EP63 - GIANT INFLATABLES MAKER - John Spence

Owner of Megaflatables, a manufacturer of giant inflatables. Megaflatables designed the giant monsters that were all over the city of Chelmsford. They’ve designed giant Squid Game characters for Netflix promotion, including a giant 15 metre inflatable red light green light doll Young-Hee. NIck has worn a real Squid Game tracksuit. John smells gorgeous FYI. What makes you a Mudite if you live in Maldon?

John started his career at Canon reprographics for 20 years - but was tired of this work - so he started a new business with variable voice recognition. His business partner had an unrelated idea to start selling Air Dancers AKA Wacky Waving Arm Tube Guys! Air Dancers were designing in the USA in the 1970s to draw attention to car dealerships. Making a giant inflatable Rylan. John’s company made the huge Camilla Walala inflatable installation for London Design Festival. There are a lot of Health and Safety considerations in the inflatable industry to ensure public safety. Megaflatables design in two dimensions, and their manufacturer works out the three dimensional model. Inflatables don’t like straight edges, so you’ll end up with more curved shapes in designs.

Why do new warehouses use 1:1 scale inflatable articulated lorries? To give an idea of scale. Making a 15 metre floating Loch Ness Monster to surprise a stag on a stag do. Finding inflatable manufacturers around the world. How a deal with Pizza Hut in Upminster really kickstarted the creativity at Megaflatables. How John ended up on Dragon’s Den, and did they invest? If you can think it, we can make it.

Don’t chase quick money - Make good quality products that’ll keep people coming back. Making stage inflatables for bands on tour. The art of hand painting inflatables to look solid. Making giant boobs for the Scissor Sisters. Making inflatables for the Lord Mayor’s New Years Parade and Pride. Making art for David Shrigley, crazy swans and giant thumbs up. Working with Jason Wilshire-Mills to make giant art inflatables with disabled children. Inflatables are such a joyful medium.

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Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

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Thanks to NGDA for their support

Transcript

Nick 0:00

Sometimes we have amazing chat.

SPEAKER_05 0:02

Oh yeah.

Nick 0:02

In instant no in no instantly. And if you don't record it, you miss it. It's sad, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 0:09

Yeah.

Nick 0:10

Yeah, no problem at all.

SPEAKER_05 0:11

Nice to meet you, John. Nice to meet you. I'm so sorry.

Nick 0:13

John, please don't tell Sangeita what you do. Okay. Because it's a secret. For a little while. Well, it's not, you know, we will we will find out in about three minutes.

Lora 0:26

I don't know.

Nick 0:27

Yeah, I'm in it. Have you got a branded um hoodie on then?

SPEAKER_05 0:30

Uh probably. Yeah, probably. It's on the right on the right colour, isn't it? I think so.

Nick 0:36

So um stick your headphones on. I could go you can take your coat off if you want.

Lora 0:43

This is lovely and clear.

Nick 0:44

Yeah, so put your headphones on and you'll hear how amazing you sound. Okay, cool. So these mics are directional. So like if you you can hear me, like if I'm talking over here, you can't hear me so well when I go on a bit. So if you're talking to Sangeeta, just try and keep your mouth that way. Reasonably, reasonably nearly um.

Lora 1:01

Give me the side eye.

Nick 1:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lora 1:04

You're gonna have to give me the side eye quite. Don't worry.

Nick 1:07

Hang on, John, you smell gorgeous. I smell gorgeous. Yeah, what's the smell of?

SPEAKER_05 1:12

I don't know about that. I'd like to say it's so natural, it's probably over small me.

Lora 1:19

Love it.

Nick 1:20

It's good. If I was a bear, I think I'd be able to I'd be able to smell you from a hundred miles away.

SPEAKER_05 1:24

We did that, it's very kind.

Nick 1:25

Yeah. I mean, you've got to be careful about that. Bears smelling you from a hundred. Dogs can smell stuff from a long fire.

SPEAKER_05 1:32

How many bears have you?

Nick 1:34

Well, how many bears have smelt you? Oh, well, the zoo, probably quite a few, but oh my god, imagine that. Imagine bears, like there's a yes, loads more people coming. There's a thousand more people coming. They're in the car park at the moment, eating their sandwiches.

Lora 1:51

Right, keeps cutting out.

Nick 1:53

What does? Your headphones.

Lora 1:55

Yeah, no, that's better.

Nick 1:56

Yeah? Yeah. Go on, John, talk. Good afternoon. Good evening. No, you're allowed to talk. Just make sure your um the volume's alright and stuff, it's not too hard. Yeah, I think so. No, no, fine. Sounding good. And you've you've got one eye on me. Yep. Do you want to move the mic at all or are you happy with that?

SPEAKER_05 2:10

You you just uh So should I do maybe that?

Nick 2:13

Oh no actually know if you put the mic here, and then you can move your seat just a little bit.

Lora 2:17

It's you that I can't hear.

Nick 2:19

What?

Lora 2:19

No, I can't hear you.

Nick 2:20

Really?

Lora 2:21

Uh now I can.

Nick 2:22

I can hear me.

Lora 2:23

Yeah, no.

Nick 2:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lora 2:26

But there was a point you were cutting out.

Nick 2:27

John, where have you come from? Uh Chelmsford. Well, Rittle. Rittle, yeah. Do you live near your um your warehouse? No, no, live in uh Maldon. Oh, you're on your way home then? Well yeah, hopefully afterwards. Maybe if we let you Chinese, maybe.

SPEAKER_05 2:43

Oh have you got a go-to Chinese in Chelmsford? Uh no, uh there's one in Molden, though. Well, there's two. There's a nice there's a really nice one and there's a one that you can get. Well, they're both alright to be fair, but um one you can't get into and one you get a takeaway from.

Nick 2:57

Nice. I got some amazing kimchi from Molden the other day.

SPEAKER_04 3:01

Yeah.

Nick 3:02

Yeah, yeah, from Chop. I'm gonna get him on the podcast another time. He's brilliant. Oh. He was an ex ex uh plasterer, and now he's making kimchi. All about food. All about food. Life is. All about the food. And you know what's amazing? I saw it in Malden this week in the news. I saw that they'd been shooting Frankenstein there, you know, for Netflix. Is that right? And you know they built the they built a boat in the ice. Oh, I haven't seen it yet.

SPEAKER_05 3:23

I I started watching it, yeah, and it was I don't know if you've seen it.

Lora 3:27

I've not seen it, no, I've heard.

SPEAKER_05 3:28

It's it's brutal.

Nick 3:29

It is wicked. But that boat in the ice is shot in Maldon. They built they built a boat and they've got a green screen. No, I think they've got a special um maritime heritage maritime centre there. I didn't know that. It's amazing.

Lora 3:41

See, amazing what you find out on this podcast.

Nick 3:44

And and if you walk down Molden High Street, you'll see a lot of people look like Frankenstein.

SPEAKER_05 3:47

Well that they call them mud eyes. Mudite. If you're born and if you're born and which I'm not, but if you're born and bred in uh Maldon, you're a mudite. But that's not rude, is it? Like it's affectionate. Because um uh what down on the prom they they have the Molden Mud Race because it's just muddy, don't they?

Lora 4:06

Okay. Mudite.

Nick 4:07

Mud eyes, yeah.

Lora 4:09

Learn something.

Nick 4:10

Right, well, I'm gonna get a mud eye on the well, we have got a mud eye, but I'm gonna get a mate of mud.

Lora 4:13

You've got you've got to be born there.

Nick 4:16

Right, shall we do some podcasting? Yeah, let's do it. Alright, you happy you got your drink? I'm gonna actually go for my drink now before we start.

SPEAKER_05 4:23

Have you got any other drinks or water or tea or anything? Adam, have you got any water in here?

unknown 4:28

Nope.

SPEAKER_05 4:29

We'll we'll just crack on him.

Lora 4:30

Can we go out and go and get you a pint of water, John?

SPEAKER_05 4:33

Uh if that's alright, yeah, it is even half a pint would be fine.

unknown 4:37

What do you want? A pint or half a pint?

SPEAKER_05 4:39

Uh whatever's easiest. Mug mug of water would be lovely. Boiling, ambient, clothes.

Lora 4:43

I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 4:44

I don't mind.

Lora 4:45

As it comes wet, just get him some bloody water.

Nick 4:49

I want Yorkshire Yorkshire water. Thank you very much, thank you. I don't want chelms, I want molden.

SPEAKER_05 4:55

I want molden. How long have you guys been doing this for?

Lora 4:58

Just over a year or a year. Is it a year? Just under a year, over a year.

Nick 5:02

I don't know. I can't believe you don't know. We've been doing it since last June. Oh, it's over a year. We've recorded um I think we've done about 56 episodes now. Well, we've done more, but I didn't record one of them properly. So yeah, about 57. It's it's brilliant though. We've got um had such a good variety of people on. We've had uh stump man, uh I can't even think we have poets, um, rappers, artists, uh, sculptors. You know, it's really it's really fascinating.

SPEAKER_05 5:27

Jewelry makers.

Nick 5:27

Yeah, jewelry makers. That's the one I didn't record.

SPEAKER_05 5:30

And the brief is just local, it's Essex.

Nick 5:32

Yeah, well, there's very strict rules, which I'll explain in the intro, but you know, basically you have to either be from Essex or live in Essex. I is Essex. Yeah, it's Essex.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

I is Essex.

Nick 5:45

I is Essex. I like that.

Lora 5:46

I like that.

Nick 5:47

It's um it's difficult, isn't it? Because you know, a lot of people want to be from Essex, you know, like people in Romford, they're like London now, they they join London, but they still want to have a bit of a swagger like we're gonna be.

SPEAKER_05 5:57

It's a taxi driver syndrome, isn't it?

Lora 5:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:01

As soon as a taxi driver gets a bit of money, they move out. Yeah, and they started moving out to Romford, yeah. Now they moved out to uh Chelmsford, now they moved out to Colchester.

Lora 6:10

Yeah, and they're going on to Norfolk and Ipswich and all the rest.

Nick 6:14

Yeah, my well, that's what my cousin did. He was a taxi driver in Marks Tay. He was a taxi driver in Marks Tay, and um yeah, he lives in Norfolk now.

Lora 6:22

Yeah, see?

