About
Who we are, how a project runs from first enquiry to handover, and the working principles behind every studio we help plan, install and support.
How a small studio team grew up
sparkage was founded in Exeter in 2014 by Oliver Hartley, who had already spent many years in live television engineering. The aim was simple: a company that treats the whole studio as one system. That idea still shapes every project.
Oliver started the company after a career spent in galleries and equipment rooms, where he saw how often problems came from parts that had been chosen separately. A camera, a mixer and a monitor wall can each be excellent and still fail to work together on a busy news night.
So the work began with system design. Every project starts with a conversation about what the studio must broadcast, who operates it and what happens when something goes wrong. Equipment follows from those answers, not the other way round.
Over the years the team grew to cover the rest of the studio. Priya Nair leads lighting and camera positions, Callum Reid measures and treats rooms for speech, and Hannah Whitcombe coordinates schedules, rehearsals and client communication from enquiry to handover.
Our clients are broadcasters, regional news teams, event producers and organisations building or upgrading a live studio. Some need a full installation, others a single room treated or a crew trained on equipment they already own.
We keep the company small on purpose. The people who design your studio are the people who visit your site, and they remain reachable after the cables are labelled and the project is closed.
Practical habits that keep a live studio dependable
These are the working habits you can expect on any project, whether it is a full gallery installation or a single room. They describe how we plan, test and hand over, not promises about results.
One system, one design
Gallery, cameras, sound and light are specified together, so signal paths, power and monitoring are planned once rather than patched later.
Tested before air
Every route, intercom channel and fallback is checked during rehearsal, with the results written down for your engineers.
One point of contact
Hannah coordinates schedules and communication, so you are not passing questions between specialists during a busy project.
Support on broadcast days
We can be on site during live programmes and train your crew, so the studio is understood by the people who run it.
What guides the work in the gallery and on the set
A live broadcast leaves little room for improvisation, so the way a studio is planned matters long before the red light comes on. Our principles are practical working rules rather than slogans. They shape how we specify, how we communicate and how we leave a studio behind.
Reliability
Reliability means designing for the bad night, not the good one. We plan power, routing and intercom with fallback paths, then test those paths in rehearsal. Documentation is handed over so your engineers can find a fault quickly and understand what normal looks like.
Clarity
Clarity is how we write quotations, schedules and run sheets. Each states what is included, who does what and what would change the price or the timetable. Technical language is explained when it matters to a decision, so producers and engineers can follow the same plan.
Craft
Craft shows in the parts nobody films: labelled cables, tidy racks, sensible camera positions and lighting that treats every face fairly. We would rather spend an extra hour on a patch bay than leave a crew to puzzle over it during a live show.
The kinds of teams our studio services are built for
Our services suit organisations that put live programmes on air and need the technical side to be dependable. The groups below describe typical needs, not a list of named clients. Each can use one service or several, depending on how much of the studio is changing.
Regional news teams
Need a studio that runs daily bulletins reliably, with clear intercom, consistent lighting and a gallery the whole crew can operate under time pressure.
Broadcasters upgrading a studio
Need equipment integration, camera systems and acoustic treatment planned together so an existing room can take new programmes without a full rebuild.
Event producers
Need live show workflow planning, rehearsal schedules and fallback procedures so a one-off broadcast runs to plan with a crew that may be new to the space.
Interview and talk programmes
Need clear speech, flattering light and quiet, steady camera work, which comes from acoustic measurement, lighting design and careful operator guidance.
Organisations building a first studio
Need help deciding what to buy, how to lay out the room and how to train in-house staff, starting from a brief rather than a product list.
In-house production crews
Need practical training and on-site support during broadcasts, so the people running the studio each day are confident with the equipment they use.
