Limehouse's Second Creative Circle Celebrates the Return of Music

“Our differences make us better. And whether it's personal lives or work, people tend not to seek out differences, we tend to stay in our own groups.”

So says Duncan Harriss, managing director and founder of Limehouse, when I ask him why his company is putting together quarterly cross-industry events where, in essence “we’re paying for our competitors to drink beer with our clients.”

“Difference matters. I’ve even started hearing more about mixed gender creative partnerships doing better than single gender ones. So, for years and years we’ve been asking the question ‘what can we do to cross those cliquey bridges and unite people throughout the industry?’”

Thus, Creative Circle was born.

Last night, October 20th, saw the second Creative Circle night in Sydney (the first being held early June) and Limehouse see more on the horizon.

“We’re planning one in Melbourne,” Duncan says. Simon Barbaro, new business director at Limehouse, is quick to add “And, potentially, whilst we’ve got the main quarterly events, there's the chance to do smaller offshoots with different themes. And that’s part of the appeal - each one’s different.”

Indeed they are different. The first event introduced the series, while last night’s had a musical focus. Limehouse, in association with Campaign Brief, joined forces with Squeak E. Clean Studios and featured an exclusive set throughout the evening - all as a celebration of music’s post-Covid return.

But why? What are those strengths in difference Duncan keeps referring to? 

“It’s about breaking down those silos. And that matters for a few reasons. For one, the industry has changed, right? No one's just working on one thing anymore. Everyone has to do work across  and produce content for multiple channels. There's more techniques, and there's more channels,which means the old siloed working of yesteryear has changed considerably. 

In some respects, that’s where Limehouse came from. We brought together production and post production, and we work to make content for all different channels. So, naturally, we had to work with lots of different types of people.”

So there’s the philosophical backing. But how does that translate into an event?

“Well, at the moment, you've got the award events, but people are generally in their cliques because they're all getting awards in a certain area or in the agencies. You've got talky ones, with panels, which are great, but only when audiences are genuinely listening. Then you've got people who do their annual parties, but generally they invite their clients and the people they work with, so you always invite the same people. There weren't any events that really encouraged that cross pollination of people.”

And when it comes to that initial question - the fact that this is an opportunity for “competitors” to socialise - Duncan is unequivocal.

“The benefits outweigh the risk. In fact, we'veeven tried to downplay Limehouse in these events. We pay for it, we organise it, we put all of our time into it, but, really, it's an event for the industry.”

There’s another benefit too.

“Interestingly, the first one we ran had a lot of the more traditional heads of agencies and the directors of production companies. But this one was we had even more artists, and new talent, and young people coming along - and they're the people that don't get invited to events often. So we've got photographers, we've got directors, we've got tech guys, editors and graders, 3D artists, artists who really craft the work.”

Duncan smiles earnestly as he rattles off the list. He’s clearly reached a subject of particular personal importance.

“They don't normally get invited to many events. Quite often, it's only when you’ve made it that you get invited. We wanted to upend that. In fact,” he leans in conspiratorially, “we have upended it. We actually met  Squeak E. Clean Studios at the first one, and they went, ‘you know what, we never get invited to these parties, because we're comprised of music people. Let's do an event with you.’

Thus the second Creative Circle found its theme and its partner, and Duncan’s vision of industry connections across all experience ranges and areas of expertise drew ever closer.

“It's an industry event. We may host, but we want it to have a life of it’s own - so to everyone out there, we so welcome ideas and other sponsors. And, frankly, I can’t wait to see,” he says, “where it all goes next.