SPEAKER_05 6:22

You'll never meet a poor taxi driver. Really? Well no cat well Cassie's king, but if you met a taxi driver now, my my ex-father-in-law was a black taxi driver, and uh he always used to say the game's dead. Really? The game's dead. And that that was like 20, 30 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Oh wow.

Nick 6:40

Yeah, but you've got to be a uh what they call you in London, you know, when they've got the little what are they called? When you get on the uh the um bike with the seats on the back.

Lora 6:48

Oh, the rickshaws.

Nick 6:49

Rickshaws, yeah, the rickshaw drivers in London. I think that's the game now. They charge about 30 quid to go around the corner. Yeah, yeah, but they've got the banging music and the lights and the disco balls and stuff, haven't they? That's it. Take that to winner.

Lora 7:00

That's a thing in India, rickshaws. Oh, yeah. They're just so normal, yeah. Those and the little taxis. If you've got money and you're rich, then you get in the taxi.

Nick 7:09

Like how you did the little head.

Lora 7:11

If you're really poor, then you just get in the rickshaw.

Nick 7:14

Really?

Lora 7:15

Yes. Rickshaw is for the poor people. Sometimes you get you try and add on five and go, no, no, I don't want to.

Nick 7:21

How many people can you get on?

Lora 7:23

One, two, three, and possibly one that squeezes on the back, about four.

Nick 7:27

I love it when you see the Indian trains with like everyone hanging off the outside.

Lora 7:30

Oh, I don't, I hate it because I've travelled on those trains as a kid and it was a nightmare. Really coming from somewhere like here where you've got manners and you've got certain ways, and as a kid, you're frosted in this travel thing, and that all your all your people are telling you is whatever you do, just make sure that your feet are covering the whole seat. Well, when you're seven years old and you're half the size of the seat, you can't really cover it. Like because the seats are lying down seats. Why? Because within seconds, if there's any little bit of space, someone's squatting on it. Oh no, they're squatters, they are train squatters. Really they'll just bust in and then they just bust in, yeah, on the roof, in inside, and then they'll look at you with these eyes as if to say, Look, I'm so poor, I couldn't get a ticket. Please share your seat. And then if you're from here, you automatically feel bad, right?

Nick 8:19

That's amazing. Thanks, Adam. Thank you so much.

Lora 8:21

Yeah, if you're a local, you just kick them off.

Nick 8:25

No, did you want one? Did you share my PG? John that's um I was in Japan once, and you know, when they had the train, they put over the people that push you on the train. Oh my god, that is like that was crazy. I was all twisted and uh I had a backpack on and my backpack was going one way and the rest of my body was going the other way. It was really painful. That's what I'm scared. I thought it was gonna break my leg. Alright, let's see some podcasting. Let's do it. Have you got notes there, John? Not at all. I just remember your names that way.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Alright.

Nick 8:55

Uh welcome back to Are You Creative, the podcast about creativity in Essex with people from Essex or that live in Essex. They could be born anywhere, as we're gonna find out later. Um got another amazing guest here, but I am Nick Kern. I'm creative expert. I'm creative director, so I'm just introducing myself to John now, but and also the audience. I am a creative expert. And I'm here with Sangita.

Lora 9:19

Who's not the creative expert? But yes, a year on, I'm learning.

Nick 9:23

Year and a half, year and a half more and more. You must be well knowledge. We're going to take down the pub quiz soon in the creative pub quiz and see what you know.

Lora 9:30

That'd be a losing one.

Nick 9:32

We've got another amazing guest here. Who is? Well, it's very kind. Uh my name's John Spence. Don't say where you're from yet, John. Isaiah Six. You are from Essex. Yeah. He's I is Essex. Isaiah Six. I I uh Were you born in Chelmsford? Are you from Rittle or Chelmsford? Uh no, neither. Where? Uh Potter's Bar, Arbeit. Oh. He's not from Essex, but you now live in Essex. You live in Molden. That's it. You're you're what do you call it?

SPEAKER_05 9:57

A muddy? No, what's it called? No, well if you're born in well, I'm told. If you're born in uh Molden, you're uh classed as a muddite. A muddite, yeah.

Nick 10:05

So you're an honorary muddite. Definitely not honourable, no. No? Have you not enrolled in the mud? Have you not done that mud race? No, a couple of friends have. Yeah. Yeah, a couple of friends have. It's it's hard work. Yeah, thanks, Ben. I have an asthma attack just looking at the photos of it. I'm built for podcasts, not for not for doing the Molden nice. Definitely. Oh, that is amazing. And are you creative? Uh I've got a part of that, a part of the creative side of the brains there, yeah. A little bit. So it's a yes or a no answer. It's a no. I employ creative people.

Lora 10:36

Oh, love it. Okay.

Nick 10:38

I don't know if we've had a no before, but I'm gonna let's roll with a no. Let's roll with a no. I love it.

SPEAKER_05 10:42

Don't do that, don't do that.

Nick 10:45

So basically, when we start off here, because Sankita doesn't know what you do, I know all about you. Sangeeta's gonna sort of try and guess what you do. Um, Sangeeta, this one's really, really difficult. This is a very you are gonna be so pumped.

Lora 10:58

Right, okay.

Nick 10:59

So what's the limit? How many questions? No, about that.

Lora 11:01

I don't even ask questions, I've just got to kind of look at you and try a guess.

Nick 11:04

Yeah, do you know what?

Lora 11:06

I've got it right, you know.

Nick 11:07

I don't let it go on for too long because it gets boring.

Lora 11:09

Not all the time. I've got a couple wrong, a couple new, but we've done 50 odd episodes, so a couple out of 50 ain't too bad. Yeah, right.

Nick 11:15

You'll never guess stats are good. You will never, ever, ever guess what John does.

Lora 11:20

Alright, so what John, who John looks like, is a David hotbox. So I've got a hotbox t-shirt on today, so I'm thinking, oh, I know he's a business owner, but is he a bar business owner? Is he a radio business owner? Or now that's a bit I've got to create.

Nick 11:34

John looks like a businessman.

Lora 11:35

You are, yeah, you definitely look like a businessman.

Nick 11:38

But what does his business do? You look old, is what it is.

Lora 11:40

No, you look like a businessman. Come on, Sangator. So I'm going for it. Hold on, hold on. Um, okay.

Nick 11:45

I gave you a clue earlier. You missed it, yeah. Oh, mate. You might be a bit deflated if you get it wrong.

Lora 11:52

Why are you laughing in the background? Right, okay. Um oh, okay.

Nick 11:58

Sangeta, this this does not make good listening.

Lora 12:00

I know, I know. Sorry, listeners. Just one more second. All right, I'm gonna go with a presenter of some sort, whether it's in a radio studio. I'll take that.

SPEAKER_05 12:10

Yeah, I mean it's not correct, but I'll take that. Yeah, he's got a face for radio.

Lora 12:16

Go on then, come on, can you?

SPEAKER_05 12:17

Come on, John, tell us what you do. What is it? Which I do. Um, so I own an inflatable manufacturer.

Nick 12:24

No, right, right, no, Sangeeta. John is playing himself down, right? He makes huge, crazy big inflatables for people.

Lora 12:32

Not like the monsters we had here.

Nick 12:34

That sort of John made the monsters we had here.

Lora 12:38

No way, all those years ago. Yeah, he chums did.

Nick 12:40

Yeah, you did the monster takeover, didn't you?

SPEAKER_05 12:42

Yeah, we worked we worked with the cross, yeah. We worked with chums for bid. Oh.

Nick 12:45

So Sangita, explain what these monsters look like for our listeners.

Lora 12:48

Oh, right. So these were humongous, bright-looking colours of just monsters looking at it. Nice monsters.

Nick 12:55

So we had tentacles coming over the sides of buildings, things with like five eyes, big green heads poking up.

Lora 13:00

And you designed those. Yeah, yeah. Oh my days.

Nick 13:04

I mean, this is pretty comfortable. I know. These are this is this is big though. And why I know why I know about John, we're gonna talk about the monsters later. My mate Jobby from Come the Glorious Day advertising agency. Okay, he did an advert for Squid Game for Netflix, and they made a giant version of this dole, you know, Yonghee. That's it, isn't it? Young Young He? Yeah. Yong he. Young, well, I pronounce it. Young He. Young Hee. Yeah. And you actually make that here in Chelmsford.

SPEAKER_05 13:33

Yeah. This giant Squid Game Dole. Well, no, we don't we did we don't make it in Chelmsford, we design it in Chelmsford. Um, and then I part own a um a manufacturer at a factory based in China. So we make it all there, and then we fly it all back, and then we put it all together and we installed it.

Nick 13:49

And oh, eight days. So you want you unpack these boxes from China and you're inflating this thing in a big warehouse in Chelmsford, yeah, and suddenly you've got a giant version of the squid game doll.

SPEAKER_05 14:00

Yeah, it is a bit more than that. We know what's coming in those boxes. Yeah, uh, there's there's uh some SLAs and some make making sure that everything's right there. We've got a large team over there, but yeah, in principle, we unpack a box, we get out, and then that's it. But did they send you a photo during the manufacturing?

Nick 14:15

You're just literally like, oh my god, I can't believe they're making this.

SPEAKER_05 14:18

Yeah, well, we've got people out there, and we so we see everything, and it's FaceTime and videos and chats, and it's a a daily, daily thing that we check on everything. Were you we were you a big Squid Game fan? Uh I in between, if I'm honest, I I've just finished watching this, they just bought out a new one, which is um uh it's not it's not the real one where the they die. Yeah, um they've got they've got kind of like impacts on their chest, yeah. So when they get voted out, they just pretend to die. Oh, they just I've just finished it, it's brilliant.

Nick 14:47

Do you know what? I wore one of those tracksuits once for shit because I'm working advertising and we were doing a squid game thing, and I wore one of the real squid game tracksuits. Oh my god, it's so exciting. I couldn't stop talking selfies, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:58

It's the music. If if like when you're standing underneath a thing for a long time, the music is quite like oh, isn't it?

Nick 15:04

Well, when you when you're looking at your massive yeah dollars, I mean, if I was in a warehouse with that, I think I'd be a bit freaked out.

SPEAKER_05 15:10

Yeah, well, we we we um our next door neighbour in Ritual is um Event Sound and Light. And that that they partner us quite often with stuff.

Lora 15:17

Oh, yes, I've heard of Event Sound.

