I was brought in to create the event film for Sterling Street’s 2026 Gala Dinner, a black-tie celebration bringing together around 100 guests at the Harbour Hotel in Southampton. Sterling Street provides mortgage and financial advice to families and businesses, so this was an opportunity to show another side of the company: the people, culture and community behind the professional services they provide.

The brief was packed. Over the course of the evening there were drinks and networking, multiple rounds of employee awards, speeches, a charity foundation introduction and performances from a cellist, dancers, violinist and DJ. I needed to capture everything from the polished details of the venue, food and entertainment through to the unscripted reactions of award winners and colleagues celebrating together.

With so much happening on a strict schedule, planning was a huge part of the job. I worked from a detailed running order so I could anticipate important moments rather than simply react to them — particularly the three separate award presentations and performances taking place throughout the night.

The aim wasn't to create a straightforward record of the evening. Sterling Street wanted something energetic and cinematic that could recreate how the event felt for somebody watching afterwards. I therefore focused on movement, interactions, reactions, atmosphere and the little details that helped tell the story of the night.

After the event, I edited the footage into a longer highlight film alongside shorter, social-first edits, giving Sterling Street content that could continue celebrating the evening long after the last award had been handed out. The agreed approach allowed for a two-to-four-minute main highlight film, with shorter social edits of around 30–90 seconds.