JOSEPH BELL
PRODUCER
About
I'm Joe - a Producer & Digital Creative who has worked on a range of innovative and award-winning productions.I am a personable and driven leader of people and projects with a strong creative focus and a proven ability to collaborate with good people to get things done.Across my time in the industry I have worked for a wide mix of organisations and clients, delivering experiences for on-site and online.I have a particular specialism in innovation and XR projects for the arts, culture and entertainment industries.I'm currently a Senior Producer on the Interactive team at Aardman.
Work
Projects I've worked on include...
Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway
Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway is the very first VR experience featuring the iconic British duo.Developed with and for Meta Quest, this narrative experience gives fans and newcomers alike the chance to step into their world on an epic narrative adventure that takes them from the comforts of West Wallaby St to the depths of deep space.I led the Production Team at Aardman who collectively were responsible for creative development, modelling, animation and overall direction of the final experience.
Wallace & Gromit: Jamtastic!
Wallace & Gromit: Jamtastic is a Mixed Reality game bundled with 'The Grand Getaway' VR-O-Rama adventure.Developed with and for Meta Quest, this experience takes place in your real world room, with Wallace dialling in via hologram and asking you to put his latest 'jam cannon' invention through it's paces. Will you prove yourself a Top Tester by tackling a torrent of toasty targets? And will your room survive the mess-making frenzy?I led the Production Team at Aardman who were responsible for creative development, core game design, modelling, animation and overall direction.
Morph's Thingy-Ma-Bobstacle Course
Morph's Thingy-Ma-Bobstacle course is a body-controlled game for the Sky Live Platform.Working with the tech team at Sky, the Interactive team at Aardman went through a rapid R&D then development phase to create the game as one of the platform's launch titles. The experience used camera-detected poses to have players direct Morph through an endless runner game...with all sorts of characterful touches along the wayI led the discovery and scoping phases and co-produced the final experience with the amazing in-house team at Aardman.
Passchendale 100 with Dan Snow
Passchendaele 100 was a season of activity and content commemorating 100 years since the Third Battle Of Ypres - one of the key moments of the First World War.Working with Ballista Media, I helped develop, then led production on, an extensive mix of digital content for the Royal British Legion's centenary offer presented by Dan Snow. This included 6 short-form films for YouTube and Facebook , 7 archive-driven 360 experiences, 3 360 mini-docs and a 360 video of the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres.
Talking Balls
As part of the BBC Digital Guerrillas - an in-house team tasked with generating content innovation - I worked closely with Ian Ravenscroft to produce a 4-part pilot of 'Football Literally', a format created by Nick Murray Willis in which the random silliness uttered by football coaches, players and commentators was animated in literal form.The sucess of this led to us succesfully pitching and producing a weekly animated social series for BBC Three. The real innovation coming in turning around each episode within a week and finding themes and formats to keep it fresh.The series was hugely popular across BBC Three Facebook and YouTube accounts, the most popular video attracting over 250k views.
Nottingham Castle
Whilst operating my own digital consultancy 'Sideburn Panda', I succesfully tendered to work with Nottingham City Council, and a series of leading digital agencies, on the creation of a wealth of new interactive exhibits for Nottingham Castle as part of their redevelopment project.The suite of material included games, soundscapes, room-size projections, touch screen interactives, large scale films and an innovative physical/digital hybrid experience themed around medieval weaponry.
Tomorrow's World: Global VALUES - WHERE DO YOU FIT?
The 'Global Values Where Do You Fit?' tool was an interactive questionnaire commissioned by BBC Tomorrow's World - created in collaboration with BBC Studios and Professor Sander Van Der Linden at the University Of Cambridge.I was the Producer for BBC Studios - working with Roll Studio to craft an experience that reflected the brand, and encouraged public engagement with real academic research.Using compelling UI and feedback mechanisms, the experience took people through scenarios that tested innate attitudes culminating in a distinct and visually satisfying sharable ‘value fingerprint’ that reflected your personal priorities.
Thirteen
Thirteen was a flagship drama created by BBC Three to mark its move to being an online only channel.Working as part of the BBC Digital Guerrillas I produced 'Lost Years' - a web app and marketing tool that used Facebook data to show what personal and cultural milestones you may have missed if you, like the protagonist in the show, had 13 years of your life taken.I also led production on a far more ambitious narrative campaign called #FindTheGirl. This experience used in-character tweets, blogs, videos, fake websites and interactives to deliver an 'as live' concurrent multiplatform experience that ran alongside and inbetween episodes of the show.
Our World War
'High Wood' was the interactive 4th episode of BBC Three drama 'Our World War'.Released in 2014, this branching narrative experience bridged live action film and game mechanics to get young people engaged with the realities of the First World War.I worked as Assistant Producer to deliver this hugely innovative and award winning interactive project.
The Space
Whilst freelancing as 'Sideburn Panda', I worked with The Space - the digital commissioning agency supported by Arts Council England & the BBC - to help a network of associates and arts organisations deliver over 60 digital projects for the sector.