- The brand
- Sunnamusk is a London fragrance house that started in Whitechapel. It had become the first sponsor of Khadijah Mellah, a jockey born and raised in Peckham, and needed a way to announce it.
- The idea
- A sponsorship is usually a logo on a sleeve. We saw two stories that matched: a rider from the city in a sport with very few people like her, and a perfume house from east London in an industry that was not waiting for it.
- The film
- Shot at the stables at dusk and cut against black-and-white footage from race day. There is no voiceover. Khadijah tells her own story, and the brand arrives through what she says.
Defy Media is a brand consultancy that makes films. We start with the brand, find the idea worth filming, then shoot it. Working in the UK and Dubai.
We're looking for a small number of brands to partner with, and to keep making films with year after year.
We work like a brand consultancy. Before anything is shot we learn the brand, its market and its audience, and look for the one idea worth filming.
The best work comes from knowing a brand well, so we would rather make ten films with one company than one film each with ten.
We take on a few partners at a time so each one gets our full attention.
Fifteen films, and the story behind each oneAll case studies →
From brand to idea
We start with the brand, long before the camera. Here are four projects and how each got from a brief to the idea we filmed.
- The brand
- A Porsche Centre hosted an evening for its customers. Events like this take a lot to put on and are finished the same night, and the usual event film is a record nobody watches twice.
- The idea
- Film the evening the way a guest would remember it: arriving, the first car you walked over to, the detail you leaned in to look at, the moment the room reacted.
- The film
- It opens outside with the showroom glowing, moves from the full floor to the crest, the leather and a rear wing, and ends on the people.
- The brand
- Padel Pro calls itself the first stand-alone padel club in the Middle East. Its outdoor courts at One Central sit in the middle of Dubai: blue courts in glass boxes, an entrance built from a shipping container and a shop with a wall of rackets. On every side are the towers of Sheikh Zayed Road, with the Museum of the Future across the road.
- The idea
- What this club has that no other can copy is where it stands. So the camera stays low and wide and the towers are always in shot: the Museum of the Future over a serve, Emirates Towers behind the glass, the sun going down between the buildings while a rally goes on.
- The film
- It opens on the club’s name, on a container and on the net, then a serve with the skyline behind it, the feet, the ball, and the logo on the glass with the Museum of the Future reflected in it. The middle is play: a backhand with the museum behind it, a smash under Emirates Towers, a doubles rally shot from the far end as the sky turns orange.
- The brand
- The Fatty Patty is a burger shop with a short menu and a strong look. It needed a film for people who had never been in, in a feed full of finished burgers.
- The idea
- Show it being made, and save the burger for last. The film runs in the order of a visit: the sign, the order, the grill, and the tray landing in the final shot.
- The film
- Almost every shot is a close-up of hands, steel and heat. The brand keeps turning up between them: the lit sign, the stickers, a cap, the bag being packed.
- The brand
- The subject is a BMW M3 Competition in matt grey. On paper it is all numbers, and most films of a car like this show it doing the same things at speed.
- The idea
- The first half of the film has no driving in it. It looks at the car the way an owner does: the badge, the tail lights, a wheel, the cabin lighting up.
- The film
- Everything was shot after dark, so the car’s own lights do most of the work: the blue of the headlights, the red of the tail lights and the glow of the dash.
- The brand
- Mille Miglia Café takes its name from the Italian road race. Inside, two black Ferraris are parked between the tables, one with a red stripe down its middle, a silver Porsche sits by the wall, a Lamborghini engine stands on a plinth, the walls are racing posters and driver portraits, Ayrton Senna has a frame of his own, a Marlboro helmet sits in a glass case and a bear watches the door.
- The idea
- The café’s claim is that it takes both seriously, so the film cuts between them on equal terms. The portafilter locks in, and the next shot is the Lamborghini engine. The espresso pours, and the next shot is a Porsche crest, then Senna. Every step of a coffee has a piece of the collection as its reply.
- The film
- It opens wide on the sign and the striped Ferrari, then goes close: the bonnet and its stripe, the Carrera Panamericana poster, a wall of helmets, an F1 car on a bed of coffee beans. From there the cuts alternate between the bar and the collection until the latte lands on the counter.
- The brand
- Abid Ambre Elixir is a unisex fragrance from Sunnamusk. The launch film had to introduce the name, show the bottle and give people a feeling to attach to it, in about half a minute.
- The idea
- The script came first: “Confidence isn’t something you perform. It’s something you carry.” It describes a person who walks into a room and does not need the room to notice.
- The film
- The set is a pale, empty room with a single deep red square on the wall. A man and a woman are filmed separately, because the scent is for both and the film is not a love story.
- The brand
- As-Subah Outreach ran an emergency appeal after the earthquake in Turkey and sent volunteers to Hatay. Donors rarely see what happens after they give.
- The idea
- Follow the donation all the way to the doorstep. The film is built as a report: the boxes, why they were needed, and where each one went.
- The film
- One minute of volunteers unloading, the damage, aid handed over at the door and a meal cooked in the street, with the charity’s name on screen throughout.
- The brand
- Hadley Simpson races a Ginetta in the GT4 class. A driver’s brand is built on moments that sponsors and fans want to share, and most race highlights look the same.
- The idea
- This weekend had a real story in it. He qualified fastest, was excluded and had to start from the pit lane, then gambled on slick tyres and reached the podium. We cut it as a comeback.
- The film
- The race commentary does the narrating. We filmed through the trackside fencing, in the garage and on the pit wall, and ended on the champagne.
