When we ran a competition for students from Edinburgh College of Art’s animation course last Summer, we met Tom Watson. He was the only student who sent us his ideas and constantly asked for feedback, which we thought marked him out as a creative with potential.
So, after the competition was over, he asked us if he could come and work with us over the holiday period.

We were delighted to have him.

Last week he e-mailed me out of the blue with an unusual request.
Could he and two friends come and do a practice pitch to us.
Who could refuse?
So the guys came in and revealed that they had formed a film production company and were seeking £20,000 from a businessman to fund a 16 minute short film.

They pitched to us, we give them our feedback and then waited to hear the result of the actual pitch.

Not only did they persuade their very own patron of the arts to give them the money, he threw in an extra £5,000 “in case they ran over budget”.

And to say thank you Tom brought us flowers and a big pile of fantastic old beermats (which if you’ve ever popped in here for a cuppa, you’ll know we like to use as mats for our teacups.)

Not a bad result for their first pitch.

When they finish the film we’ll make sure we post it here.