Second Draft

22/04/2024

19/11/2023

🎉📽️ Our new documentary captures the pressures and the pleasure of performing at BBC Proms at The Glasshouse in Gateshead, and how it feels to welcome one of the world’s greatest music festivals to your home town. 📽️🎉

15/11/2023

Filmed over 3 days, we take a look at what being a part of one of the biggest events in the musical calendar feels like for those who take part - both the performers and people who just want to experience some amazing music.

Music is for everyone

08/06/2023

Imagine you stumbled across an undiscovered site of significant archaeological interest… in your spare time…from a laptop on your sofa!

That’s what happened to a furloughed wedding photographer, who located a new “Henge” monument via DigVentures - a company that makes archaeology more accessible to the public, through crowdsourced surveys and virtual digs.

“It’s the stuff of archaeological dreams!” says founder Dr Brendon Wilkins.

LiDAR makes scans using laser-equipped aircraft which can reveal structures that would take years to discover on foot. And DigVentures puts this technology in the hands of the general public.

Now, rather than archaeologists producing knowledge which is given to the public, the public are producing knowledge which is given to archaeologists.

“It's an absolute about-phase revolution of the archaeological workflow and it still boggles me today,” says Brendon.

06/06/2023

It’s a pretty extraordinary innovation that can revolutionise the efficiency of an organisation like the NHS, and at the same time positively transform patients’ personal experiences of their care.

And Health Call in Gateshead /are/ extraordinary.

They combine new, but accessible, technologies - like wearables, bluetooth and video calling - to allow medical conditions to be remotely monitored at home. And that continuous monitoring gives patients comfort and reassurance, whilst also empowering them to be more aware and involved in their own care.

“There’s some real evidence around patients recovering better at home,” says Clare Graham, “If we can give the clinical team the tools to remotely manage patients who are stable, it’ll allow the clinical teams to then spend more time with the patients who need that extra care.”

05/06/2023

This week we want you to - some of the brilliant people we’ve worked with who are inventing game-changing technologies right on our doorsteps here in the North East!

In Newcastle, SPARK EPoS are modernising the hospitality industry (and yep, they’re the people behind those cute robots in Yo Sushi…)

What really surprised us when filming with the team was learning how AI can be used as a tool to actually make our experience of customer service MORE human, more personalised.

“The problem is the restaurant manager can't remember thousands of different customers and their preferences,” says Dr Yang Long, “But AI can pop out and remind them: Who are they? What do they want and what do they LOVE? And this way the human manager can maintain a genuine relationship with a thousand or more customers.”

23/02/2023

How did we find ourselves deep in England’s largest forest during a project about space and satellites?

The team at mConnected have been working on a trial project with Northumbrian Water to monitor Kielder’s dam.

Traditionally dams are inspected by a specialist team, on foot. But by the time they take their measurements, return to their office and write a report, their info is out of date.

mConnected have rigged Kielder up with specialist sensors to monitor flow of water into the reservoir from tributaries, and any micro-movements in the dam wall itself.

Kielder Forest famously has an overwhelming abundance of midges, and a real shortage of good phone signal.

So instead this data is sent from these sensors up to a satellite, where it can then spread around the world in an INSTANT.

Where does this technology go next?
Imagine, in the fight against climate change, if we could also monitor key parts of the natural world in real time. We could better understand trends, quickly spot changes and take more decisive action.

Visit Kielder

20/02/2023

Satellites built in Team Valley… Components for the Mars Rover created in Newcastle City Centre… Rocket parts travelling to the moons of Jupiter (actual Jupiter!) crafted on Scotswood Road.

We've always been drawn towards projects where we can tell surprising stories and challenge expectations.

And filming the North East’s Space and Satellite sector (!!!) was packed with extraordinary moments!

We met people tackling some awe-inspiring challenges:

Could you create a 3D printer to use on the moon, to help construct lunar launch pads?
How do you bring high speed internet to the remotest parts of the planet?
How do you engineer products that can withstand the journey into orbit, with no opportunity to repair?
Who gets to decide what is allowed to get sent into space to orbit the earth, and who is monitoring that space traffic?

Every one of these challenges are being solved right here in the North East of England!

10/02/2023

Ashington was once known as the largest mining village in the world. But on the site of the old colliery a cutting edge tech company is making components for the Space industry.

Aavid Boyd have become experts in creating cooling systems (pictured), and we heard about their work for the Solar Orbiter - launched in 2020!

Their job? Keep this spacecraft cool enough to operate as it travels around the hottest place in the solar system, the Sun.

The North East’s reputation for engineering is living on in the most surprising places.

10/02/2023

Every year, we get to showcase the North East’s most exciting real-life inventors and innovators for VentureFest with The Innovation SuperNetwork. People developing ideas with the potential to be game changing in their field.

In February, we travelled up the Northumberland coast to visit Seabait and their incredible polychaetes.

These multi-talented worms act as sustainable aquaculture feed, help improve organ transplant success, transform waste materials into omega 3 and protein, and could even be a climate-conscious human food source! 😲

If you want to find out more, check out our video: https://vimeo.com/seconddraft/seabait

07/02/2023

What’s it like to get the call for a project like this?

There’s been decades of dreaming. Years of planning and then construction. The collaboration and communion of architects, engineers, musicians, project managers, the MAC Trust, Sunderland Culture and technical, FoH, Marketing and Sales staff to bring The Fire Station to life.

And we get the privilege of capturing that opening week, and those dreams and expectations, and we get to translate them into a film and share it with the world…

Watch our film here: https://vimeo.com/seconddraft/firestation

07/02/2023

The calm before the joy.

Highlights from the week:

Marty () whipping his shirt off...
and the Darkening’s euphoric folk crescendos
The exclusive intimacy of by candlelight.
Soul legend commanding the stage.
The crowd BOUNCING to
Rachel Unthank () melting hearts with Eternal Flame, and absolutely slaying with Fire.

Ultimate highlight:
Train sounds. Impossible notes smashed. Pure joy: The house band and The Only Way is Up!

07/02/2023

Independent. Pop Recs. And now...The Fire Station.

Imagine growing up as an aspiring artist in Sunderland in the 2020s?!

07/02/2023

When we visited the site (mid-construction) in 2017 - filming for the City of Culture bid - it was hard to believe what was coming… An 800 capacity auditorium?!

And it’s hard now to comprehend what the city will look like another five years down the line with the new development.

We’ve always had talented, resourceful artists and creators, and exceptional community and grassroots culture. And now we’re building exceptional venues to develop and showcase this talent.

07/02/2023

A very belated Happy First Birthday to The Fire Station !

We were /literally/ behind the scenes, backstage of this gorgeous venue, for *five glorious nights*, filming their promo film.

Still thrilled that we got to have The Futureheads Beginning of the Twist as our soundtrack. Getting an ACTUAL MASTER COPY of the recording to use was class 😱👌🏻
Cheers guys!

Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/seconddraft/firestation

07/02/2023

Pull up a chair…

It may be tradition to look back and get nostalgic at the end of the year. But December was BUSY AS and Mark was on his honeymoon (whoop whoop)!

We still wanted to share some of the brilliant people we’ve met in 2022 and take you behind the scenes at the region’s most fascinating places.

So, if you’re sitting comfortably…

12/09/2022