OK, the viewing room of South East Essex College may not be The Odeon Leicester Square, and the paparazzi comprised of a solitary snapper from the Southend Echo. But for the people involved in the project, this premiere was as important as any red carpet event in the West End.

This was the end result of a superb project for Cherry, where we were approached by Connexions and the Learning and Skills Council to collaborate with students and young people on the production of a 30-second cinema ad.

The ad was to promote the Train For Your Future scheme, which aims to promote learning and skills development to young people at work. It was to be screened in cinemas all over Essex. We began by holding focus groups with youth already on the scheme in Essex, finding out their motivations and inspirations for joining up, and what type of ad would grab their attention. The insight provided by this group was invaluable.

We returned to the group a week later to present three storyboards which had been born directly out of their creative input. The session was lively and constructive, and after much debate and some minor rewrites, we finally got a unanimous decision on the creative direction of the ad. That was as tough a client presentation as we had been through!

The next step was to get our cast and crew. We approached South East Essex College, with its superb media facilities, and they provided the raw talent to turn the storyboard into reality.

Working to an incredibly tight deadline, the tutors and students pulled together to set up a casting, source locations and gather the necessary equipment. All in the space of a week.

We shot the ad on the coldest day of the year, the final outdoor night scene taking three hours and testing everybody’s cold tolerance threshold to the maximum.

But the day went swimmingly. The student crew, led by upcoming superstar director Matt Scarsbrook, were unflappable. And making his screen debut, lead actor Mikey Lee showed nerves of steel to step up and deliver.

Many thanks to everybody involved with the project. To see the results, either treat yourself to a night out at a cinema in Essex, or click here.