Meet the three Wigan mates who are working with some of the world's biggest names with their new production studio

Ryan Connor, 28, from Goose Green and Joe Mitchinson, 28, from Winstanley, decided to start up their own media production studio after after discovering they had a knack for creating content to be used across social media platforms and landing some paid work.

Another friend, Scott Wilson, 30, from Worsley Mesnes, also joined them on their business venture and together, they are the creatives behind Voxy Media House: a production company which they re-launched together, with a whole new look, in November.

They have spent the last nine months working around the clock building a brand new multifunctional studio based at Wigan Hall on Frog Lane, where they have opened their brand new Hyde Studios, which they offer to other clients to be hired out for production and creative content.

Ryan and Joe are creative directors and Scott is the production director. Ryan mostly directs, works on story boards and colour palettes, Joe shoots and edits and Scott coordinatesthe lighting and organises the call sheets, bringing everything together, although they all cross over into each other’s roles.

On how it all started, Ryan said: “Joe and I went on a holiday to Ibiza and he filmed the experience on his phone, and the video went viral. Local Wigan businesses like gyms and stuff started asking us to do videos for their social media platforms. I left my university course studying graphic design and Joe left his job railways, and we landed paid work.

“But we both lost our production jobs during lockdown as everything was closed. So we were like, ‘we’ve always talked about it, so let’s just use this time and set up our own production company’, and so we set up Voxy Media House.

“Scott had helped us out on a job and asked us if we wanted to share his rented studio for a while at the time. So we brought Scott on at Voxy Media House as a director and have managed to secure really good work as a team in the last 12 months.

“Since then, we’ve had TV commercials, worked alongside some of the biggest brands in the world, such as Under Armour and Nike, and worked in places like Los Angeles, Miami and New York. We had our first TV commercial last year at Christmas, that was with Anthony Joshua and was our first big budget commercial for a national campaign."

On what life is like working with friends in a new business partnership together and what the studio will bring to Wigan, Ryan said: “People always say, ‘don’t go into business with family or friends’ but take it from me, it can be done and can work out really well. Don’t get me wrong: we’re around each other a lot and sometimes it can get a bit tense. But overall, it’s great getting to do something you love with your mates.

“We really do believe that Hyde Studios aligns perfectly with the cultural and creative revolution Wigan is currently undergoing. Alongside all the other amazing seeds that have been planted in the town such as; the new Royal Court Theatre on King Street, the revamping of Wigan Pier and the new Galleries complex, we truly believe that Hyde Studios has a special place amongst all of that.

"The sleeping giant that is Wigan will soon be an epicentre for arts, creativity, culture, opportunity and so much more.”