SPEAKER_05 15:19

So that they they made the track of the um the noise of the squid game girl. Yeah. So whenever it came out, and it's a bit eerie at night when it's all it's a bit eerie. What's that? Red light. Green light.

Nick 15:31

That's it.

SPEAKER_05 15:31

Red light, yeah.

Nick 15:32

Green light in Korean and um where did you take where did the doll go? Did it go to Battersea Power Station?

SPEAKER_05 15:40

So that well that that um that was series two. They've we've also done series three since then as well. But um series two, um, yeah, we did went on a bit of a tour. It went to what so for the listeners, it was a 15-metre product replica of the girl, basically. Um, and we made it from a PVC. So when you then put helium inside it, if it balances out, okay, it floats up in the air. So this one was aerial, it went up in the air, and it went on a bit of a tour. It did different spots. I think it was Central London, Edinburgh. Um, I think we did Cardiff, uh, I think we did White Heart Lane.

Nick 16:16

Um and this is you had all the guys in the pink suits with the masks on, like carrying it along.

SPEAKER_05 16:21

Yeah, well, that would have been your mate's agency. Yeah, he would have he would have got that.

Nick 16:25

He would have sold it all. Yeah, I think he was one of them actually. Like they didn't have the budget for a team that yeah, but um, so it's amazing. And this got like massive news coverage, didn't it? Because it made these amazing photos.

SPEAKER_05 16:34

I think so, but you don't you don't see a 15-meter product replica of Young Hee floating in the uh outside of Spursgram, do you?

Nick 16:41

So yeah, I I love it, it's so exciting. Um, and to think that came from Chelmsford, yeah, yeah.

Lora 16:48

That is just phenomenal. I'm just really lost for words at this minute. That is so can I ask, um, John, let me just go back a little bit. Have you always didn't done this kind of stuff?

SPEAKER_05 17:00

No. Um, so what when I started work, I actually worked for quite a large um uh uh well it was it's an IT company. Uh they make cameras canon, you know, the pressure camera guys. So but they've got different divisions, and one of the divisions was the Reaper Graphical, which was photocopiers and printers and stuff, and I worked for them for 20 years.

Lora 17:21

My God, I was gonna say that, you know. Something about graphics. Hang on, hang on.

SPEAKER_05 17:26

So, how how are these skills transferable for you photocopiers? Well, this is this is my backstory. I don't know if it's interesting or not, but I so I worked there for fifty for 20 years, 21 years, um, created a career out of it, but just got to a saturation point where you just go, you know, I've had enough now, offered you redundancy, and eventually I took it. And um, what I started to do was put together a small business that was able to offer variable voice recognition. So we know that now as Siri, uh Alexa, yeah, but going back 15, 18 years, that was quite pioneering. But through the contacts I had with Canon, that would have made sense. I probably would have made a fortune out of it. But um, so I had the idea, but I didn't have the money. So I partnered with one of my best friends at the time who had a bit of cash, yeah. Um, got it all set up, ready to go, and that was out of Upminster. Um, and then my my business partner at the time, he phoned me up and said, Look, I've got this idea, got a small little company, um, it's air dancers, which are the tall stick guys that flap about in the room.

Nick 18:30

Wacky waving one man. Come on, can we all do it? Sangia, do your impression of one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I was cancelling. And that is pretty, I think that might be the happiest thing in the world. Yeah, there's an air dancer.

SPEAKER_04 18:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:44

So we basically we had a look at it and we we bought them, and then the idea was just to turn it quickly, make a couple of quid and get on with it, and then get your head down back into that. And I never launched the IT and I just stuck with it. And you but but you're you're literally still doing air dancers now, aren't you?

Nick 19:00

Yeah, we own air dancer in the UK, so it's one of our products. Yeah, so yeah, wherever you go, and you see I like the one with the two legs because the two legs are not dead, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah, and the other one's just like a stick, isn't it? With our brilliant.

SPEAKER_05 19:11

I love what they were put together in the States, I think, in like the night late 70s. Um it's a clever idea. The the idea was for large um car dealerships because what they wanted was someone just to get a little bit of attention and the eye lines drawn over, and then people go, oh, okay, and then they pop over. That's what it's designed for.

Nick 19:29

And what um actually I saw a footage from the offspring at the O2 this week, and they had about four or eight of them on stage. Oh, do they? Yeah, all around them, it looked brilliant.

SPEAKER_05 19:37

Yeah, they're good. They're a good affordable product. I think they're they get a lot of attention, a lot of people buy them. We can we we digitally print them and we change them a little bit to make them a bit more caricature.

Nick 19:46

Yeah, what is the what's the wackiest, wacky waving arm man design you've done? Because I've seen you've got like rock and roll ones, and you've got the ones that look like people and stuff.

SPEAKER_05 19:54

Yeah, I mean we you you if you have the stick guy, you basically have the way it works is that it has to be that shape, and then you digitally print anything onto it. So uh there's a product called Froobs, I think. Yeah, um, so that they kind of ring true to that design. Uh if we then go 3D, they don't move about as much. But we can make anything on the 3D stuff.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Wow.

Nick 20:15

I love I love it. So could you make me in Sangator like with like how how high is a wacky waving arm person?

SPEAKER_05 20:21

So that the we go up to about 20 feet, about five feet. Oh nick. Yeah, we don't we've done a few bits over the years for um Only Way's Essex. Yeah, there's a couple of characters there. Uh Jimmy Collins, we made one. Um, and we also made that Daggs, I think his name is. Uh we made one for him.

Nick 20:38

Oh, Rylan would make a really good one, wouldn't you? You could have a really big white, bright white strip.

SPEAKER_05 20:41

Well reflect like 3M reflective strip of it. It was a different product, but we actually just finished making a Ryland Clark. Oh wow. Well, kind of loosely, but it was a bit of a promotion through an agency, and within the design there was a big face of Ryland Clark. But they kind of just bought it back a bit because he's been in in the press recently, because he's voiced his opinion on a few things.

Nick 21:03

We yeah, we saw he he kind of he kind of cancelled himself a little bit, didn't he, before his witches programme came out.

SPEAKER_05 21:09

Yeah, yeah. Um, and uh so that they pinned it back a little bit, but which is interesting because that's all from uh Big Chelsted, isn't it?

Nick 21:17

Oh, Witches is, yeah. I did I just did a t-shirt for the um Essex Witch Museum, it's brilliant, it's selling so well. Um, and uh they they just had a pop-up event, and I think uh 5,000 people went through it or something. So it looks like we might end up with a permanent museum. We made an inflatable for them for Halloween. Oh yeah, what was that? Oh the witch that was in the museum. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I saw that.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

That's what that's fantastic.

Nick 21:40

I mean, it might it must be funny for you when you're actually you know making the big monsters for channels for making stuff for which museum because you sound so humble.

SPEAKER_05 21:48

Well, no, I mean those we they're that we've we've got kind of two routes to market. We obviously manufacture large stuff. Generally, ours is advertising, that's that's where we make our money, right? Um, but we've also got a Side bit where we make some funky stuff and sometimes we rent them, and that's the relationship we have with Chelmsabid. So I love it. They come to us and we make stuff.

Nick 22:08

Yeah, I've seen your monsters in other towns now, right?

SPEAKER_05 22:11

Yeah, there's other companies who do it as well. Yeah. Um, we haven't got like we've not got soul rights to it all, but we do we they pop up quite a bit.

Lora 22:18

Oh, well done, Sarah and Ryan.

Nick 22:21

It must be crazy. Like when you when you just get these things, you roll them out and then you put the pump on, they're like these massive things coming out.

SPEAKER_05 22:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The more complicated it gets, the bigger it gets, um, the more risky it gets. So a lot of it's the boring health and safety stuff. Yeah, talking of health and safety, yeah.

Nick 22:36

I um I think the first thing I ever saw of yours that I wasn't aware that was from Chelmsford was the Camilla Wallala installation that was like um you have looked at our website, won't you?

Lora 22:45

Yeah, listen. Have looked at the website. I'll do it after. I don't get a chance, Briar.

Nick 22:50

I collect all my information, but I saw I saw this at Broadgate Circus when it was there, and we walked around it because I was a big fan of Camilla Wallala. I was a big fan of Camilla Wallala. Well done. I was a bit I was a um I was a I was a big fan of Friends with You before that as well. And it's it's it her thing's quite similar to what they used to do, where they do like these um big colourful it's like Bouncy Castle for adults, really. Yeah, it's primary well, isn't it? It's like red, yellows, blue. It's fantastic, very postmodern art. And I mean that was that was that was in the London Design Festival, and I think it was one of the best things that they've ever had. Thank you very much. Oh wow, the health health and safety nightmare was that a lot of a lot of stuff to film film.

Lora 23:32

So do you have to turn stuff away because of health and safety, or do you just work around it, find a plan?

SPEAKER_05 23:36

Uh it's uh the handshakes with Mother Nature. So often what happens with um again, we make our money through the agencies, normally it's like like your mate, they come to us with the ideas. Um, and then normally there's a date, there's a live day when it all's got to go, everything's gotta go. It's a launch thing, or it's a branding thing, or whatever it be. Uh, if Mother Nature is windy, yeah, we can't do it.

Nick 24:00

Yeah, because there was a there was a big accident once, wasn't there, with that Dream Space? Was it Dream Space? The big um sort of colour tunnels that people could go through, and I think it um wind blew it away.

SPEAKER_05 24:08

Yeah, it's uh um so the inflatable industry is not a uh historically not a brilliant one. Uh and what you get is you get a lot of people that uh have bouncy castles, but it don't they well they used to run it as a side weekend business rather than actually look, it's uh it's a job, it's the industry. Um and unfortunately, if they don't do their jobs right, if they don't know what they're doing with grounding stuff, you get a situation. There was a young girl in Harlow, I think it was about 10 years ago. Um she got caught up in um Bouncy Castle on a on, I think it was on a Saturday, the wind lifted it, took it, and unfortunately the girl passed. That's so sad. Um, about three or four, I think, in the last ten years in the UK, and they've now changed it and they've now made them say, right, you've got to go through this training, you've got to understand the principles. What we do is we apply those principles for uh play equipment, but we apply it to uh advertising inflatables. So there's no one jumping on them, there's no one touching them, but we lock it down.

