Somethin' Else (content agency)

Somethin' Else is a content agency^[2] founded in 1991 by Jez Nelson, Chris Philips and Sonita Alleyne. The company’s first production was the Gilles Peterson Show, created for the UK’s independent radio network in 1993. The agency specialises in content strategy and production across video, television, radio, social media and interactive content. It is the BBC's biggest multi-platform supplier, including over 20 weekly radio shows. Somethin' Else has won multiple Sony Radio Academy Awards and eight BAFTA awards, including the Children’s Production Company of the Year award in 2013 and 2015. In 2015, the agency also won a Prix Italia award for 'Best Digital Storytelling' for their interactive drama, Footballers United.^[3]

Past and present clients of Somethin' Else include the BBC,^[4][5] The Economist,^[6] Channel 4,^[7] Sky Arts,^[8] publishers Penguin Random House, brands such as Red Bull,^[9] Boots,^[10] Porsche,^[11] Chivas Regal,^[12] FIAT,^[7] Kew Gardens,^[13] Nissan,^[14] Wrigley,^[15] Rolls-Royce^[16] and The British Phonographic Industry.^[17][18]

Notable Somethin' Else productions include Kermode and Mayo's Film Review,^[19] Gardeners' Question Time,^[20] Silverpoint^[21] and Guitar Star.^[22]

Somethin' Else's board includes Jez Nelson, Steve Ackerman (MD), Paul Bennun, Ben Kerr^[23] (ex-creative director of Drum). The chairman is Tom Barnicoat^[24] (former COO at Endemol group) and Jon Wilkins (founder of Naked) is a non-executive director^[25]

Selected projects

Radio

• Kermode and Mayo's Film Review (BBC Radio 5 Live), 2011–present
• 6-0-6 (BBC Radio 5 Live), 2010–2015
• BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix (BBC Radio 1), 1993–present
• Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6 Music) ^[26]
• Fresh 40 (Kiss Network), 2006–2009
• Gardeners' Question Time (BBC Radio 4), 2009–present ^[27]
• Essential Classics (BBC Radio 3) ^[28]
• 1914 Day By Day ("BBC Radio 4")^[29]
• The Selector (NME Radio), 2001–2010
• Jazz on 3 (BBC Radio 3) ^[30]
• The Radio 1 Rock Show (BBC Radio 1)^[31]
• The Kitchen Cabinet (BBC Radio 4)^[32]
• The Surgery (BBC Radio 1) ^[33]
• Martin Garrix Rocks Blackpool (Combined iPlayer and BBC Radio 1)

Television

• Guitar Star (Sky Arts)
• Northern Soul: Living for the Weekend (BBC Four)
• Guin and the Dragon (BBC 2)
• Between the Lines (BBC Learning)
• Ten Pieces (BBC Learning)

Digital

• XY Network - The world's first mobile Internet entertainment network ^[34]
• Foxy TV^[35]
• Footballers United^[36]
• The Economist - In 2014 it was claimed by editor John Micklethwait that German President Angela Merkel listens to the audio app in her car^[37]
• Cayman Balance^[11]
• BRIT Awards (the most tweeted about TV show of all time)^{[38][39][40][41]}
• Social Media for BBC 6 Music^[42]
• Immersive Oculus Rift experience for the South African Tourust Board^[43]
• Story Farm - A multiplatform storytelling tool^[44]

Video games

• Papa Sangre (iOS), 2010
• The Nightjar (iOS), 2011
• Papa Sangre II
• Audio Defence: Zombie Arena
• Strange Hill High
• Nightmare High
• Dumping Ground
• The Doctor and the Dalek - a game which teaches children to code^[45]

References