- The brand
- This one has a 190 SL under its own sign, a lounge with a red coupé beside the sofas, a Maybach corner, an AMG hall lit by a single red line across the floor and two G-Classes waiting in the dark. Anyone can see the cars on the manufacturer’s website. The room is the part they have to come for.
- The idea
- The whole film was shot on an iPhone, handheld, in the showroom’s own light: no rig, no extra lamps, nobody on the floor but the person filming. The phone is the method and the room is the subject, because it already looks like this every evening to anyone who walks in.
- The film
- It opens on the 190 SL, goes through the lounge and its red coupé to the two-tone SL under the Maybach sign, then drops into the AMG hall, where a red laser line runs across the floor. Then the details: an AMG badge, a red brake calliper, a Maybach wheel, a grille with a Dubai plate.
- The brand
- Kyrgyzstan has mountains, open grassland, horses and very few tourists. We travelled there with a small group and filmed all of it.
- The idea
- The film opens with someone asking where we are and never stops to explain. It moves the way the trip did: a swim in the dark, a horse, a dirt bike, a flock of sheep blocking the road.
- The film
- It runs for thirty-six seconds and rarely holds a shot for more than a moment. Handheld footage sits next to big landscape frames, which keeps it feeling like a trip.
- The brand
- A Dubai desert safari is an afternoon and a night on one ticket: a drive into the dunes, sunset, sandboarding, then a camp with dinner and a show. Dozens of operators sell it, often side by side on the same booking sites.
- The idea
- No other trip has this shape. It begins in the afternoon heat, peaks at sunset on the dunes and ends in the dark with the camp lit up. We cut the film along that line, so it plays as one evening getting darker.
- The film
- It opens in daylight with the convoy crossing the dunes, filmed from the dashboard and from the sand. The sun goes down over the bonnet of the lead car, and a sandboarder follows it down the ridge.
- The brand
- The brand wanted a film for the month that felt as if it had been made from inside the community, with real people in it.
- The idea
- Anyone who fasts has heard the question, usually with a look of pity. The film takes it and turns it round: “But what if I told you this is my favourite time of the year?”
- The film
- It opens on the street at night with the question, then moves through an office, two friends over chai and a glass of water left untouched on a desk. Each person adds a line.
- The brand
- This one is grey with gold lettering and the tall rear wing the model is known for. Films of it usually head for a track, because that is where the numbers are.
- The idea
- On a circuit the GT3 RS looks at home. On a country road, between hedges and lorries, it looks like something that got out. That contrast is the film.
- The film
- Nearly all of it is shot from a moving car, ahead of, behind and alongside the Porsche, so the road is always sliding through the frame.
- The brand
- Abid Ambre is one of Sunnamusk’s scents. This film was made for social feeds, where anything that looks like a perfume advert is gone in a second.
- The idea
- We borrowed from streetwear: a weathered timber wall, hard shadow, and people who look as if they were photographed between other things.
- The film
- The grade is cold and the light comes from one side, so faces fall into shadow and the amber of the liquid is the warmest thing on screen.
What we make
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Brand films
The story of who you are and why it matters, made to sit on your homepage and open your pitches.
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Commercials
Product and campaign films that earn a second look, shot and graded to the standard your product deserves.
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Event films
Launches, conferences and exhibitions, captured so the people who missed it can see what it was like.
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Documentary
Real people and real stories, filmed with care and cut with patience.
Ways to work with us
We start with your brand, your market and what's working in it right now. Then we build a package around what you need.
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A single shoot
One shoot planned around a clear goal, delivered as a finished film with shorter cuts for your social channels.
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A series of shoots
Several shoots planned together, so a launch or a season has everything it needs.
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Regular content
A steady run of films and social content every month, planned ahead with you by a team that knows your brand.
How it runs
From the first conversation to the final cut, we handle all of it.
- 1
Understand
We get to know your brand, your market and what's working for others in it.
- 2
Plan
We come back with ideas and a package: what to shoot, how often and what it costs. Nothing is booked until you're happy with it.
- 3
Shoot
We bring the crew and the kit and run the day, on location or in a studio.
- 4
Edit
Edit, grade and sound. You see the cut and we refine it with you before delivery.
From clients
Didn’t know what to expect at first, but they nailed it. Super easy to work with, listened to everything we wanted, and made it even better than we imagined.
From start to finish, the experience was smooth. They just get it. Quality work, great communication, and a team that actually cares. I didn’t have to stress about anything, they handled everything with so much attention to detail. It’s rare to find a team that’s this reliable and creative!
Absolutely amazing service! The team went above and beyond to bring our vision to life. We’re blown away by the results, couldn’t have asked for better! They really took the time to understand what we needed and made sure every detail was perfect. Will definitely be coming back for future projects.
These guys delivered. The attention to detail, the creative input, everything was spot on. So glad we went with them.
Questions
- How much does it cost?
- There's no fixed price list. We build a package around your brand and what you need, and you see the full cost before anything is booked.
- How long does a project take?
- It depends on the scope. On the first call we'll give you a timeline for your film.
- Where are you based?
- In the UK. We shoot in Dubai too, and travel wherever the work takes us.
- Do you take one-off projects or ongoing work?
- Both. Some clients need a single film, others want a studio they can call every month.
- How do we start?
- Send us a WhatsApp message with your idea. We'll reply and take it from there.
Message us on WhatsApp
- CallBook a time
- Email[email protected]
- Instagram@defymediauk