Sunrise Studios is a community production company based in Lowestoft that aims to provide opportunities for young people in media, music and the arts.
The social enterprise enjoyed success at this year’s EADT Business Awards – scooping the Positive Impact in the Community award, sponsored by Lovell.
“The award has helped improve our reputation and back up our successful track record in supporting young people in our communities,” said Joshua Freemantle, who was just 18 when he launched Sunrise Studios within regional charity Access Community Trust in 2021.
“It’s inspired us to keep pushing ahead with the opportunities we offer to benefit under 25-year-olds across Lowestoft and our local community – and look at how we can continue to expand our existing provisions thanks to the overwhelming success they are having.”
Sunrise Studios offers professional photography, filming and marketing services, ranging from corporate photography for new businesses to promotional content and fully licensed aerial drone footage.
“Our multi-talented and qualified team also has a plethora of experience in managing social media for several other non-profits, through creating bespoke videos to capture their positive stories and targeted campaigns,” said Joshua.
The company reinvests all its profits into community projects and creative opportunities for disadvantaged people under the age of 25.
“As a young person myself, I wanted to support others with the support and resources that I struggled to access when I was younger,” said Joshua.
“During the first lockdown in 2020, I decided to create a business plan for what would become Sunrise Studios – which would be a community production company run by young people to support other young people within media and music primarily.”
Joshua has been interested in photography from an early age but “had a challenging time in education settings”, where he didn’t feel his passion was taken seriously.
“I was able to establish myself and gain substantial experience both working commercially and also facilitating workshops – something that could later benefit other young people with cultural opportunities that are all too often hard to access in communities with high levels of deprivation and social isolation such as Lowestoft.”
To date, Sunrise Studios has delivered various community projects, including an annual film festival which showcases young filmmakers across the UK. This year’s festival took place across seven days in October and saw 1,500 audience members support the various screenings and events.
Its latest project, ‘Strike A Chord’, provides weekly music therapy sessions for people aged between 12 and 19.
Each week, a collective of young people have an opportunity to create, produce and record their own music – both individually and as a group for an end-of-project album – with Sunrise Studios helping participants build the confidence and self-esteem to perform live.
“This year’s group have just finished the composition of their very own Christmas single titled ‘The Winters Night’, which is now available to download and stream on all major streaming platforms,” said Joshua.
“Media and music are such an important tool to benefit our wellbeing and boost our confidence as individuals,” he added.
“The creative industries as a whole are also increasingly harder to get into – young people deserve to be able to access the first stepping stones in their chosen artform or creative subject. These opportunities shouldn’t be taken away from anyone.”
Building on its success to date, Joshua hopes to continue expanding the support and projects that Sunrise Studios offers young people.
“We have an ambitious long-term plan to one day have our own creative school within Sunrise Studios – to benefit people with accreditations and qualifications that they can achieve alongside our existing support,” he said.
“However, our community projects that benefit so many young people would not be able to continue without the businesses, organisations and other non-profits or social enterprises that support our commercial services.”
For more information, visit sunriselowestoft.com
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