Featured Member: Tiny Giant
This is the second edition in our featured members series, where we profile our members and showcase the amazing businesses and individuals within our network. In the last edition we interviewed AMBITIOUS PR, if you haven’t seen it, give it a read here.
This month we hung out with Kerry Harrison and Richard Norton from Tiny Giant, here’s what they had to say…
Tell us about Tiny Giant, who are you?
Tiny Giant are all about moving ideas with minds and machines. They’re a studio that wants to create and create and create. They’re a house of ideas, not just a house to inhabit, but to live in and I think that’s what separates them so much…because they’re so passionate about their ideas… it’s very much about feeling like you’re a part of something larger, a part of what’s important.
Well that’s what a neural network would say, but if you asked Kerry and Norts then…
So it’s us, Kerry Harrison, Richard Norton, plus our technical director Derek Ahmedzai. Fun fact, Ahmedzai means the tribe of Ahmeds. Do you notice that the last 2 letters of his name are AI? That’s why we asked him to join our merry jamboree. We also love to collaborate – so if anyone is keen to join forces, give us a call.
What do you do?
We do quite a lot of different things, but I’d say there are 3 main things. We help our clients tell compelling stories with social media, websites and content, we’ve both been doing it for over 20 years. We’re also interested and excited by online bots and smart speakers like Alexa and Google, lately we’ve been playing around with chat bots and voice technology. Lastly, AI, we use it to supercharge our client’s creativity and make headlines with fun things like AI cocktails and cakes.
How long have you been a Bristol Media member?
We’ve both been with Bristol Media for a long time prior to Tiny Giant. Before we took the plunge and set up Tiny Giant, we both worked for other local agencies who were members of Bristol Media. It’s a long history!
What are you most proud of as a business?
In terms of what we’ve achieved so far, creating the first ever AI curator for the Cheltenham Science Festival is a huge highlight for us. It’s been really cool working with them because the person that came in as the coordinator wanted to create some noise and excitement, so she was open to everything. We’ve done some amazing things like live interview with Aida on BBC Radio Gloucester, featured in plenty of blogs, plus an animation is on the cards. It pushed us creatively because we’d never done anything like it before.
What’s your favourite office gadget?
Our Alexa, we can’t even remember a time before smart speakers. Tiny Giant even has its own Alexa skill, Tiny Giant Tales, so you can stay updated on what we’re up to.
Whose work do you admire and why?
In Bristol, we love Fiasco Design, they create beautiful work plus they do an event called Thread which always gets inspiring speakers. Outside of Bristol, a company called Lord Whitney, who create these otherworldly dreamlike sets for music videos and advertising.
What’s your favourite place in Bristol/this area?
[Kerry] The Watershed, I really like what they do there, plus I really love independent films and going to their cinema. A little place out of Bristol I love is the view from the top of Ashton Court, where you can look over the whole of Bristol, it’s gorgeous.
If you could sum up Bristol/this area in 3 words, what would they be?
Welcoming, chilled, collaborative.
What’s the best tip/trick you’ve learnt as a business?
Resilience and positivity. As a start-up it’s not always easy, but it’s much better to DO the thing and think about what could go right rather than what could go wrong. You need to have a positive mindset, keep going and always look on the sunny side.
What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?
We’ve got a few talks coming up, we’ve just finished Social Media Week and K In The Park with the BBC’s Hannah Fry. And there are lots more in the pipeline like the World of Work Conference at the Henley Business School. We’re going to build some storytelling bots, and generally doing a lot of festivals – look out for all kinds of things – bots, AR filters and lots of creative AI.
If you’re interested in collaborations (particularly if your name has an ‘AI’ in it!) get in touch with Kerry and Norts. Thanks to Tiny Giant for getting involved.
Bristol Creative Industries is the membership network that supports the region's creative sector to learn, grow and connect, driven by the common belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.
