Micro-documentary production in London
Short films for brands, made the documentary way, in the places London works.
- Length
- 60 seconds to three minutes, plus cuts for social
- Made for
- Brands, corporates and institutions in London
- Clients
- KYN, AlTi Tiedemann Global, JA Brooks, Toast, AimHi Earth × PepsiCo, Calla Lily
- Filmed in
- Fulham, Bickley, Southwark, Liverpool Street, County Hall, Finchley Road, and on the Underground
- 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.
We make them from our London HQ, in the places our clients work: two care homes, a Victorian tavern by Liverpool Street, an engineering firm’s live sites, a lab on Finchley Road, County Hall on the South Bank.
20
Films for KYN
Five commissions in Fulham and Bickley, 2024 to present.
6
Productions for AlTi Tiedemann Global
London and New York, 2024 to 2026.
100+
People at JA Brooks’ premiere
The centenary party, on the big screen.
34
Edits from one KYN programme
Belong, the careers films and the homepage film, in three ratios.
Twenty films for a London care home group
KYN wanted families to meet the people who made its homes, and the people who work in them.
Tristan Welch, executive chef · KYN Hurlingham, Fulham
Ruth Goodman, historian · Through the Ages
Lead series
KYN
Micro-documentaries and recruitment films · KYN Hurlingham, Fulham, and KYN Bickley · 2024 to present
It started with one day at KYN Hurlingham while the building was still being finished: the historian Ruth Goodman on the Grade II building on Daisy Lane, a school and a youth club long before it was a care home. Three weeks after we delivered it, KYN briefed us on Meet the Makers, seven films on the people who made the homes, among them Nina Campbell, Adam Ellis, Randle Siddeley and Tristan Welch.
Then Belong, told through three resident families and the carers they know best; a careers film and six role films; and a new homepage film with the residents in it. Five commissions, twenty films. KYN chose and briefed every family, and we never approached a resident ourselves.
A London firm’s hundredth year
Founded in 1925 with a handcart. Filmed in 2025 with the people who do the work.
On a live site · JA Brooks
Pipework and valves · JA Brooks
JA Brooks, 100 Years of Trust
Micro-documentary · centenary film · 2 minutes 11 · London and Essex, 2025
Joe Robson got in touch fifteen months before the anniversary. We ran a creative workshop at JA Brooks’ London office in April 2024, then filmed for three days in February 2025, once its sites were cleared: two at The Pod, its fabrication unit in Essex, and one in London, at the old office and the new one, on live sites and on the Underground.
Seven versions later the film premiered on the big screen at the centenary party. “The atmosphere at our 100 year party was electric after showing the film on the big screen and that was the main goal,” one of the firm’s executives wrote in a verified Clutch review.
Six productions for a wealth manager
AlTi Tiedemann Global’s marketing director found us through this website in January 2024.
Lead client
AlTi Tiedemann Global
Corporate films · London and New York · 2024 to 2026
The first brief was a brand film, This is AlTi: New York in April 2024, London on 30 April and a day in AlTi’s London office in May. A launch film for its Social Progress Index followed, filmed in Manhattan and in London the week after, with the Index’s founder Michael Green. It was ready for Davos on 20 January 2025 and has since run at investor briefings and town halls.
Then The Purpose of Wealth, three films from a day in Southwark and two in New York; an animation for the firm’s intranet, taken on thirteen days before its launch; an announcement film in London; and a fireside chat on AI in New York.
Customer stories, on their premises
Your customer in their own words, filmed where they work, usually before they open.
The interview · Mr Fogg’s City Tavern
At the bar · Mr Fogg’s City Tavern
Toast at Mr Fogg’s City Tavern
Customer story · 90 seconds · Liverpool Street · 20 May 2026
Toast’s creative team is on the US East Coast, so the programme was ours to run. At Mr Fogg’s, Inception Group’s Victorian tavern near Liverpool Street, the general manager Jay Sebode had the most measurable story Toast had: a drink order, from the handheld to the bar to the table, in under two minutes. So the film is that drink order.
A half day around a 10am interview call, before service. Meg Amos produced it and ran the interviews, and the same team directed Toast’s second film, in British Columbia, live from London.
“I have worked with Here Now for two projects now and both have been hugely successful. The team are collaborative, creative and reliable.”
KYN Hurlingham, Fulham · from Belong
How we film a micro-documentary in London
Find the people
Most of the work happens before the shoot: who knows the brand best and can say it in their own words. At KYN that was a head gardener, a chef and the team on the floor; at JA Brooks, people who’ve been on the tools for decades.
Ask, don’t script
We write questions, not lines, and cut the script from what people say. Every KYN film was built that way.
Clear the building as well as the room
City buildings want every crew name and a kit list for security, live sites need the client’s say-so, and some estates want ten working days’ notice. JA Brooks’ shoot waited until its sites were cleared.
Shoot around the business
Mr Fogg’s was filmed in half a day around a 10am interview call. At KYN we worked around move-ins and mealtimes, with a second room always ready.
Cut for every place it runs
From Belong on, every KYN film came in three ratios, clean and subtitled: 34 edits from one programme.
What a micro-documentary costs in London
The same as anywhere we work. Shoot days, locations and the number of cuts move it; in London, so do permits and parking.
A single film
£9,500to start
A hero film of one to three minutes, with its social cuts.
Most single films
£25,000the usual top of the range
Most land between the two. A second location in the day, or a building that needs a security pass for every crew member, moves the number.
A series
Scopedfrom the brief
Several films planned together so one shoot serves them all, as KYN’s Belong and careers films were: 34 edits from four shoot days.
The first call and the estimate are free.
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 much does a micro-documentary cost in London?
Every production starts at £9,500, and most single films land between £9,500 and £25,000. London costs the same as anywhere else we work; shoot days, locations and the number of cuts move the number. The first call and the estimate are free.
Where in London do you film?
Wherever the people are. So far: KYN’s homes in Fulham and Bickley, Mr Fogg’s City Tavern by Liverpool Street, AlTi’s London office and an interview day in Southwark, JA Brooks’ live sites and the Underground, County Hall on the South Bank and Calla Lily’s labs on Finchley Road. Our London HQ is at 124 City Road.
Can you film in a City office, a live site or a working restaurant?
Yes. City buildings usually want every crew name and a kit list for security, so we send them ahead. On a live site we work to the client’s site team, as we did for JA Brooks. In a restaurant we work around service: Mr Fogg’s took half a day around a 10am interview call.
How long does a micro-documentary take?
A single film can be shot in half a day, as Toast’s was. A series takes longer: JA Brooks first got in touch fifteen months before its centenary, and KYN’s films have come in five commissions since 2024.
Is a micro-documentary the same as a corporate video?
No, though a corporate film can be one. The difference is the method: real people answering questions in the places they work, rather than a presenter reading a script. Most of what we’ve made for AlTi Tiedemann Global in London works that way.
Do you only film in London?
No. London is where we’re based and where most of this page was filmed. The same team made Nevis × Focus in New York and directed Toast’s second film, in British Columbia, from London. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Who should be in your film?
Send us the brief, or just the people you think should be in it. We’ll come back with a treatment, an estimate and the London locations we’d use, and that part costs nothing. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Or call us on 07412 543822
