who makes

the films

Directors

Beeston Media was founded in 2005 by Hamish and Penny Beeston, two senior broadcast professionals who have both honed their skills in videography, directing and film production over 30 years in factual television.

Penny Beeston

Penny Tempory Headshot

Founder and Managing Director, Beeston Media.

Penny launched her career with the BBC’s Natural History unit, entering the corporation straight out of Oxford University. She gained invaluable production experience working with popular zoologist Desmond Morris, and spent lengthy periods filming wildlife documentaries in Africa, Indonesia and America.

She also developed a specialisation creating programmes from library material, learning to weave spellbinding storylines through pre-existing footage. Her broadcasting skills and experience were further deepened during her years as a series producer with Granada Television and ITV Factual.

Since joining Beeston Media, Penny has taken the lead in steering the overall direction of the company. She also acts as the main liaison between Beeston Media and the University of Bristol, for whom the team has made over 700 films since 2011. Penny enjoys working with clients in a strategic advisory capacity, developing video policy and guidelines, and running wider production teams and pro bono work.

Hamish Beeston

Hamish Headshot

Founder and Creative Director, Beeston Media.

Hamish learnt his trade at primetime BBC One, BBC Two, National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Between 1993 and 2005, he produced / directed over 30 long-form documentaries, and worked on many other shows.

He was encouraged to pick up a camera while working as a director at the BBC, and became a skilled camera operator and stills photographer. He’s a versatile all round picture and sound editor and technically reviews all our output to ensure exceptional standards for our clients.

On multiple occasions, Hamish has been named Videographer and Photographer of the Month by the international website Photography for Real Estate. He also won Videographer of the Year in 2014 and sat on the website’s judging panel.

Our Staff

Helen Waddell

Helen Headshot

Producer/Director

Helen began her career as a researcher on BBC docu-series and factual entertainment shows, such as ‘Who Do You Think You Are.’ From there she’s built a career producing for major broadcasters including the BBC, PBS, C4 and Netflix on documentaries following the police, trawlermen, A&E and major historical events.

More recently, Helen was self-shooting and directing for theOne Show’. And produced on the Grierson-nominated documentary film ‘Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11,’ for MSNBC, and the RTS-awarded BBC series, ‘Trawlermen: Hunting the Catch.’

Helen has gained an eye for detail, narrative, and bringing out the best from contributors. She now works as one of our primary producers and interviewers, contributing her rich expertise in all stages of video production. Helen is a founder member of the Bristol Unscripted Network and perseveres with running and yoga.

Dion Owen

Dion Headshot

Director Cameraman/Technical Lead

Dion joined us from a TV / Journalism course at UWE in 2018 and is now a key member of the team. He’s our main camera operator, a qualified drone pilot and manages all our filming technical equipment. He also runs his own projects within Beeston Media, including multi-film series for University of Bristol Professional Services, several projects for publisher Simon & Schuster and collaborations with world renowned street artist Hazard One.

Dion's interests also include directing music videos, creating short form content for social media and stills photography.

Jake Christian

Jake Headshot

Editor

Jake started his career in sports broadcasting, with a focus on professional wrestling and boxing. While working with some of the largest names in these sports he moved into large scale international events filming for broadcast and advertising. Over the last decade, he has worked both shooting and editing content for The History Channel, PBS and more recently, global YouTube stars.

Whilst keeping his hand in as a versatile allrounder, Jake specialises in post-production at Beeston Media, with expertise in editing and graphic softwares such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop and After Effects. If there’s a tech problem to crack, Jake’s our go to person. Jake’s outside interests include writing, poetry and muti-player gaming.

Joe Astill

Joe Headshot

Junior Videographer

Joe graduated in 2023 with a first class in Film and Television for the University of Bristol. His final short film has been shortlisted for several international film festivals. Joe’s talent and enthusiasm for video production was evident during his internship with us and, since joining our staff, he’s thrown himself into numerous roles as our trainee junior filmmaker across the lifecycle of production. Together with Jake, he keeps a close eye on innovation including embracing AI technology and tools in video production. Joe’s farming background means he’s got great down to earth skills that come in handy for the more practical elements of our business such as adapting props or kit maintenance. That plus a forklift licence!

Company

BM About Us 02

As well as our team, we also bring in freelancers when necessary including specialist camera people, editors and videographics designers.

As a small production company with low overheads but huge expertise and contacts, we are confident of being able to respond quickly to our clients' needs, whilst also keeping our costs reasonable.

Our community

We’re based at Hamilton House in Stokes Croft, Bristol’s creative quarter, right next to some of the city’s most famous street art. We share the building with an incredible range of creatives including radio stations, music producers, vocal coaches, artists, web professionals, illustrators and festival producers. Stokes Croft is also known for fantastic cafes and restaurants including The Canteen directly below us.

Some of our clients

Aquarium ArchitectureAston UniversityATETABonovateBritish Tinnitus AssociationCapricorn FinancialConsultants in DesignCPC GroupCurtiss WrightDD LondonDocsinnoventFargainHarrison VarmaHoneywellKnowlesLondon ProjectsMonmouth ScientificNCNR RoboticsNisbets LogoNorthacreQEB Hollis WhitemanQuartet Community FoundationRayleigh InstrumentsRetreat EastRigbySimon & SchusterSouth West Nuclear HubSPINK logoTR black logoTrinity House logoUniversity of Bristol logoUniversity Hospitals Bristol NHS TrustWerner Capital