Nick 25:07

So I mean, when you're making like do you have to run like physics simulations and stuff? Because you're making really odd shapes and they're and they're very different to a bouncy castle. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:18

Everything's all 3D now, and it's um we don't, it's not like a uh a Porsche in a wind tunnel where you've got to do the you know, you've got to do the wind to the window.

Nick 25:26

I was thinking he had riddled when he had smudged blowing over.

SPEAKER_05 25:29

Um but now we I mean clearly we test everything to make sure it's all alright. And and the theory is if you know what you're doing, you do it before you start making it.

Nick 25:37

Um you've got you know, this I'm I'm fascinating. Basically, Sangator, I'm gonna ask for a job at the end of this, but you know, just watch how much how we're gonna move on. I'm gonna get paid in helium. Um yeah, we got um, so you have you got a 3D studio there when you're you're you're you create these 3D models and then you get them signed off by by the clients?

SPEAKER_05 26:00

Yeah, it depends. Uh we actually like 2D. So we've got um from a creative point of view, we've got I've got that, I've got the word creative in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um so uh we've got two designers. Um uh one designer is background is more of a cartoonist.

SPEAKER_04 26:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:18

Um so when we get into the characters, that helps us quite a bit. And then we've got another guy who's a product product designer, really.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Right.

SPEAKER_05 26:26

Um, interestingly, from Hong Kong. Uh he's brilliant. Um, so we if we can, we try and work off 2D.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:34

And we just get the front shot, side shot, because we can control it a lot more and we could be a lot more accurate. What we find with. What do you what happens is you're like you're just gonna hold and go, make it bigger. Yeah, make it bigger. We can get another 10 foot on that. That is uncanny. That's exactly what happens between nine and ten. I like what you're doing, but make it bigger. Yeah, that's it. Um, well, the the our brand name's Mega, Mega Flatables. Yeah, um, so the the what you've done there's made a super manager. Make it bigger. Make it mega, make it mega. It's like um who's the guy that um he uh did Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp. Yeah, Johnny Deck. And he had the mega pint, didn't he? Oh the mega pint, yeah, yeah.

Nick 27:11

What was that? A pint of wine? Yeah, that's pretty much it was a pint of wine. So so yeah, you you you sorry, yeah, I cut you off, but so you get the 2D, you get the 2D model done, and then what what's the next step on that?

SPEAKER_05 27:20

Well, because with AI and or 3D, um it looks brilliant, yeah, but the reality of it is that when you actually make it, and we make it inflatable, so we try and be close to product replica, but sometimes you can't be, and you you may be one or two percent off. So we generally like the 2D because we can show exactly what the client's gonna get. And then when the client signs it off, we then make a product replica of what we've said we're gonna make.

Nick 27:44

So this is a bit what I do in my industry. When I'm doing storyboards, and actually, me and Adam were talking about storyboarding the other day. I try and make them as simple as possible because if you make something that's photorealistic and the client's like, Well, I want that, I thought I was gonna get that, and I haven't. But you got that in their imagination.

SPEAKER_05 27:58

Is like that's tricky because everybody you can just talk to AI and you just get this amazing picture back, and you go, right, make that, and you it's difficult, you can't. Yeah, the AI sometimes is better than the product could ever be.

Nick 28:09

Oh, yeah, we we had we had a big problem with that at work where so someone more junior had done an AI mock-up and then sold it to the client, and then when the thing got made, the client was like, Well, it doesn't look like that. Yeah, that's yeah, yeah, they bought the dream. But um so yeah, sometimes it's better just have a have a 2D model, have a have a flat finger.

SPEAKER_05 28:27

Well, we think so, and we've had competitors over the years that you know they try the 3D stuff. Uh you've got to be a real expert for 3D. You you I think you've either got to be really, really sharp, or there's just no point doing it. Yeah, yeah. So our guys can do 3D, um, and we work with companies that the clients will give you 3D to start with. Um, but we try what we want to do is sign off on something that we know we can make.

Nick 28:50

Yeah, so so say uh, you know, you mentioned a Porsche earlier on, right? I've been working on Porsche today, so let's talk about Porsche. So say I bring I bring a good I've got a good Porsche story. Amazing. Well, you know, so say say like I bring like an I say, well I want a 9-11, right? I can give you the 3D model of a 9-11 and and then you can like reduce that to how it would work in the 100%.

SPEAKER_05 29:08

Yeah, so we would the the the easy way of saying it is if you think of a square and a cube, yeah. Inflatables don't like straight edges. So we would we would bevel that on the top a little bit. Yeah, and so if you then take the Porsche, we would all the angle stuff we like, but anything that's straight edges, we generally round off a little bit. So no cyber trucks. I haven't done one of those, haven't done one of those. But I I've seen your cars, and actually the trucks looked really good, like those big square trucks. Yeah, they're massive. So they're they're uh Arctic lorries basically we make, and uh so they go into big, big, I mean huge spaces, and it's purely so that the client can show um their customers a reference of scale. Oh, because it's so big, like I mean, it's like you'd fit like four Wembley's in these in these buildings in Massive. So they put an Arctic lorry in just to show how bloody big that is.

Nick 29:58

And that is that that's it's just a stunt lorry that you can just hire it out for.

SPEAKER_05 30:02

No, no, so they buy it. Yeah, they buy it, so the client buys it, but it's a product replica exactly like you know, foot for foot. So I tell you my Porsche story. Oh wow, this is really good. So years ago, we got a phone call in from uh a lady that does um her business is that she uh if you were a billionaire and you had a party and you wanted Beyonce to come and sing at your 50th, you'd go to this lady and she'd source it. Right. So all of the artists, she knows loads of famous people, and she phoned us up and she said, Look, I I can't tell you who it is, but I'll tell you it's it's a famous guy and he's having his stag party. Yeah, and it was one of the Porsche brothers.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 30:41

And the the gig was that they were f they were flying in with uh a group of about ten of them and they into Scotland, they were staying at like the best castle on uh Loch Ness, yeah, and the idea was they'd get walked down with a drama scotch, and then the bagpipes would be blowing, the fog would be passed him by, and as they look out in the lock, lock uh Nessie would float on past them. So we made we made a I think it was a 15-metre uh Nessie. And we we put it on the pontoon, it's brilliant. We put it on a pontoon, you couldn't have read it. We put it on the pontoon and we went for a trial and everything, and we got smoke machines out there and everything. But Mother Nature being Mother Nature, I was standing bit, I mean, really nice guys, but I was standing kind of about 10 feet back behind them, uh, just kind of on the shore of the lock, and the wind changed, and all the smoke machine went completely the wrong way. Yeah, so what you actually saw was just like an inflatable messy, just kind of just going past it. But they took it really well, they went cheers and had a drink, and that was it.

Nick 31:45

I love it. Wow, that's amazing. Wait, wait a second. You're not gonna you will not believe this. Um, I've been working on Scottish rugby this week, and I suggested they made a massive inflatable Loch Ness Monster Head, and I suggested your company to make it. We've got it, we've got it in stock. Um that so we've got the Nessie in stock. Oh no, no, no. Wait, but it's it's different. I can't believe you just told that story because literally, like five five days ago, I was selling a similar idea. What's the chance of that? Having this is a very good thing. It is it is it is meant to be. Um sorry, sorry, Sangit. I'm not going thing to Right.

Lora 32:18

I just wanted to ask because um you said that you've got uh people that you source out work to in different countries, um designers or whatever you or you've got part own factory.

SPEAKER_05 32:28

We uh we part own a factory in China.

Lora 32:30

So has it made it? I guess with all the zooms and technology, it's made it easier now to correspond with people.

SPEAKER_05 32:39

Yeah, I mean China, um I'm not an expert on China. Uh I I've been there a lot, um, but it changes every year like massively. Um so when I first started it out, the communication was a gap.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:52

Um now it's everyone that they just adapt to everything, they're completely fluent in everything. With one of our designers from Hong Kong, so he speaks as well.

Nick 33:01

When you when you when you look at um, you know, AliExpress and WeChat and stuff like that, anyway, it would it does live translation, doesn't it? Yeah, just chat to people. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:09

I mean, everyone's clever, but bright guys, yeah, very clever people.

Lora 33:13

Amazing. Yeah. Now I just wanted to know because prior COVID, I was just wondering how did people go out there and source these people? Like, would it mean that you would have to go to that country to find these type of designers back in those days?

SPEAKER_05 33:26

I mean, we've also had some uh dealings with um India. We we kind of got involved with um uh a family run setup there because and and the reason is that they hand painted everything. So China was a bit more advanced digitally print, uh 3D, wide format, that kind of stuff. Whereas the Indian guys were a little bit behind the game and they were hand painting stuff. But the great thing about hand painting stuff, and I'll talk about something else in a minute, but the great thing about hand painting stuff is you get that additional detail, you get the depths, you get the shading. Yep. Um, yeah, and clients like that, and if they like that, they generally pay a bit more money for it. Yes, yeah. So we kind of got inv involved in that in Hyderabad for a few years, but COVID killed that relationship. Oh, that's a shame.

Nick 34:08

Yeah, a little bit. We're gonna get onto hand painting in a bit, don't worry, it's in my journey. Yeah, yeah. Go for it. We're getting in that at the end, right? So, right, let me just take you back to the wacky waving arm men, right? The sky dancers. Full circle. The sky dancers. Let's go back to sky dancers, right? What how did you move from making sky dancers into making these like big, you know, 3D inflatables? So, um, air dancers are sky dancers. Um sorry, yeah, air dancers.

SPEAKER_05 34:34

Well, yeah, I mean it's the same. Why is it wacky wavy guys, whatever? Wacky waving arm men, yeah, um, so the way they work is they have a base on the fan, uh base and fan on the floor, and then it shoots air straight up through a design and through a tube, and when it leaves the top of the tube or the arms, that's what creates the movement. Right. So I looked at it and I thought from a creative point of view, yeah. Oh, he looks like he looks so proud of himself. He's like, I don't know what's a biscuit, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Proper creative.

