We decided to add more flesh to the bone by interviewing the Coolbox Films Team in more depth, as part of our Meet the Team series. We hope you enjoy the results!
Feel free to contact us with any questions or requests you have regarding our video production services.
Rob Oliver – Founder
Rob Oliver, 6ft 5in 100kg! I studied at Hull university and graduated in 1997 since then I spent my early career working in theatrical film and TV before jumping agency side as a producer. I now produce and direct all kinds of content from corporates to lifestyle and TV commercials and I love getting my hands on the latest bits of kit that will allow me to make the content I produce differ from what everyone else is doing!
As an experienced producer/director – I am very much hands on and love to get involved in all aspects of a production including carrying peli cases and pushing the film karts. I also run the day to day of the business and spend a lot of time developing creative and dealing with our clients’ needs.
The best part of my job is the variety, travel, new places, new challenges, & finding new solutions and ways to shooting beautiful things. When the industry is in full flow and clients are feeling adventurous I love nothing more and this job always changes which has what has captured my interest for the past 25 years!
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Tom Bainton – Founder
I’m Tom. After Oxford I spent the 90s working in the music business before returning to my love for film. I honed my craft with some oddball (and award-winning) super 8 shorts, as well as a few other shorts and music videos – and also began picking up several corporate clients, many of whom I still work with today.
At Coolbox I develop creative for clients, produce, direct, edit and generally love doing all things creative and coming up with nutty ideas for us all to work on.
What do I love about my job? That no day is the same, that I get to work with the best people and that together we get to work in some truly astonishing places. There’s nothing better than having an idea and working collectively to see it realised.
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Jade Bradshaw – Production Assistant
I grew up in a small town in the new forest, eventually venturing out to the city of Brighton where I studied Moving Image, which allowed me to study art and film side by side, and how the two interlink.
This is where my passion for film grew, with a keen interest towards German Expressionism and Magical Realism in cinema. When not working I enjoy arts and crafting, from making festival hats to kitting scarves, all with the help of my trusty glue gun.
My Job role as production assistant consists of many tasks, from editing to filming to producing, to biscuit runs. This allows me to fully explore all components that go into creating videos at Coolbox Films.
The thing I most enjoy about my job is the variety that comes with it and the opportunity travel, and of course the lovely, lovely people I get to see every day.
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Toby Martin – Digital Marketing Manager
After living in Paris, London and 15 years in Barcelona I tend to wear cultural varifocal spectacles. Love all things, tech, electronic and green.
I look after the website development and content, as well as Coolbox’s social media output with our wonderful social media manager Maya, and generally keep an eye on all things digital in the office.
The office environment is a great space to work in the centre of Brighton. Everyone typically gets on like a house on fire and it’s a pleasure to come into the office every day plus Darts at coffee time.
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Amy Lucas – Motion Graphics Designer
I’m Amy! I grew up in a sleepy cottagy village in Hampshire. It was game over after I discovered animation at Alton college – where I started making Terry Gilliam-style short films using cut-out pictures, a camera and a wooden box. That soon spiralled into studying Animation & VFX at Falmouth University in sunny Cornwall, where I fought seagulls for food and experimented more with moving image. After graduating in 2018, I freelanced as a motion graphics animator and eventually moved to Brighton – the seagull theme was cemented.
Since then, I’ve worked on BBC bitesize projects, ITV titles, various promos and music videos. In my spare time I like sailing, playing guitar and thinking about melon medley’s. Now in 2023, I work with the brilliant bunch of film-heads that is, Coolbox Films.
At Coolbox, I storyboard, design and animate to deliver client briefs with direction from Tom and Rob. Adobe After Effects is the program that I use to compile designs, rig characters and make things move. I also rotoscope, mask and add elements to live-action footage shot on cameras.
Every part of the animation process is so much fun, from the storyboarding to the animating. Coolbox is a place where I get to do a bit of everything – a luxury that isn’t lost on me!
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Maya Parry-Jones – Social Media Manager
I was born and raised in Brighton and am now studying in Edinburgh. My interest in film and photography began whilst doing Media Studies ALevel and accelerated when I won the Eduqas – Moving Images, Best Music Video award for my course work. I love carrying a camera around with me wherever I go and am always eager to make content out of everything I see – it’s safe to say that’s where my passion for all things social media comes from.
As the Coolbox Films social media manager, I keep an eye on all the projects that everyone is working on, and together, we make content including behind the scenes, case studies, promotional showreels and media recycling in order to raise awareness of what we do here at Coolbox Films. My day-to-day consists of creating, editing and scheduling content. None of which could happen without my trusted spreadsheet!
My favourite part of my job is working in premier pro on post production to create short reels and tik toks of our videos. I also enjoy interacting with other companies and clients and seeing what other people are doing in the film production world.