Alex Katz has been an established executive producer for many years, making a name for herself producing commercials and film content around the world for a plethora of brands. With a passion for food and food photography, she began to specialise in food and drink over the last few years working across numerous brands such as M&S, Morrisons, Sainsburys, McDonalds, Kelloggs, Heinz and Cadbury. Seeing a gap in the market, three years ago
Alex decided to set up BITE Collective with Niall Downing.
The original concept for BITE was to bring together the UKs top food and drink directors and stills photographers all under one roof, creating a centre of excellence for any and all food-related content. And so BITE was born, the first specialist Food Film Production Company in the country.
Dominic Seymour is a prolific executive producer in the industry with his portfolio spanning across many of the finest food brands in the world.
He met photographer Charlie Stebbings purely by chance and the pair have since shared a love of food and created outstanding and memorable campaigns such as Waitrose with Heston Blumenthal, Tesco Food Love Stories, McDonalds, Aldi, Johnnie Walker, Guinness – you name it!
‘This is not just food, this is M&S food’ catapulted them into the stratosphere making their names synonymous with excellence within food film and photography production. So much so that twenty years later, Dom and Charlie have teamed up with Alex and Niall along with Gus Filgate to create ‘BITE Collective’ and share their passion for creating the finest new work with their amazingly talented team of directors, content creators and influencers.
Francine Linsey needs no introduction. An industry powerhouse with over 25 years of top level experience, she was chief production officer at leading global advertising agency, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. During her career she has led teams of 100+ across every imaginable production platform including; TV, Digital, Social, Stills, Events and Experiential. She has an outstanding portfolio of work across brands such as Sainsburys, ASDA, Walkers, Guinness, Bacardi and Martini to name but a few. Francine was also former chair of the IPA Production Policy Group and director of The British Arrows Awards. She is thrilled to take a BITE as executive producer and partner alongside Dom & Alex.
Q> Can you provide any slogan or a short sentence that describes your company?
Bite> We are the go to company in the UK for all things food and drink. We not only have our own exclusive roster of talent – directors, photographers, influencers and more, but we have access to many more freelancers and partners who can help your project, no matter the size
Q> What is your niche? Is there something that sets you apart from other companies?
Bite> We provide a fully complimentary service – creation, content, talent, experiential and event management -we can offer a joined up campaign for any product / launch
Q> What path led you to founding your company?
Bite> We have a team that have worked in different areas of the drinks and food worlds for many years – in the spirit of collaboration and creative discovery, we have created a platform where like minded people can share ideas and offer a truly extensive array of talent
Q> How would you describe your company culture?
Bite> Best in class at each and every level – a collaborative collective who strive to push the standards of content, photography and film to higher levels and make our clients products stand out in a busy marketplace
Q> Who is the team behind your company?
Bite> EP – Alex Katz and Dom Seymour are our lead Eps – there is literally nowhere they haven’t shot – no UK supermarket they haven’t helped to up their game! Alongside Francine Linsey (ex chief production officer at AMVBBDO) we have an un-rivalled team to guide any production with skill and importantly to budget.
Q> What were your biggest projects so far? Tell us something about them.
Bite> M&S, Morrisons, Tesco’s, McDonalds, to name but a few.
Currently we are putting the finishing touches to a delicious Christmas campaign, breaking in a few weeks.
Q> What is your best attribute being a producer / head of…?
Bite> Having an ex head of agency production on board, we are able to fully understand and work directly with clients – giving a first class service from strategic planning, creation, talent negotiations, production and play outs
Q> How do you see the future of film?
Bite> We are seeing more joined up productions – we have been creating unique online content with our influencers that is complimented by high quality commercials all from the same stable of talent – often the personalities are driving the campaigns, but we still need to see delicious food!!
Q> How does your company address sustainability, and diversity and Inclusion internally?
Bite> We have a diverse roster and D&I are at the heart of what we do as a company. We run every shoot as sustainably as possible – no printing, no plastic bottles on set – everyone brings their own water bottles and obviously we shoot locally as much as possible in our studios, so keep travel to a minimum where possible.
Q> What are some of the most exciting new developments that have taken place at your company recently?
Bite> We are beginning to explore the vast drinks market. We have contacts in the photography, drinks styling and bar tending world – a whole new world that is driven by social media and experiential events