SPEAKER_05 35:02

Um so I kind of thought, well, that there's only so many you're gonna be had to sell. So what what if we closed the holes? What if we made it where the air stayed within the product, and then we started to make our own product, which was a 3D um well, anything really, and it started with Pizza Hut. I I we kind of made this Pizza Hut guy, and I went, I door knocked onto um a guy that owned a franchise of Pizza Hut in Upminster. Luckily, I I mean who knew, but he was one of the first three ever franchisers, and he had about 15. And he went, you know what? Great idea. I'll I'll I'll back it, and then if it works, do me a deal, and if it works, I'll then introduce you to all the other people in pizza. So what so what did this look like? What did it look like? Well, it basically it was just like a 20-foot, so the legs go up, and then we make a 3D character. So we actually had uh pizza guy with a pizza hat and a pizza bag. Um obviously Pizza Hut all branded. Oh, I see.

Nick 36:00

Look, Domino's is such a powerful brand. You got well we deal with both. We deal with both. That's my that's my brand Domino's, by the way. I do stuff for them.

SPEAKER_05 36:07

Yeah, they're great. They're great actually. Um, and then we had some Velcro um panels going down the legs. Now they were the advertising spots. Oh so the idea of it was rather than it moving to catch the eyeliner attention, it was it was a big pizza hut guy with you know, buy one, two, what get buy two, get one free kind of thing. So we did a pilot and it was Halloween, uh linked into the monsters, but it was Halloween in um Gidea Park. And um the bit that I needed, the stat I needed to go further, was I needed to get what they would typically sell on a on a Halloween night in Gidea Park compared with what they would if we put a giant Frankenstein holding a pizza box out, yeah. And the stat come in and they trebled the volume. No, yeah, yeah. This was Frankenstein, it was Frankenstein. Brilliant. I mean back to Molden. We contributed, they probably had a busy night anyway, and we contributed, but we took that stat, rolled that stat out, and then that's that started.

Nick 37:01

How many people did you pay to go in and buy pizza that much?

SPEAKER_05 37:04

I mean, a lot of my family, it was friends, college guys, and it's brilliant. You built the whole business on that, it worked really well.

Lora 37:12

Oh, I loved her.

SPEAKER_05 37:13

So that was it, and then we ran like that for a little while. Um part of my backstory and part of my history was we uh got contacted by Dragon's Den. Yeah. Um, and we went through a bit of the process of it all, and we ended up going on Dragon's Den. Um what did you what did you inflate in the boardroom? Yeah, we yeah, we took um we we took a couple of we we called them megaflatables.

Nick 37:37

Yeah, you didn't take a massive Duncan Banatine head or something.

SPEAKER_05 37:40

No, but this is the again, this is a good story. So like I'm I'm pitching, and the the thing about Dragon's Den is that the one thing they it's completely edited, it's exactly like probably the X Factor, but because it's business, you think they wouldn't do it. Yeah, but they do. Yeah, really. Um but the bit they don't do, and the heart and soul of the programme is that intro bit where people walk in and they pitch for 30 seconds or a minute, yeah, it's live and it's one take. Yeah, and that's the bit that everyone goes, Oh, yeah, oh yeah. And I did it back in the day where you kind of walk down these steps, yeah, um, and we pitched. It was the longest pitch in Dragon Den history. We pitched for three and a half hours.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Whoa!

SPEAKER_05 38:21

And it got edited down. We were the last, we went on, it was like I can't remember what series it was, but they're like say there was like ten episodes, we were the tenth episode, we were the last one on the episode.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

It was almost like they were embarrassed.

Nick 38:34

They're looking down the sofa for some money.

SPEAKER_05 38:36

They were embarrassed to put us on, I think. You know, maybe had to. Um, but it got it got completely shrunk down to about four minutes. Yeah, um, and where we'd got offers from certain people, they edited it around to a different way. But I was standing there, I was very nervous, and Duncan Bannertine said to me, Um, where's the new in? What? Exactly what I said. Exactly what I said. What? That's exactly what I said. Well, what? And he went, Where's the new in? And I stopped. I said, What? He went, Where's it no in? Mega inflatables, and I said, No, no, it's mega flavables.

SPEAKER_01 39:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:11

And he went, Oh, and he went on. He he offered us, he gave us an offer in the end. But the guy that um there's another company called Mega Inflatables. Now, these guys do Bouncy Castle and um Essex Base, good firm. Um, and he he he put a text out saying, Look, can't believe it, I've been mentioned on Dragon's Day, it's mega inflatables, Duncan Valentine's investment.

Nick 39:32

Um, so what did you actually take in the den like?

SPEAKER_05 39:35

What did you inflate there? Uh we took, I think we took a couple of air dancers, I think we took a couple of characters that were the mega inflatable guys, um, and on the back of that we got an offer. It didn't pan out. We we we took um uh uh Duncan no, not Duncan Jones, uh Jones, I can't remember. Yeah, Peter Jones. Peter Jones, yeah, the lovely big teddy bear man. Yeah. So we we we we went with Peter Jones and it didn't quite work out, and I think that's generally quite a common thing with dreamers then. Um so we kind of went on our own, and what we realized from that was that for a couple of days after it went live, we got loads of attention, yeah, and then the next day not so much, and the next day not so much, and within a week it had gone. Right. Um, and we were just never gonna make enough money, we were never gonna sell enough of them. There wasn't the market in the UK. So we basically then said, right, why don't we open it in? We're we're clever on design, um, we create some good um kind of designs and products and make some good shapes, why don't we open that up to anything inflatable? Yeah, so that's when I went over and I spent quite quite a bit of time in in China. And the key bit with China is China will make you anything, yeah. But if you can find the right family factory and you get lucky, yeah, then make you exceptional products.

Nick 40:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 40:47

And I got lucky.

Nick 40:48

Yeah, and how many, how many um hang on. I'm gonna have a little break here because I can do a little edit. How many factories did you actually look at? You know, did people make you stuff? And then were you like the Dragon's Den?

SPEAKER_05 40:58

Did you not nine, ten, I think? And so you go through a process where you you know you get samples and they all make samples, and you you just gotta get through the chaff and figure it all out. And the key bit is consistency, it's reliability, it's putting a name on a product that people go, Do you know what? I loved it so much, I'm gonna come back in a couple of years and buy another one. And if you don't get if you don't offer that and you try and chase the money, yeah, um, you're gonna lose.

Nick 41:24

And how how long's your relationship been going with this Chinese factory now?

SPEAKER_05 41:27

Uh thir full 13 and a half years.

Nick 41:29

Wow, and and do they come to you and say, Hey, look, John, we've had a really mad idea. We can actually do this and we can innovate in this space.

SPEAKER_05 41:35

Yeah, there's market spaces for all yeah, I mean, it's like everything else. In the inflatable world, there's different factories that specialise in different things. Um breaking it down to the basics, you've got ones that are sealed air, yeah. A beach ball, a lilow on holiday, something, or something that goes up in the air like the the the Squid Games girl.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 41:52

Um, or you've got things that are fan inflated, um, that uh a constant fan is inflating. Now they're the ones that we really like because with those we can cut and we can sew and we could be intricate with the shaping because the air keeps it inflated. And that's where the tagline of the business is if you can think it, we can make it. I love it. Yeah, I love it. One of my mates had a pint of Guinness one night and he came like um and and and that's what we specialise in. We special our real core what we do is we do that.

Nick 42:24

So when um you know, when I look at it and I just think like I love going to gigs, I'm a heavy metal guy, right? And you know, when you s when you go to these gigs and you see like Iron Maiden will inflate Eddie massively at the back and then take him down, and then they'll have a spit file that's inflated, coming up and say, and ACDC have these huge, you know, have these it's so fun. Yeah, amazing. And and you get to make these inflatables for live shows as well.

SPEAKER_05 42:46

Yeah, well, this this kind of links into another route to market that we started um the last couple of years. Um back in the day, there was a company called Air Artists, and they were based up in Ipswich, and they just were pioneering, and they supplied ACDC, Elton John back uh back in the day. Um they they they made a I think it was a 35-meter structure sitting on water for the opening of Disney Paris. Oh wow but they they did Iron Maiden, they they did loads of rock stuff, but they just there were no rules then. Right, and they were able to make these amazing structures and just you know have them hanging off at the side of something or other. Yeah. And if wind didn't blow, it was alright. Yeah, yeah. There wasn't any paperwork.

Lora 43:33

Yeah, and even if it did, it's fine.

SPEAKER_05 43:36

And they made these amazing structures, uh, best in the industry, uh, predominantly in the um music industry. And these were uh high quality stage inflatables. Yeah. Um, and a couple of years ago, um that the the the main owner of it, Rob, he he um decided to retire.

SPEAKER_04 43:54

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:55

And part of my dream's always been to how can I take the inflatables where we cut and we sew? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:00

But how can we how is it possible we can get it to a point where someone looks at something we make and goes No, that's that's not an inflatable. So we sat down, we had some uh uh bottles of wine with Rob. Um sor I'm really sorry it's Beaujolais Day and we haven't even got you anything. And we basically just he he I think he felt my passion of what I wanted to do, and it was such a great brand name that but it just it had fallen asleep for a little while, so we we bought the business off him um and over the last two, three years we've really developed their artists. So we've got um in in in Riddle, we've got quite a large studio now, and this is kind of separate to our core advertising stuff, and what we do with this is we um we make very complicated uh uh art structures, yeah. So in the likes of Camilla, but a lot more detailed um uh 3D structures, and then we've got um a very talented team of painters. Wow, we then we then hand paint it.

Nick 45:07

Now I've seen some I've I've seen some bands with like things they look like marble statues in the background and things like that. So you know, you're making these and then you're like hand painting that sort of texture on it. Yeah, but fine, fine detail. And it's crazy because when the camera pans and you know you see the drummer playing and it's right next to him, it really looks like a mega statue.

SPEAKER_05 45:24

Yeah, well, I mean, uh honestly, we're probably starting on our journey on this. Uh, we've won some great contracts and we've done some amazing stuff from that part of the business. There's other companies in the world, there's probably only two, um, quite established, and uh one's in Europe and one's in the states, and they're probably the ones that have made the modern versions of those.

Nick 45:42

Is is is the one in America on lovely stuff, by the way. Is it cool shit? They're one of the comp that I I I love cool shit. Right, cool shit. Yeah, they're gonna be. Sorry, how many times can I say shit in one hour? But right, Sangeita, when you see this, because this is what I was gonna ask John about. Cool shit make like a giant Lionel Ritchie head, right? Or a giant Kanye West head, and they paint it. Do you know how long it takes them to make it?

