Big Orange is proud to announce the launch of MVT: Origins, a new five-part documentary series created in partnership with Music Venue Trust.
The project challenged us to combine documentary storytelling with campaign thinking, creating a series that could engage audiences while supporting Music Venue Trust’s wider mission.
Grassroots music venues are where artists find their audiences, develop their craft and build careers. They’re also under increasing pressure. Rising costs, business rates, and reduced local authority support are putting the future of many independent venues at risk.
MVT: Origins was created to tell that story through the people living it. Across five episodes, artists including Fatboy Slim, IDLES and Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody return to the venues where they first built their careers, sitting down with the owners and operators working to secure their future.
Left to right, front row: Thomas Evrenos – The Pipeline, Sally Ann Oakenfold – The Hope & Ruin, Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Angel Harrington, Green Door Store & Rossi Bar, William Moore – The Prince Albert. Left to right, back row: Santiago Pilgrim – Videographer, Matt Lucas – DOP, Scott Watson – Sound Engineer, Joe de Kwant Stoner – CEO, Will Stockton – Runner.
For Big Orange, the project brought together expertise from across the agency. Strategy, editorial, creative direction, project management, design and video production all played a role in delivering a series that combined artist interviews, archive footage, location filming and round-table discussions across the UK.
Rather than scripting conversations or taking a presenter-led approach, we built the series around honest dialogue. Working closely with Music Venue Trust and the Music Venue Alliance, we gave artists and venue operators equal space to share their experiences, creating a series that reflects both the cultural importance of grassroots venues and the realities of keeping them open.
“MVT: Origins is the kind of project we’ve always wanted to make. We’ve spent years telling brand stories through film – this is us taking that same craft and putting it in service of something that genuinely matters.
For many of us at Big Orange, this isn’t an abstract cause. The Forum in Tunbridge Wells was our venue growing up, and we know exactly what those rooms mean. Working alongside Music Venue Trust, and artists of this calibre, is something we’re incredibly proud of.”
- Joe de Kwant Stoner, CEO, Big Orange
The first episode follows Fatboy Slim back to Brighton, where he revisits the venues that helped launch his career and meets the people working to protect their future.