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Migrant Sound - WE ARE Pi x Boiler Room

  • April Edgar
  • Finn White-Thomson
  • Yungg Purgg
  • Josh Wiley
  • Emma Finamore
  • Stephen Mai

At Hooton PR Agency, I lead the launch of the Migrant Sound music documentary series for our client WE ARE Pi, made in collaboration with Boiler Room. The Migrant Sound series spotlights the incredible contributions made by the Windrush generation on the UK music scene, covering genres from Punk to Dancehall. To amplify the launch of the series, we curated a private screening event as part of the ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event) programming at a club called melkweg, followed by a Q&A with Executive Producers, Ravi Amaratunga-Hitchcock (Pi Studios) & Stephen Mai (Boiler Room). I helped curate the guestlist, organise the evening and select the DJ for the drinks afterwards. We also secured a main stage speaking spot for both Ravi and Stephen at onbrand, Amsterdam's most renowned marketing conference to promote the series, but also to share their experiences as ethnic minorities in the media industry. The series went on to win a Webby Award in 2019 under the Culture and Lifestyle category - https://winners.webbyawards.com/2019/social/social-content-series-campaigns/culture-lifestyle-series-campaigns/96869/migrant-sound-celebrating-migration-through-its-impact-on-music-and-culture

Immigration is a contentious topic across the Western world and repeatedly sensationalised by the mainstream media. To combat this global online platform Boiler Room have created SYSTEM, a campaign which celebrates the positive cultural impact of migration. Migrant Sound is part of this wider campaign, showcasing the different ways in which immigration has affected music culture over time. The first episode of the series, Arrival, is available across Boiler Room’s social channels and streaming platform 4:3 from today.
Launching ahead of London’s Notting Hill Carnival weekend, Migrant Sound is a four part documentary series that focuses on the original Windrush generation and their descendants amid the backdrop of this year’s UK political scandal. Migrant Sound combines societal stories with personal family histories - from the 1950s to today - showing how their migration changed the course of British music culture forever.
Arrival, the first episode of the 4 x 10 minute series, focuses on how the Windrush generation used music to shape their identities and overcome the ignorance and hostility they faced. We meet photographer Pogus Caesar and the Banton family from Peckham, who share how music helped them overcome the ignorance they met and shaped their identities, through multiple generations.
The following three episodes will explore racism, identity and future sounds, with contributors such as journalist Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff of Gal Dem, dance music legend A Guy Called Gerald, first wave punk artist Melodie and her daughters - members of Skinny Girl Diet, as well as young photographer Rhianne Clarke, activist Charlie Wilson and up and coming music sensation Fredwave.
Migrant Sound is part of Boiler Room’s SYSTEM campaign, which was created to celebrate migration and the positive cultural impact it has on society. The project brings together a community of artists, activists, and families to tell their stories through installations, film, editorial, music and performance.
Created with Amsterdam-based Pi Studios, WE ARE PI’s entertainment company, the first episode of Migrant Sound: Arrival will be available to stream from today (24th August) across Boiler Room’s Facebook Live, IG TV, YouTube and streaming platform 4:3. New episodes will then be released weekly. Watch Migrant Sound: Arrival here: https://youtu.be/0REeEvkj43g
For more information about the SYSTEM campaign go to http://system.boilerroom.tv
Below is some of my favourite media coverage we secured.

Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock and Stephen Mai speaking at ONBRAND conference, Amsterdam.
Black History Month
It's Nice That
Editor's pick on Creativity/AdAge
Migrant Sound Credits:
Launch date: 24th August 2018
Launch Platform: Boiler Room 4:3
CLIENT: Boiler Room
Executive Producer, Boiler Room: Joe Alexander
Executive Producer, Boiler Room: Stephen Mai
Researcher: Bradley Steptoe
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY: Pi Studios
Series Executive Producer: Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock
Series Producer: Francesca Ali Mirza
Development Producer: Alice Lewis
Production Director: Kim Buttery
Casting Producer: Kandise Abiola
PRODUCTION COMPANY: My Accomplice
Director: Jeremy Ngatho Cole
Producer: Aleksandra Bilic
Producer: Jenny Broad
2nd Unit Director: Olivia Emes
Executive Producer: Jamie Clark
Head of Production: Jess Wylie
Researcher: Chardine Taylor-Stone
Researcher: Emma Finamore
Archive Researcher: Sue Cunningham
EDITING
Editor: Julian Fletcher
Editor (ep 2 only): David Graham
SOUND AND MUSIC
Composer (ep 3-4 only): Kwake Bass
Music Supervisor: Steph Perrin
Post Production House: Okay Studio
POST PRODUCTION
Post Producer: Honor Page
Colourist: Ludovic Roussaux from Okay Studio
Online editor: Faris Hallaq from Okay Studio
Dubbing Mixer: Mark Whitfield
Visual Identity & Title Design: Pierre Gilles, Kazimier Salemink, Jack Samels, Finn White-Thomson
WITH THANKS TO: Red Stripe, Gal Dem, Lynda Burrell and Catherine Ross at Museumand, The Windrush Movement - Midlands, Cloud9 Music
ARCHIVE: Getty, Pogus Caesar/OOM Gallery Archive, Kino Library, Bristol Archives
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  • Boiler Room logo

    Boiler Room

    • Music
  • We Are Pi logo

    We Are Pi

    • Advertising
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    Hooton

    • A

      Amsterdam Dance Event

      • m

        melkweg

        Skills