By Chris Thomas
In the fifth of our series of interviews looking at Palace people and their jobs, we spoke to Turin born Enrico Tessarin co-founder of Crystal Palace’s own Film and Video company Fourth Passenger and myspace evangelist. As I found out when I talked to Enrico there is much more to the company than making movies.
Fourth Passenger was born in 2004 as a vehicle for (then) director Enrico Tessarin and Producer Fergus Wood to develop and produce their work. Although from the beginning they aimed at developing feature films, Fergus and Enrico developed a business model based on two companies working together with very different style of turnaround of projects and cash flow. They created a film company developing feature films, looking at long term profitability and expansion, and a video company, with quick turnaround projects, and more immediate profitability that could cover the costs of both companies and create profits that could then be used to sustain the long term projects.
Another key decision was to establish a partnership with leading young people media charity Exposure. By working with Exposure on young people projects, Fourth Passenger gained a certain level of “guaranteed business”, unlimited access to a fully kitted office, a number of facilities and, most importantly, contact with up and coming young talent and deep direct knowledge of the youth market.
In less than two years Fourth Passenger has established itself as one of the companies in London to watch out for in the Film, Music Video and, most recently, the Feature and Interactive arenas.
Fourth Passenger is a relatively young company. What were you doing before this?
After graduating from London Film School, I started out as an assistant director for shorts, music videos, commercials and feature films. I was lucky enough to work for several well-known directors and after two years I started directing myself.
In 2001 my first music video for hip hop outfit “Commonwealth” won the band a record deal and things took off from there. I was soon involved in further music videos and commercials.
With all this success why start your own business?
After meeting producer Fergus Wood, in 2003, I wanted to create a company that could focus on cutting edge music videos and commercials but could also at the same time be a base to develop drama and feature projects. I wanted the best of both worlds really. The concept for Fourth Passenger was born and the company was set up in 2004.
In 2004 I also joined multi-award winning young people’s charity Exposure as a Film co-coordinator, in charge of its film output. Exposure quickly became Fourth Passenger’s main partner, giving the company a focus, insider knowledge and access to talent for young people projects.
What are your proudest achievements?
In terms of film, being selected as one of the 6 companies for Film London’s PASSPORT, a scheme designed for feature films with international potential, taking 6 producers to the Berlin Film Festival
In terms of Music Video our video for “You got Boy’d” by Scarz went at No. 1 on the Channel u Charts, stayed in the top 5 for 12 weeks and has been watched over 25,000 times on youtube. It was recently declared no. 13 on the 2006 Top 50 Channel U songs for 2006.
On a personal level I have enjoyed working with youth charities and giving underprivileged kids the opportunity to work in the film industry. Training has now become a big part of what we do, an extension of the training scheme we worked on with Exposure. We are fortunate to be in the position where we can create job placements and employment.
We have also started to do this on a more local level by working with the Tribute Trust which is a Southwark based charity providing creative arts opportunities for children and young people.
In fact the Palace magazine could encourage young people to write in to get journalistic experience.
Good point! How did you end up in Crystal Palace?
I had a friend who lived in Tulse Hill so I got to know the area and in 1999 moved into the area and when we set up Fourth Passenger Crystal Palace seemed the obvious choice to set up a business.
Is there any snobbery in the industry about you not being in central London?
Some clients are initially skeptical as most of the film industry is based at or around Soho Square but you are judged on your work. Rather than spending a fortune on sky-high rents we can invest in equipment we need. For example, we have our own editing suite so we don’t need to hire in. And it’s nice to be able to walk to work.
Crystal Palace is not (yet) ‘media central’ so how do you get most of your work?
Referrals are important but we get 90% of our business through the web, primarily through myspace. [For those of you of the generation who just missed out on social networking sites (including myself) check out www.myspace.com - Ed]. Using myspace we have successfully marketed our clients’ and our own business messages. If you are in business you really need your own myspace site.
What do you like about Crystal Palace?
From a business perspective I really appreciate the work Croydon Enterprise do in providing much needed business support, as some businesses need more support than others,
I am keen to form networks with other creative industries in the area whether it be music, film or interactive.
On a personal note, I really like the way Crystal Palace is developing with the planned tube and tram link which will help businesses stay and develop in an area that is much more human than Soho.
Did you know some of The Italian Job was filmed in Crystal Palace Park? (The part where Michael Caine emits the immortal words ‘you’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!’
No I didn’t but the majority of the film was made in my hometown of Turin, so perhaps fate brought me here [smiles]
So what does the future hold?
We are moving much more into the interactive side of the business not just websites but producing short films for the web where viewers can actually influence the plot, watch this space!
If you want to find out more about Enrico and Fourth Passenger then go to myspace.com/enrico4puk. Enrico is particularly interested in talking to local teenagers who want to know more about the film industry.
No related posts.
