Lights flicker, rain falls and flames dance for the BIG and small screen!
Meet the team fuelling the film and TV industry with a paramount focus on safety. Today we speak with Andrew and Ryan, the owners of Dragon Fire and Water LTD and blue self storage customers to find out all about the magic behind what they do.
Hi Andrew! Hi Ryan! Tell us all about your business.
We are Dragon Fire and Water LTD, a facilities company providing bespoke special effects support, health and safety services and fire service in-vision capabilities to the TV and film industry in Wales and the South West.
What does all that mean? Well, we assist special effects companies to make rain scenes with the use of our water bowsers, pumps and equipment – we even have the ability to make the rain warm which is quite a nice thing for the actors, especially in the winter!
Our health and safety services cover everything from support explosions to the stuntmen being lit on fire with the provision of our fully equipped fire appliances and firefighters, water safety with our boats, and line safety to our advisors being on set creating risk assessments for productions.
Our in-vision capabilities usually bring together everything we do together; on BBC’s Casualty, for instance, you will regularly see our crews cutting people out of cars, performing rescues in fires, dealing with all types of emergencies and making it rain quite often; this is done with professional firefighters and our modern equipment to add authenticity to any production we are involved with.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
The film industry in itself in Wales and how it has grown in recent years is where I’d say we get it from. There are numerous examples of companies that have grown to become not just regional leaders but stand out in the whole of the UK – Wales is a beacon for talent and professional services and we very much aspire to be the professional number one choice for productions in the region.
Who are your biggest influences?
Our biggest influences come from those companies who have established themselves as the professional choice of film and TV companies in Wales, and there isn’t just one, we draw inspiration from the success they have had in providing a local choice for film and TV such as RealSFX, Badwolf, Dragon Studios, ADF and 4WOOD to name but a few!
What projects are you currently working on?
We are currently working on a well known BBC and Disney programme with a new ‘Doctor’, BBC’s Casualty, a zombie movie being filmed in Newport, a feature film in Bridgend and an advert for Porsche. Typically we will be working on around 5 productions at any one time.
What’s next in the pipeline for your business?
We plan to grow in the events sector from the spring onwards and to apply our skills, equipment and people to the commercial sector also where there are many areas of expertise we have within the company to bolster our footprint within the region where typically these services have been sourced outside of Wales.
Why do you use blue self storage?
For us, blue self storage stood out in the storage sector. From the start, we kept one eye on wanting to get into one of the sites. We have a lot of very unique pieces of equipment, and we want to know they are safe. Being at blue self storage we know this will be the case.
It’s also a flexible contract system which helps because we aren’t tied in for too long and we can expand and get more storage in the same place if needs be. Accessing our site with a QR code has been a nice touch as well, and has been useful in managing our team.
Customer spotlight series
In this series, we profile different businesses from our business & commercial storage customers to shine a light on all the amazing companies that use us for their storage needs.
Previous customer spotlights
- Customer spotlight: burningred – firin’ up brands since 2004
- Customer spotlight: A lockdown business that’s always on the Mhoove
- Customer spotlight: The team using portable power to energise your lifestyle
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Wentloog Corporate Park is home to around 3000 of our customers, so if you’re a business that uses storage or operates in and around Wentloog Corporate Park in Cardiff you can join our business network – it’s FREE!
