoot. The film went out with the partnership news.
Nancy Curtin of AlTi Tiedemann Global · The Purpose of Wealth
The Purpose of Wealth · New York, 2025
AlTi Tiedemann Global, The Purpose of Wealth
Corporate production · a three-film series · London and New York, October 2025
One of six commissions for AlTi: advisors, family governance specialists and senior leadership on the purpose of wealth, filmed over a day in Southwark and two in New York.
The same relationship produced a brand film, a Social Progress Index film, a fireside chat in New York and two internal pieces.
On a London site · JA Brooks
In the factory · JA Brooks
JA Brooks, 100 Years of Trust
Micro-documentary · centenary film · London, 2025
A hundred years of a London mechanical services firm, told by the people who do the work: welders, fabricators, designers and the families who work side by side, some of them on the tools for more than forty years. Three acts (spirit, history and family), shot in JA Brooks’ Pod factory and on live London sites.
It launched in summer 2025 for the centenary and has since been used at anniversary events, in internal comms, new business pitches and recruitment drives.
“The feedback over the last week has been brilliant. A lot of people feeling proud.” Joe Robson, Managing Surveyor, JA Brooks.
Customer stories
Your customer, their words, their premises.
Bin 4 Burger Lounge, Burnaby, British Columbia
Mr Fogg’s City Tavern, London
Toast
Customer stories · two restaurants · London and British Columbia, 2026
Toast asked for restaurant teams to say, in their own words, what its system changed for them. Mr Fogg’s City Tavern by Liverpool Street in a half day in May; Bin 4 Burger Lounge in Burnaby in June, with a local crew and the interviews directed live from London.
The films went to Toast’s sales team, its website and its social channels.
People and places
Locals, makers and artists, filmed where they live and work.
Jake Boax, potter, Porthleven
Katy Davidson, Newquay
Ellen Watson, painter, central Cornwall
Airbnb, Guardians of Cornwall
Micro-documentary series · four films · Cornwall, 2022 · with Nomads
Four Cornish locals for a campaign that ran only in Cornwall: a potter in Porthleven, a painter, Newquay’s “Oyster Lady” and a family on the north coast. Four shoots in one week in May 2022, delivered as 32 cuts and 160 stills.
Independent polling afterwards put Airbnb’s favourability in Cornwall up 20 points, against a target of five.
Outi Pieski · Tate
Ro Robertson · Tate St Ives
Tate, artist profiles
Artist-profile series · Tate St Ives
Outi Pieski, the Sámi artist, ahead of her first major UK exhibition. Two days with Ro Robertson for Tate St Ives’ Modern Thresholds display. And Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life, an exhibition film shown to Tate’s members around the world.
“They were lovely to work with and had great energy and lots of creative ideas.” Saskia Mercuri, Producer, Tate.
“Assets produced by Here Now consistently delivered the highest click-through rates of any creative we’ve used, and drove noticeably higher engagement across our social channels.”
Mr Fogg’s City Tavern, London · 2026
How a micro-documentary gets made
Find the people
Most of the work happens before the shoot: working out who knows the brand best and can say it in their own words. A chef, a head gardener, a general manager, a founder.
Ask, don’t script
We write questions, not lines. Nevis × Focus had its questions shared in advance and nobody read a word. KYN’s scripts were cut from what people said in interview.
Film where it happens
Their kitchen, their bar, their studio, their library. Toast’s films were shot inside two working restaurants, in London and British Columbia, in a day or less each.
Cut for every place it runs
Hero films, 15-second social cuts in three ratios, silent loops for the website. One KYN programme produced 34 edits; Airbnb’s four films became 32 cuts and 160 stills.
What a micro-documentary costs
We publish prices because it saves everyone a week.
A single film
£9,500to start
A hero film of one to three minutes with its social cuts. Every production we make starts here.
Most single films
£25,000the usual top of the range
Most single films land between the two. Shoot days, locations and how many cuts each day has to produce move the number.
A series
Scopedfrom the brief
Several films planned together so one shoot serves them all. Belong and KYN’s careers films came from two two-day shoots.
The first call, the treatment and the estimate cost nothing.
Questions
What is a micro-documentary?
A micro-documentary is a short film, typically 60 seconds to three minutes, made for a brand using documentary method: real people rather than actors, real places rather than sets, contributions drawn out in interview rather than read from a script. The brand’s value is carried by a true story, not a scripted message. Here Now Films has produced twenty films for KYN’s London care homes since 2024, a four-film micro-documentary series for Airbnb in Cornwall, and an ongoing artist-profile series for Tate.
How long is a micro-documentary?
Most run 60 seconds to three minutes, with 15-second cuts for social. KYN’s Meet the Makers hero film runs three minutes, Nevis × Focus runs 3:03, and Toast’s customer stories run about 90 seconds each.
How much does a micro-documentary cost?
Every production starts at £9,500, and most single films land between £9,500 and £25,000. Shoot days, locations and the number of cuts move the number. A series is scoped from the brief, and the first call and the estimate cost nothing.
Is a micro-documentary the same as a corporate video?
It’s a method rather than a category. A corporate video is often scripted and presented; a micro-documentary is built from real people talking in their own words, where they work. AlTi’s The Purpose of Wealth and Nevis × Focus are corporate films made that way.
What’s the difference between a micro-documentary and a documentary?
Length, and whose story it is. A micro-documentary runs one to three minutes and carries the brand’s value through a true story. A documentary runs from ten minutes to broadcast length and has to stand up with the logo taken off, even when a brand pays for it.
Can you make a series from one shoot?
Yes, if it’s planned as a series from the start. Belong and KYN’s careers films came from two two-day shoots, with KYN arranging the families, consents and staff rotas. One programme produced 34 edits.
Do you film outside the UK?
Yes. Nevis × Focus and The Purpose of Wealth were filmed in New York, and Toast’s second film in Burnaby, British Columbia, with a local crew and the interviews directed live from London.
Got people worth putting on camera?
Tell us about the brand, who should be in it and where the films will run, or send a rough idea and a budget range. We’ll come back with a treatment, an estimate and a timeline, and that part costs nothing. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Or call us on 07412 543822
