Meet the father and son team behind Haltwhistle-based Flashlight Films, responsible for some of the north’s most innovative videos and the production outfit every up-and-coming band wants to work with.

AS editing suites go, it’s hardly Hollywood.

Climb the stairs of a terraced house on the main road into Haltwhistle, turn right into one of the bedrooms – and there it is, an ordinary-looking computer on a narrow desk overlooking the back yard and the adjacent alleyway.

Yet it is here, in the house of father-and-son team Ian and Matthew Brown – the double act better known as Flashlight Films – that some of the most imaginative video work in the north of England, if not the whole country, is being created.

Their work includes wildly inventive promo videos for local bands Little Comets, Polarsets, Vinyl Jacket and So What Robot, with the first, below, getting screen time on MTV and the last, bottom, being shown on big screens as part of the BBC Music Video Festival earlier this year.

But the glamour is backed up by some solid bread and butter work such as weddings, DVDs for tourist attractions, live events and educational videos.

Indeed the roots of the firm are planted firmly in the latter category. Flashlight Films was born three years ago when Ian, 55, made redundant after 23 years as a teacher, decided to turn his hand to new venture.

He says: “I’d made films at school – special events, curriculum subjects, teacher training tools, that sort of thing – so the process had always interested me. But around the same time as I was being laid off, Matt was graduating from his film production course at Staffordshire University, and so it made perfect sense to go into business together.”

Using Ian’s redundancy pay, plus a small grant from the local Business Link, the pair were able to invest in a camera, tripod and some editing equipment. From the off, there was a distinct division of labour.

“Matt’s the creative one, I run the business side of things,” says Ian.

It’s a role Matt, 25, has fitted into with ease having been fascinated by film from a young age and with a number of highly-acclaimed solo projects under his belt including a short movie about the damaging effects of the social scene that later did the rounds of the independent film festivals.

“I’ve always admired directors like Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze,” he says. “They have a quirky approach to film making that is really fresh. It’s all about trying to think outside the box, especially when you’re working with bands who need a video to stand out.”

Despite their growing reputation, Ian and Matt remain committed to their home patch, often recruiting local people to appear in their videos.

This was very much in evidence earlier this year when Flashlight decided to enter Sound + Vision 35/45, a competition in which they had just two weeks and no budget to create a video for a song by Middlesbrough band Toyger.

“We just rounded up as many kids as we could find,” recalls Ian. ‘It so happened they were all ones that I had taught during my time as deputy head at Haltwhistle school. It was really great fun.”

The resulting video was shortlisted and screened at a live showcase event in Newcastle. Although it didn’t win, it further cemented Flashlight’s reputation as an outfit to watch.

Next day, though, it was business as usual for Ian and Matt.

“I’ve been working on a pitch for Cleveland Fire Brigade,” Ian says. “It’s not glamorous, but then glamour doesn’t pay the bills.”

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