Lora 46:03

That's what I was gonna All night long.

Nick 46:05

Shh. I mean, but they've got they've got to make it harder, faster, stronger, better, haven't they? Um so so but but I you know when I look at this stuff, I'm fascinated by this as well. Didn't um the Kardashians made one, didn't they? Uh Travis Scott and stuff.

SPEAKER_05 46:21

Yeah, absolutely.

Nick 46:22

They're the famous ones. And and um but but the structure, I guess, is fairly simple, and then they airbrush it on to give it the shape.

SPEAKER_05 46:29

No, no.

Nick 46:30

It's not simple at all.

SPEAKER_05 46:31

This is the thing. So um I've been making inflatables for 15 years, and when we started this, when we started the studio kind of two, three years ago, that the bit that was the hardest thing to do was someone's face.

Nick 46:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 46:43

And the reason for that is that if if you want to try and take a if if if you wanted to make a picture of your gorgeous face, thank you. Uh we'd need a lot of time. A couple years. No, but like it's like it's like the hello video. Less than a hello video, isn't it? With McLean. Yeah, yeah. Um but what you do is you you take a straight picture, then you you you you can't just take like front, side, side, back. You need to go, you need dozens and dozens to create the 3D profile. Now, probably your phone now can do the 3D shot, but to then make the nose, the lips, the ears, to make those 3D structures is incredibly complicated. Yeah, um, so they did really well. We've now taken um I I I think what we're making now over the next six months, I think we will be the only company in the world that will make the detail that we're making. I don't I don't think even the guys that are doing it can do what we do.

Nick 47:38

So when you're looking at 3D models, it's complicated. It's complicated. I love like can I just nerd out for a minute, right? So when you're looking at 3D models, right, you're talking about the number of polygons you've got in the mesh, right? Yeah, yeah. So, like, you know, Sangita, when just about remember what um Tomb Raiders boobs used to look like, right? They were spiky boobs. Like that'd be like four, four, four polygons, you know, because people laugh about that, don't they? They're like, I can't believe people got excited about these boobs like back in the day. But you know, like now, like you're getting more and more polygons. And is that how you sort of look at your your models? We made uh do you know the band Scissor Sisters?

SPEAKER_05 48:11

Yeah, so we make stuff for the for those guys, and they are geniuses but mad as a box of frogs. And we made some boobs for the for their stage. They've got some boobs that they've just done a well tour on. And and how many polygons were involved in?

Nick 48:23

Oh god, but but but is this when you're looking at how complicated it becomes, you think about how many panels it is or how you're shaping it?

SPEAKER_05 48:31

No, not so much. Um, so what we try and do is get it to a as I said, a 2D design. If we can get that 2D design uh approved, that makes the process from a sale point of view fairly easy, yeah, and from a client engaging point of view fairly easy, and then the difficulty bit is how the hell do we make it? Yeah, and that's where the relationship with the factory comes in because um we're able to take that 2D or 3D, pass it through a bit of our design process, but then basically onto the guys, and the guys there will then backtrack it all out to it's going back to how um uh people and seamstress used to make coats, yeah. You get into the cut of the panel and the and and and the thing. We're doing something at the moment um where we're doing some tattoos on arms. So what we're having to do is we're almost going backwards. We have to create the design, get the approval for the design and the shape, which then gives us our cut cutting guides. Yeah, and then once we've got the cutting guides, we can then create flat artwork for the um tattoos, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then put it all back together.

Nick 49:33

So it's a bit so it's a bit it's a bit like you know, if I make a 3D model and you do the mesh that goes on it and that's flat. That's exactly what it is. It's like a net shape.

SPEAKER_05 49:40

Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

Nick 49:41

Amazing. And what is Chinese for make it bigger?

SPEAKER_05 49:44

I don't I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 49:47

I just think you're on the biggest.

SPEAKER_05 49:52

Later on tonight, I'm gonna go, oh, I should have said that. I should have said that.

Lora 49:57

Oh wow, how fascinating. Yeah, yeah. So you so you've obviously enjoy what you do. How long does it so if I said to you, if I were famous and I'm like a Kim Kardashian?

SPEAKER_05 50:10

Any more famous, you know.

SPEAKER_04 50:11

Any more famous.

Lora 50:12

No, if so, if I were to give you something to say, I don't know, I want to blow up of Nick Dunn, how long would that take you?

SPEAKER_05 50:20

Um so we we basically offer two flavours. Um the first bit is if we're doing advertising products. So if we're literally going, okay, we put it all together and we're digitally print it, um, from design approval to delivery, uh, we're 14 days.

Nick 50:36

What? What? Yeah, hang on, and that's shipping as well. Yeah. What? So Sankita, I know you're thinking about me for Christmas.

Lora 50:42

Oh, it's gotta be.

Nick 50:43

And you're gonna be like, how can I make a 35-metre mixed head?

Lora 50:47

We need to tell me.

Nick 50:48

Be like, be like, Nick, Nick, nickname. I've always thought you're a bit of a big head. 14 days is incredible. I mean, but it's funny because you know, because I work in advertising, and actually, sometimes you spend so long selling an idea to a client that you run out of time. Time's the biggest problem. And and then and then to say to someone, time's not an issue, we've got 14 days, we can actually design it, get installed.

SPEAKER_05 51:10

It's we it's become 14 days because of the advertising world. Because clients come in and go, right, I've green lit that, I've got that idea, I want that, and it's in three weeks. Yeah, so you go right, and then the advertising agency works with them for the week to try and get to that point, and then we're given a very fine time. I mean, we we've got it so good now that DHL is a big partner for us. We fly everything from China. Um, and one of my biggest bills each month is that I I pay to a charity to offset our carbon footprint, yeah, yeah. And we we pay for trees to be installed and things like that. Um they're all inflatable, yeah, yeah.

Nick 51:46

And and and and and and also John's now got a mega flatables blimp that comes across from China.

Lora 51:53

What is it? A mega flatable jet.

Nick 51:56

Right, surely the dream of a mega flavables, right? When you start this, it's like something like the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, right? Like, you know, what what what is your dream? What's like the biggest thing you'd like to make, or where do you like to see your work?

SPEAKER_05 52:07

So a parade we do anyway. Um, we're sole supplier to um our probably strongest relationship is we do the New Year's Day parade in London. Oh, amazing. Um, we also do it in Rome each year, and I have done for a decade. Um, yeah, they're friends of ours that we and we make some big stuff. That's probably the closest to the Macy Day parades you can get. And and that because that's because the Macy Macy's route is straight and they've got big wide streets, yeah, and they've got nothing above them, so they can make some big ass inflatables. Yeah, um in London at Christmas, you've got you've got the Christmas lights, you're limited to what you can do. Um, we do um we just finished um this year Lord Mayor's. Um, we do a lot for the Lord Mayor's, which is the oldest parade in the world. Yeah, 1050 or something that started that parade. Yeah, unbelievable. Um, so we do all the healing work for them each year. Um, and we've um last year we got awarded um as a partner for pride um in London. That was a big thing for us. Yes, that's a big one. Yeah, um, so parades I'm done, if I'm honest. You've completed it. I've completed it, mate. Don't worry, yeah. I'm not feeling that. I I don't know, I'd like to make something that goes viral. Yeah. Right. Um, and I think we're gonna do it through the studio. Yeah. Um, I think we're we work with some.

Nick 53:26

Do you know that I'm the viral master?

SPEAKER_05 53:27

Is it that is that right?

Nick 53:29

Talking to the right guy. Oh, we can do this. So I get uh we can do this. I told you I was gonna get a job by the end of this.

Lora 53:35

I'll just send you all the likes, yeah.

Nick 53:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lora 53:38

And then you post them out.

Nick 53:40

What I and what's really interesting, actually, like when I was looking through your website, you've actually done quite a lot of art because I was looking at the Camilla Wallala thing. Yeah. But you've done David Shrigley. You did his big thumb and you did this the funny-faced swan.

SPEAKER_05 53:52

Uh anybody that will will actually listen to me, I will always say the most famous person I've got on my phone is David Shrigley.

Nick 53:59

Oh, I I'm such a huge fan. I can't. But you know, we talk about art and creativity. David Shrigley's just such a genius of simplicity. And I think when I look when I saw the swans you'd done, you captured exactly everything that was funny in the shape. You know, because sometimes when you scale stuff up, it loses its soul, it loses itself. But the shape was just perfect.

SPEAKER_05 54:18

So we've worked with with everything, really. I think he's done the thumb. I thought we did really good because we made the thumb, we made the thumb, because that was on the sorry.

Nick 54:25

I've just got to say that this thumb, right? It's just not a normal thumb. It's like a thumbs up, but it was on the fourth Plymouth and Trafalgar Square, but it was a big marble thumb, but the actual thumb was really, really long. It looks so funny. Really, really long. It's disproportional, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really, really long. It's like a big giraffe's neck of a thumb coming out of it. But you um, why did you make an inflatable version? Because the original was marble, wasn't it? Uh I think I I might be wrong, but I think the original was bronze.

SPEAKER_05 54:50

Oh, yeah.

Nick 54:51

So yeah, you know, you are right, yeah, it was bronze, yeah. Much easier to work with than marble.

SPEAKER_05 54:55

So we we made we made a um uh it was it was it was the thumb and it was the hand, but we printed it to make it look like a bronze effect, and that went on a tour in Japan, I think.

Nick 55:06

Oh, it's so good. Oh, do you know what I really love as well? So just talking about inflatable wheels. I'm a big fan of Florentine Hoffman who made the big inflatable rubber ducky. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So you know, like and and actually now um I think in Hong Kong they've got to be an inflatable fiesta flotilla where they've got um Dor Doroman and they've got a Labooboo doll, and they've got um Elmo and stuff like that. It's so fun with um the artist's cause as well. Yeah, so artists, and actually, when Jay-Z played in Chelmsford, he had a massive inflatable Jeff Coons um dog, didn't he?

SPEAKER_05 55:35

Yeah, we've never done a we we did a we I've never done it directly for for the for the Coons guys, yeah um we have made um a Coons dog in on an arch before for a dog charity. Amazing, which is pretty good. But one we do a lot of work with artists now, and and actually that's kind of the where I get a bit of pleasure from it because it is creative. But it is though.

Lora 55:55

That was a hat tree, that's it.

