Wave Studios found success before
they even officially opened. With a mix of fortune and fate, the company
launched into existence off the back of the game-changing Guinness “Surfers” ad,
which aptly depicts one man conquering the perfect wave.
A decade later, in 2008, Wave were
ahead of the curve again in spotting Amsterdam as the next growing creative
hub. Originally, the move was facilitated by a need to bring their studio to clients
but, with seven successful years behind them, Wave has truly gone global.
Alex explains: “We’ve managed to break into Europe and make
ourselves known, and our client base is going from strength to strength. It’s great
to have people contacting us from all over the world and to develop close
relationships with partners we wouldn’t normally be associated with.”
Wave has always understood that in
an increasingly global industry, you need a global presence, as Alex explains:
“The movement of companies like MPC to Amsterdam is showing people that it’s an
important place to be; it’s nice for us to have been here so early.”
Warren agrees: “Wave is a company
that hates to sit still. We always want to grow and expand. We want to look to
move into new territories; the picture is much bigger than just London.”
Since arriving in Amsterdam, Wave
has stayed true to Warren’s big ideas and secured exciting work with
advertising agencies and production companies the world over. Recently, they
worked on the audio for a truly ground-breaking project for Austrian men’s
magazine, Vangardist. The progressive publication took blood donations from
three HIV-positive volunteers and mixed it with the ink it used to print its
May edition, which subsequently went on to win the Grand Prix in the PR
category at this year’s Eurobest awards.
Alex comments: “It was an honour to
be involved with a campaign that tackles such an important issue in such an
inventive way. Being in Amsterdam has opened our doors to so many different and
unique projects, Vangardist being just one. We want to continue to spread out
and capture as many imaginative projects as we can.”
However, despite its global plans,
Wave has not lost its family feel. A symbiotic relationship between the London
and Amsterdam studios has been created, allowing the work to be seamlessly
passed between the two.
“Projects shuttle backwards and
forwards between Amsterdam and London all the time, especially the international work,” Alex explains, “people love
doing their post in London, yet enjoy the flexibility of being able to continue
the production closer to home with a trusted partner.”
The two studios act as sister
companies, with the teams in London and Amsterdam able to tackle projects from
clients across the globe simultaneously, especially in mainland Europe.
Their global ambition, however, is
driven by their home-grown talent. Warren says: “The collaboration between
London and Amsterdam, and our plans to spread further afield, starts and ends
with the skills and commitment of everyone at Wave. People like Randall
Macdonald, one of our sound designers, and our producers, Ben Tomlin and Mirjam
Gevers, have developed their professional skills no end; we wouldn’t be growing
in the same way without our staff.”
With London and Amsterdam working
in perfect harmony, Wave has cemented its position as a global leader in sound
design and audio post production, but Warren still feels that it remains the
same passionate company that it’s always been. “We like to think of it as
exactly the same business, exactly the same company, it just happens that there
is a quite a long walk between the studios.”