When choosing which university to go to, both Jack and Dimo wanted to come to Bournemouth, because of the strong reputation of the BU Media School, but also loved the beach and wanted to experience student life to the full.
In their first year, Jack and Dimo and their group of friends came up with an idea to record a podcast about their life in Bournemouth, highlighting different aspects of being a student while following their passion and developing their skills in film making, podcasting, and interviewing. They connected with SUBU when they decided to film an episode of their podcast at the Summer Ball in 2022.
“We were doing these podcasts about being a student at BU, one was on the beach, one was at The Old Fire Station, and then one was meant to be at a festival.
“All of the podcasts were recorded on this sofa that we carried everywhere with us. So, we walked for about 30 minutes with the sofa, and we managed to get into the Summer Ball with it. We put it right in the middle of the festival and interviewed students and staff.
“This is where we got noticed by the SUBU Commercial and Comms Team, and it led to us being invited to work for SUBU as content creators.”
Jack and Dimo began working on a number of SUBU campaigns, from developing Freshers' week content to Speak Week, Student Elections and One World Day, their authentic student voices significantly uplifting the engagement with SUBU’s social media channels.
During their second year, they stayed in Bournemouth over the summer to create content as part of SUBU’s Freshers' campaign. They covered all different locations including the beach, The Old Fire Station and both campuses so students knew what to expect once they arrived.
Building on their success at SUBU, Jack and Dimo decided to set up their own video production company for their placement year. And this is how Impact Films was born as a company. They have successfully developed their business throughout the year, building their brand and successfully getting work around the country and beyond.
“We had to do a placement for a year, and we thought we would be limiting our creative ability if we were just going to go work for one of these big companies, so we decided about a year ago now to set up our company and do it for our placement.
“We have had lots of clients. For example, this month we are completely fully booked. This weekend we're filming a festival. We shot four events in Bristol this month.”
When working for SUBU, one thing that made Jack and Dimo especially proud of their work was helping students and promoting awareness of the struggles they face.
“Our work opens eyes up to the students that don't have as many friends or are a bit lonely. It lets these students know that there are things there for them."
They have both been on a journey of learning, career progression, growing their professional network, and making incredible progress while at Bournemouth and as part of the SUBU team.
“We feel like we're at home at SUBU. It's such a welcoming place with some lovely, supportive people. We love to work here, because it's where we have developed our own creative freedom.”
You can find the full 2023/24 Impact Report here.