SPEAKER_05 55:58

Um it generally is, it's a pleasure. One of the guys that we work with is a guy called Jason Wilshire Mills.

Nick 56:03

Um, sorry, can I just pause pause you for a second?

SPEAKER_02 56:06

Sorry, because I've got my I think I've got the um oh no, hang on, I've got sorry. Keep rem remember about um Jason things oh hang on. So I've got to call our guest back.

Lora 56:23

This is brilliant. How often do you do this then? Is it a little bit? Once a week. Um we get two guests in.

SPEAKER_00 56:29

Adam.

Nick 56:30

So you've got I think Catalina is waiting outside. I'm sorry. Is that okay? I'm really sorry, she she's she she rang me like five minutes ago. I feel really bad now.

Lora 56:39

So we've all obviously got full time. No, I'm trying to get through to her now.

SPEAKER_05 56:48

How hard is that?

Lora 56:49

It it's hard when you can't get them services, but to give them the nurture, that's not the hard bit because that's the bit they look for.

Nick 56:57

Hey, I'm so sorry, yeah, we're we're recording. Um Adam's gonna come and let you in now. Um my company is through. Are you are you outside the gate? Yeah, yeah, I can hear. Okay, see in a minute.

Lora 57:07

So, for example, Streets Eats and Beats, Julia will give me a store where I'll get some young people in who could at art, get them to do henna, get them to earn the money, and then they all of a sudden it's like, oh, I don't need to go steal that because actually I could use I could use my creative.

SPEAKER_05 57:23

Sometimes just having a good day just changes everything, doesn't it?

Nick 57:26

Yeah, big time. And also saying that someone else cares, right? Yeah, exactly.

Lora 57:30

And there's opportunities, like honestly, you must be one of the most humblest guests of we've well, I feel that we've met, bearing in mind what you've achieved. Yeah, it's amazing.

Nick 57:42

Sagittarius, when you see these things, you're gonna crack up because like honestly, they're so big and they're the sort of things you just can't help but smile when you look at them. Well, you you must spread so much joy around the world, you know, when people see your stuff. I think it's a kid thing.

SPEAKER_05 57:55

I think like I remember I remember the first time I ever saw one, you smile. And anybody that kind of comes in our place and has a look at it, clock customers come in and they go, Oh, they they love it, and they ask all the questions, and you go, Oh, all right, yeah, okay, I I I make inflaebles, yeah. The worst thing is when I'm missus, we when we go to a wedding or something like that, they you know when you go around the table and everyone says, What do you do? What do you do? I dread it because they just go, What do you do? You go, Oh yeah, I make advertising inflatables, and then everyone just stops and goes, Right, well, and then I've got 25 questions for you.

Nick 58:27

I I was at a wedding like that once, and some bloke said he was he ran an exotic zoo where he rents snakes out for videos, and I was like, What? And then I spent just spent two hours quizzing him about stuff. Yeah, he provided the Python for Britney Spears, like the albino python and things like that.

SPEAKER_05 58:43

Toxic, but interesting. Okay.

Lora 58:48

I love this guy, Nick.

Nick 58:50

Right, let's rewind. So we'll talk about art, you know, like it's a and you just mentioned an artist's name.

SPEAKER_05 58:56

Yeah, we'll work a few. Obviously, um Dave Shrigley, um, Camilla, um, but one of my favourites is a guy called Jason Wilshire Mills. Yeah, um, he's a disabled artist uh from the Midlands, brilliant sense of humour, and he's just funky. He he basically started off by saying, right, uh, I'm and forgive me, Jason, if I got this wrong, but um I'm in a wheelchair, this is how I think about things, this is what I would like to look like. And he makes these amazing characters, characters that are tattooed and they've got piercings, and they've got attitude, and and then as he's grown and as he's got a following, he now um sits with disabled children and they each create a patch. So then when we make these things, one of the challenges of the time where we have a deadline for it, and one of the last bits of the ingredients is we get 20 or 30 different images where these kids have created these things, and we have to turn those into high high-resolution print files, get it on and get it done. Um, but he he's been brilliant, he's just been um it's just one um I think it's uh an OBE. Amazing. Wow, and where do they exhibit these? Um he he's he's now at a point where we've like like David Shrigley, where um locations will pay them to put their kit in. So he he he his form of art is inflatables. He he does inflatable.

Nick 1:00:18

It's crazy though, you think like back in the back in the day, you know, like set up. Proper funky. You know, you'd be like carving David, you know, out of marble. But you know, it's probably like oh I'll be back with you 10 years' time or something. Yeah. But now artists must love it because they can make something so large scale and so visually impactful in 14 days. For I I mean, I don't know how much you are, but it must be much cheaper than marble.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:39

So one one of the so the studio that we've got where we hand paint everything and and linking it into the music where it goes on stage. If you're Beyonce and if you want, I don't know, like a weird head thing, um, and you're doing a world tour, that will work out that that weird head thing that might be made from porcelain has got to be taken to all these locations over all these days. So you're talking a million, two million quid, yeah. Just in logistics.

Nick 1:01:03

Yeah, and then you drop a porcelain head, uh-oh, uh-oh.

Lora 1:01:10

This has been one of the best bodies.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:13

I had to get job back. That's uh that's uh we'll stop now, aren't we? We'll stop.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:17

Yeah, but but um but compare that to a cost of an inflatable, yeah.

Nick 1:01:21

And but with with the with the stage inflatables as well, because I know like part of the thing is they have to make them inflate and deflate really quickly and be able to pack them down. Exactly. That's the point, yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:30

And that that's just zips, that's just it's power to get it up quick, yeah, and it's just zips to get it back down because it's so okay, time wise.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:38

So, John, I'm gonna take some photos of you while you're talking to it. I normally charge it.

Lora 1:01:41

This isn't we are so lucky. Oh, how amazing! Thank you. Me too. Yeah, I'm I'm honestly hang on, let me just make sure we've got so many more questions, but we've run out of time. Yeah, no.

Nick 1:01:56

Oh, I've done well, I've I've ticked off everything I was gonna talk about.

Lora 1:01:58

There you go, Bosch. You've done it.

Nick 1:02:01

What did you want to ask about? Because I just got I've I've got to get my phone ready for a photo. I reset my camera the other day, so it's like um it's gone onto a funny mode.

Lora 1:02:08

I think I just want to say, well, you're amazing. Oh, thank you. And it's your humbleness that has really kind of got to me to think you do all these wonderful things.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:15

I have to tell you, people who would not agree with you. I strongly would not agree.

Lora 1:02:19

Well, I'm grateful for the humbleness tonight.

Nick 1:02:22

Do you know what? Is in my in my life as a creative as well, like I say to it it takes um I've got to do that, haven't I?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

I can't do that. I know I did the wins for church on the wrong way around.

Nick 1:02:34

Um no, but in my life as a creative, right? It always takes like two people. You've got to have one person to have the idea, and you've got to have another person to facilitate the idea, and to just take it on and be like, yeah, it's doable. Come on, we can do that.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:45

Well, you asked right at the beginning if if I was a creative person, I said no. Yeah, um, and the reason I think I'm not a creative person is that I employ people that are creative, uh and I can see that, and I see it on a daily basis because it's the different side of the brain.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:58

Um, like, oh you know, I believe what John's just said yes to, and we've got to make it happen. They're the most, they're the best people, yeah, they're the most problematic people. Yeah, and I can't explain to you why, yeah, but they're just they're that it's it's so nice when you get something and you go, Oh, I'm thinking of that, I know there's gonna be weeks before we get there. And when you finish it and you take a step back and you look at it, and you've achieved something. Yes, yeah, and that gives some sort of balance sometimes, I think.

Nick 1:03:26

I love it when you give someone a task and it comes back better than it was in your head as well. It's just such a joy, yeah. You know, like I now I'm gonna I pretty much spend my whole time trying to make big inflatable things and no one ever buys one. So, like, you know, maybe now, maybe now I've got a connection. I'll bring him, I can ring him right now. I can ring him right now, shall I ring him right now?

Lora 1:03:47

Don't forget to send me his number, yeah, because I want to ring him right now.

Nick 1:03:51

But do you know what? Do you know what? If if if I had more money, I would like now commission a huge sank eaterhead just to prank her and put it outside her house so she comes out one day.

Lora 1:04:00

Don't be so good. That's amazing, and what's amazing, I think, is being able to relate to I love those monsters that came into our time, but to know now that oh, so you're the person that had something to do with that, or even next time I see an inflatable, because now, come to think of it, there is one. Um, I can't even remember the road, but it's outside a shop, a little blue man thing.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:24

Yeah, the way is Next Less Salvation Army, isn't it? No, I know that's that so that's the guys, that's the carpet guys. Yeah, oh that's their carpet guys. Yeah, it's so this is probably not a great story. So we used to supply them, um, but we ended up being a bit too much money. Okay. So they had to go private. They went private. Um but occasionally you see him, he's like a man down, he's a little bit injured, and then then he just pops up again. But no, no, no, no, he's he's it's just checking the underlay. That's good.

Lora 1:04:51

That's good. But yes, that's the kind now. Every time I look at that, I'm gonna think and there you go, right?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:56

I mean, I know I know we didn't make that one, but there you go. You you noticed the business because you got some weird blue thing just floating about.

Nick 1:05:03

We had we we had a um we had an air dancer, air dancers, right? I do. Yeah, I had we had a big knee on one once for an advertising campaign I did, and we had sale written down the front of it, but the letters kept falling off. They kept bursting off, yeah. It was like a fat guy where he'd be like, every time we went up one of the letters would fall off, so it said A L and people turning up for beer. Yeah, it it was a nightmare. I I guess you you've got to print it on, really. You can't like stick.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:28

I mean, you're going back 15 years where people would you'd you know when you used to go to uh a copy centre and you'd have a t-shirt and you'd get a sticker. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how it used to be done. They'd hot iron it all.

Lora 1:05:40

Yeah, there we go. Swing the t shirt.

Nick 1:05:44

Yeah, that's full circle back full circle back to the reprographics expert. Yeah, with photocopy machine.

Lora 1:05:50

I love it. Oh, it's a shame.

