Martine here – the co-founder of XTATX Studio – whilst I wanted to get this out before Christmas, that’s not how things went and so I wanted to slip this through before the year ends. Some of it is more personal, some of it relates to the wider XTATX Studio team – hope you enjoy the read, and most of all… I hope you’re taking some time out from your day to day work activities to recentre and reenergise as needed… Check this!

The year 2022 is coming to an end, and what a year it has been! After two years of forced quiet downtime (pandemic!), life suddenly sped up and we had to keep up with a rise of social activity and get used to getting out and about. From my perspective, this might have been exacerbated by a little FOMO too! Maybe I should speak solely for myself, and not assume everyone felt the same, though I’ve heard it repeatedly from others too…

And how has all this affected me and the team behind XTATX Studio? To be fair, not too much other than the privilege of being able to move around, visit friends and family, all the while, maintaining our business activity and delivering to our clients’ expectations.

Did you know… 2022 has been our 1st year of full-time production?!

We’ve come so far in the past 12 months, and we could not have done this without the encouragement of our supportive network and existing as well as new clients – all of whom believe in our capacity to produce the audio-visual content, events, marketing campaigns, and more, they need to captivate their audience.

Here are some highlights which have made 2022 the “best first year”

January

We kicked off the year releasing our first company showreel – all this was edited whilst quarantined with Covid… how to start the year off right!

+ released Ocean of my Mind: a music video with artist Chloe Levaillant – filmed & edited by XTATX Studio co-directors

February

I supported MeWe360 with the DBACE awards programme, offering Meet & Greets / advice sessions to potential applicants both online & travelling to various cities across the UK (with Rudo Nondo at MeWe360)

+ a whole lot of event organising, gathering the venue, event partners, performing artists, crowd funders, events sponsors and ticket buyers in the space of one month for…

March

The Power of Women for International Women’s Day 2022 – our first company produced event hosted at Peckham Levels . In aid of  Refuge, with the help of everyone involved we raised over £1,650 for the charity supporting women and children escape domestic violence.

+ delved into the resources & community offered by the Impact Consulting Hub with Loksan Harley 钟乐山 & Molly Ann Morrison

April

A little bit of burnout ensued from the mad organisation of the event. Luckily, we had something to look forward to…

+ supported MAMA.codes – Raising Digital Kids with their video editing needs – working with Liane Katz FRSA

May

Ellwood-Leo Spafford and I took off across Northern Europe and Scandinavia on a Dutch tandem, in search of the best stories around alternative housing models. We met with people living in and launching housing cooperatives, eco-villages and more, in preparation for our new podcast: Ctrl Alt Life! It was a fun, working, sporting holiday… We cycled 2,000 km on a tandem with all our gear of course!

June

Photographed DBACE 2022 Live Final Heats & Awards Ceremony – so good to be back in real life!

+ worked with a few clients on their logos & brand identity: Interpretair, Ellwood.Design & Sense of Clay

July

Started working with Kevin Osborne at Create Equity on the marketing of their campaigns advocating for racially equitable funding in the arts & creative industries whilst preparing for the launch of the Create Equity Fund, among other exciting funding opportunities.

+ edited & released Evasion – a music video for Thaïs Sala & Moses Bélanger

August

Launched a new service offering website hosting & design

+ worked with The Black Curriculum presents: Sounds of Black Britain on their cover art – check out their podcast!

September

The XTATX team grows to 5 with the welcoming of 3 interns looking for work experience as part of their studies. Working on real-life industry briefs, our expanded team brought their ideas and creative energy to the table, enabling us to do more together.

Annika Hueffer, Julienne Anaïs Stephanie Kadima, Daniel Lintern

October

Landed a major client producing graphic design & animated illustration. Currently under NDA – looking forward to sharing more!

+ produced & released our trailer for our upcoming podcast Ctrl, Alt, Life!

+ redesigned our company website

November

Lost my Dad to melanoma cancer, after being 2 months by his side. It’s been tough to say the least and I’m not out of it yet. Thanks to the support of my nearest and dearest, I’ll get through this stronger ❤ – Love you Dad!

+ Supported artist Chloe Levaillant on 2 events with event marketing & sales and the recruitment of the wonderful Tasneim Zyada to open the event at The Camden Chapel in London. The second event was a special “Soirée Francaise” in Dunsden Village Hall, near Reading. Both events were successful in filling the room with an audience for the performers to entertain & inspire

December

I hosted my first how-to photography & video workshop as part of a participatory storytelling & place-making workshop with Farah Mohammoud @ You Press & A New Direction in the borough of Newham. I’d been wanting to get involved in participatory photography & filmmaking for a while now, so I’m proud to have jumped in, with positive feedback resulting 😉

Beyond all this, some of the smaller things I am most proud of:

• Consistent weekly posting from XTATX Studio‘s LinkedIn account – it’s something I promised to myself, and even when it seemed impossible, somehow it all worked out!
• Knowing when to ask for help – I reached out to colleague and mentor Rebecca Phillips, a relationship developed from my time at MeWe360. Thankfully Rebecca offered her support and has helped me think of my business in different ways. I still need to implement it all!
• Launching a TikTok channel and trying it out. Not sure we’ve nailed it, but it’s been good to try without fear!
• Managing a team to the best of my ability, whilst prioritising everyone’s mental wellbeing, ensuring everyone has a positive experience.
• How far we have come!

& what am I’m most looking forward to?

• Starting a 12-week accelerator programme with Hatch Enterprise UK in the new year – Yay, I got accepted!
• Building deeper relationships with the inspiring people already in my network, whilst hungry to meet more.
• Launching this podcast… As all things, it takes longer than expected. But it’s going to be worth it!
• Being open to what’s next!

I hope you’ll continue to join me in this exciting journey I have embarked on with my co-founder and life partner. Forever grateful to everyone involved, whether it’s our expanding team members, our contractors, our clients, or general friends & key supporters. I see you and am so thankful.

Wishing you all health, warmth, joy and success as we enter the new year.

Martine Ingrid Stephen

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