Case study: Studio 24
Project: Gala Evening
The client
Studio 24 is a team of digital experts who help their clients succeed on the web. They make sense of digital strategy, craft beautiful user-centred websites, develop clever web apps with digital technology, and track and analyse data to deliver results.
The brief
Studio 24 has been a major sponsor of the Cambridge Film Festival since 2006, giving them the opportunity to host a very special annual event. Each year, the team treat their clients to a celebration of independent cinema in the shape of a gala evening with a private screening of a new release.
With many of their guests returning year-on-year, they wanted the slick running of the familiar structure which their clients adore, mixed with exciting new touches to keep it fresh.
“The Studio 24 gala evening is an event that many of our clients look forward to and so it’s very important to us that everything runs smoothly. Jemma and Justin make event organisation look effortless. Communication with Studio 24 was clear and concise to keep us apprised of progress. This meant we came to the event confident that everything had been taken care of and that we could relax and enjoy the evening.”
The main event
Trusting us with their events in the past, we were asked to manage the evening in its entirety.
Venue and film
The event was to be held at The Arts Picturehouse, home of the Cambridge Film Festival. Knowing the venue well we carefully planned timings, the layout of the space, and the journey guests would take through the different points of the evening.
Then came the task of the film choice. We asked the Cambridge Film Festival team to provide a shortlist considering the audience, the Studio 24 brand, and the Friday feeling guests would have. From this, the client made the final choice: The Florida Project.
Theme and catering
Once the film selection was made, this instantly hit all our creative buttons. Being fans of Secret Cinema, we wanted to add a subtle theme to the event to make it memorable. Working closely with our caterers the menu had a nod to the Sunshine State itself, so while the venue wasn’t over the top in the theming, the guests taste buds certainly were.
Guest list
With RSVP management often being a time-consuming task, we dealt with this directly on Studio 24’s behalf. From personal replies to each individual guest, to following up those on which they were waiting for a response. We produced a clean list of attendees to welcome on the night and provided Studio 24 with a clear summary of all responses to aid their follow-up discussions.
On the day event management
We were there to project manage the evening to ensure everything went to plan. We took control of the set up, greeted the caterers, and briefed all staff.
As guests arrived, we were there to give them a friendly welcome. We explained how the evening would flow, and pointed them in the direction of the food and drink on offer.
When it was time, the guests were ushered to their private screen and whilst they enjoyed the film we packed down the space, carefully storing all marketing materials ready to return to the client’s office.
“Studio 24 has a long history of supporting the Film Festival and it’s very important to us that our gala evening is a success. The Crane Event’s choice of caterer was perfect. The food was delicious and because it was themed to match the film it made the evening more special. Jemma and Justin were friendly and professional when welcoming our guests and efficient and courteous working with the Picturehouse cinema and Film Festival staff on our behalf. They did a wonderful job.”
The results
Whilst we were busy planning the event, the Studio 24 team were able to focus their time on their client’s digital projects, safe in the knowledge that everything would run smoothly.
On the evening itself, the team arrived fresh and were able to fully focus on conversations with their clients. With everything in hand, all team members could enjoy the celebration evening they deserved too.
With a full understanding of what they were trying to achieve, every aspect of the event showcased the Studio 24 brand values perfectly.
The event was extremely well attended with comments from the team that it was “the best one yet” and from guests saying “it was fantastic to be part of a relaxed evening with Cambridge’s business network’.
We were absolutely delighted to manage this event for the third year and it was a real pleasure to work with the Studio 24 team once again.
Photography (in part) courtesy of Jean-Luc Benazet Photography.