Nick 1:05:53

Yeah, and no second. Do you know what? All I want to do is just have John had just fan of and say, John, could you make that? How big could you make it? It's bigger. Well, I mean, let me be clear, the answer's yes. And and and I know and also I just want to phone John up and say, John, what are you doing today? What are you making today? Come on, let me know.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:08

I'd love to tell you what we were doing today. We've done a couple of bits and bobs today, but non-disclosures nowadays. I know, yeah, it's it's it's fair enough.

Nick 1:06:15

But just making Ryland's head look less like Ryland.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:18

Ryland's head, yeah.

Nick 1:06:19

By the way, do I have to cut it out?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:21

No, no.

Nick 1:06:22

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:22

No, no, so everything's fine. No, it's everything's fine. No, that was fine. I know, so I'll just have to check because otherwise I'll be in the edit and I'll be sending you messages. When we when we get there and we finish what we're doing, I'll send you some pictures of what we're doing once we're allowed. And then hopefully you'll remember me and you'll go, Oh, yeah, that's it.

Lora 1:06:35

I'll not forgetting you, John. Thank you. Thanks, guys.

Nick 1:06:41

Not on um record. Go on. If I how much does one of these things cost?

SPEAKER_05 1:06:45

So we chart so um if we're advertising, um, if it's advertising flow, it's we're a thousand pounds a metre. So it's a cubic metre. Uh longest measurement.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:56

So if we made um, I don't know, so for example, uh Young Hee, yeah, that was um six metres. That's really cheap. It's not bad. Uh if it's if it's including shipping and installation. Yeah, yeah, no, not installation. And not helium.

Lora 1:07:11

Yeah, don't push it, mate. Don't push it. I'm just thinking how big can you?

Nick 1:07:16

No, no, no, no. I'm just thinking like, how big can I make St. Kita's head? Yeah, yeah. Is it worth£10,000?

SPEAKER_05 1:07:22

Well, we saw we sold one, we sold is we've been working a long time, but we just did a contract um uh this week, and that's for three, and that was about£150,000. But those are hand painted, hand finished. Yeah, it's like pretty good.

Nick 1:07:37

Oh, we didn't really talk about the airbrushing. Can I just talk about that for a second? Yeah, I'm sorry, you okay? Like just uh I just thought I need to I need to ask one question here. So I'm gonna I'm oh no, I'm gonna this is I'm making my life a nightmare because I'm gonna have to cut this in because I already start wrapping up. But you know, I'm really fascinated with the airbrushing, right? You know, um one of my friends was really big into like carnival rides and stuff, and you know, like looking at all how people are doing the airbrushing on those and freestyling it and stuff like that. That's a totally different skill to 3D, 3D making 3D models.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:07

It's number, and so we've we're very, very lucky. We've got um that we've got some very intalented people, very creative, we've got some very that's fine, but that's fine, yeah. Yeah, but we have genuinely got in our studio incredibly creative people. It's and they're specialists of coming. Oh, 100%. So um but common background of them, that especially the the head of the studio, she's she's amazing, but her background is that she would be doing these funky um displays for um uh kind of uh festivals, yeah, and where you'd you'd walk in in the festival and it would be like peace and harmony, and you'd see these amazing murals, like murals, yeah, but incredibly complex. Um, and I I thought um I'm if it if she painting 3D inflatables, yeah, there's no one that does that. Right. So whoever you're gonna employ to start with hasn't painted a 3D inflatable and instantly the number one expert in the country. She's now she's been doing it for three years. So how much how good's she now? Yeah, amazing. Yeah, it's it's it's a it's a skill, and the way that we actually do it is that we would we we we take something and it's it's white. Yeah. So we start with a completely neutral colour, um, and then we build it up. So it's a bit like uh forgive me, it's a bit like a lady's face where you put that layer of build up a makeup, yeah, and then you get to the bit, so we digitally map it on. Yeah, it's all planned, but it's it's incredibly it's incredibly incredibly creative.

Nick 1:09:35

So I love it when you know if you go to a film set or something and you see like a marble column and you're like, oh my god, that's wood. Yeah. But it you you just can't believe it until you touch it, and it and it feels like that. Yeah, that's the bit we try to get to, yeah. I went to a Jeff King's exhibition, and the opposite was it, it was like it was made to look like inflatables, but it's actually solid aluminium. Oh, okay. And and you and you kind of want to touch you you kind of want to touch it because you can't believe it's not an inflatable one.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:56

I mean how how how well was that dude done? Like he'd just drawn a funky dog and and and patterned it as a coon dog. Uh how well is that?

Nick 1:10:04

Well he's he's done he's done a lot more art than that. I'm a big Jeff Keynes fan, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you go to Bill Bell, he's got a huge like um dog made out of flowers. Oh wow, outside the Guggenheim Museum. He's got a very, very good statue of Michael Jackson and Bubbles the Chimp. Really? And he um he's got an extremely hardcore pornographic uh photo set of him and his wife um Lolita. I think it was no chickulina, not not not Lelita. Chickulina. But but um yeah, he's he's done lots of crazy stuff.

Lora 1:10:39

That's uh Abbott song.

Nick 1:10:41

I honestly hang on let me wrap up, I'm gonna tell you about it in a second. Go on. Sankey, what are you gonna make? What big inflatable are you gonna make?

Lora 1:10:50

Oh, the Wardsma Oyster.

Nick 1:10:52

Massive Leucide.

Lora 1:10:54

Massive Luca. Well, I don't do Leucide, but I know you want one. So we'll have to maybe do a massive inflation.

Nick 1:11:00

Do you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna make a 40-foot toaster with toast, with, with toast balloons flying out the top of it, and we're gonna put it in Oaklands Park. Fair enough. Colonel Crompton needs to beat Marconi.

Lora 1:11:13

Fair enough. Fair enough. Exactly. We're gonna do that.

Nick 1:11:15

We're gonna do that. I've got some more toaster news for you as well. But um, yeah, fantastic. I am going to try my hardest for the rest of my career. I don't know how many more years I've got left in me, but I'm gonna try and get John, a project with John, and I'm gonna get him to make the biggest, craziest thing he's ever made.

Lora 1:11:29

Well, when you do, can you just bear some of my young people in mind? Because that's one of the things I didn't get to ask you as well. Um, how you you would go about getting into the stuff.

Nick 1:11:37

Yeah, don't ask now excited.

Lora 1:11:38

I know that, but next time I'll email you or something to ask. Yeah, normally we do ask about how to get into stuff, but um Yeah, because I've got this young person who's just finished her media graphic design thing at uni, um, and she just doesn't have confidence to go look for a job. And bless her, she's been looking in cafes.

Nick 1:11:57

Saying Keita, we've got to wrap up. I'm really sorry.

Lora 1:11:59

You see, trying to help somebody.

Nick 1:12:01

I know, but we're gonna listen's gonna end up in another fight. No, then take your headphones off. We haven't finished yet.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:05

Uh like so. One of the guys that we we is um one of our designers, and he was he's from Hong Kong. So in the interview, I hope he doesn't mind, he's from Chelmsford, but um incredibly talented, like uber, uber talented. And when he was in Hong Kong, he used to be make these amazing products for like huge malls. Um, he's brought his family here because of the education system. Actually, he believes that the educational system in Essex is better. Um, so he's brought his whole family over here. He couldn't get a job, yes, and he was I think he was doing a bit of in the pubs, I think he was like working in dominoes, yeah. And I just kind of thought I'll bring him in. And when I brought him in, yeah, for someone to actually take a minute and see this incredible person that's in front of you, yeah, he was perfect for us, but it was just the right fit. And he was emotional about it all and super, super pleased. But hopefully he stayed with us for a long time. Nice, you've got good people a chance, right?

Nick 1:13:05

Yeah, so I'm really sorry, Sankid, because I was trying to wrap it up and I didn't want to open up a whole new conversation. Um, where were we?

Lora 1:13:11

Saying goodbyes.

Nick 1:13:12

Yeah, I've got to say thank you to um Adam Whitker in Little Comedia Studio. It's such a such a brilliant space. I think we could uh He laughed at your jokes twice, you know. But do you know the That's because you were here the it's a hard one laugh which makes it all much more worth it. You know, like people that laugh at anything, yeah, you know, that's alright, but like if you get a hard one laugh, if I hear him, overlook phrase banging. Yeah, exactly. He does laugh more as it goes on as well. So I think it might be whatever he's drinking. His laughing potion. Um yeah, thank you, thank you, Adam, for making us sounding amazing. Uh thank you, Sangita.

Lora 1:13:50

Thank you, Nick.

Nick 1:13:51

Uh no pleasure.

Lora 1:13:52

No pleasure, no pleasure, no problem.

Nick 1:13:54

Yeah, no pleasure, of course, no pleasure at all. Um, and thank you very much, John. Thank you. And please remember you can subscribe to us on Instagram at r.u.creative.podcast. Send us questions, no one ever does. Um and uh listen, we've had so many good guests this year. We're gonna have a wrap-up at the end of the year.

Lora 1:14:11

Yeah, yeah.

Nick 1:14:12

And we're gonna discuss everyone and yeah, let's know who you've enjoyed listening to. Don't forget it's megaflatables.

Lora 1:14:17

I was gonna say, can you plug who you are? There's no in.

Nick 1:14:19

There's no in. It's mega at megaflatables.com.com. Well, yeah. Or it's www.megaflatables.com and at megaflatables. I think it's megaflatables one.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:31

One I I tried it the first time, got it wrong. It was a long time ago. I put a one after it.

Lora 1:14:39

I love this guy.

Nick 1:14:41

Here we go. Mega Flat. It sounds like a spaceship, doesn't it? Mega Flatable One out. That's it. That's it. Close enough.

Lora 1:14:47

Oh, that was brilliant. I'm saying it's uh leaner.

Nick 1:14:51

Sit down, get your headphones on. Come on.

Lora 1:14:56

Come on, do you know?

Nick 1:14:57

Look, second, yeah, put your headphones on.

unknown 1:14:59

Did you leave this on? No, this is you.

Nick 1:15:01

No. Alright, so how'd that sound? Too loud? No, it's fine. It's okay. So these microphones are directional, so like we're talking over here.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:12

So I have to be a straight yeah.

Nick 1:15:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Move it. Just get comfortable. And and just remember, like, if you're talking to Sankita.

Lora 1:15:20

I have to talk like this. You got it. Yeah, yeah, you got it, you got it. You're a fast one.