Lockdown & Beyond: Looking to the Future with the Media Business of the Year

This month’s Lockdown & Beyond sees us revisit a two-time award-winning animation studio based in Keighley.

Distant Future has won the Media Business of the Year award over two consecutive years.

The business has been helping local and national companies with animation related projects since 2011.

“For us all as individuals, there’s a warm fuzzy feeling from the recognition of the work we do,” said Managing Director Bill Beaumont.

“We spend a lot of our time hyper-focussed on the projects we’re delivering. In a way, our team’s view is quite inward-facing. Receiving an award from an external organisation helps us look up and see our company and the work we do from someone else’s perspective and is very rewarding.

“As a business, it gives us valuable exposure through all the marketing that happens around the event in the local press, on social media, and through articles like this. Anything that gets your name out there is great for brand recognition. If that brand recognition is tied to winning, or even being shortlisted for an award, it’s even better.”

Distant Future always enjoys being part of the awards, and Bill even finds the entry writing an enjoyable part of the process. He said taking a step back and reflected on their achievements throughout the year helps put perspective on the hard work of him and his team.

Especially the year that has just gone, which has been challenging for businesses all over the world. Distant Future has had mixed fortunes, going through periods that have been their busiest ever and their quietest.

Bill said: “The last 18 months for us have been challenging to say the least. While other industries have had it far worse, it’s never good for any business when all the work dries up for months on end. We were able to spend some of that time working on our processes and practising our craft, but there inevitably came a time when people were furloughed.

“Those times were balanced out slightly by periods where so much work comes in, everyone ends up working extra hours, which was really helpful in terms of turnover, but meant that work-life balance took a bit of a hit.

“It’s hard to find the right phrase to sum it all up. It’s not quite right to say it’s been a rollercoaster of a year because rollercoasters are always exciting. Whatever the words are to describe it, we’re all happy to still be in business and still be creating content for our clients.”

Distant Future is pleased to see businesses get back to some normality and are looking forward to what the future holds.

Bill added: “We’ve got all sorts of plans moving forward. We’re always looking for new clients, and we’re always looking to find new services we can offer them. I don’t want to say too much right now, but we have a new service that’s almost ready to launch, which changes our whole approach, allowing the animation work we do to be relevant to a whole new audience. Hopefully, this opens new doors for us.

“We’re also refining the way we work to keep us at the top of our creative game, and if all goes to plan, we’ll be growing our team, creating new jobs on all sides of our business.

“As for the Keighley and Airedale Business Awards, last time we looked, you could only win a category twice in any five-year period, so we’ll be entering again, but will have to look to other categories next time round.”

To learn more about Distant Future, visit www.distantfuture.co.uk