CLEARSTORY

AN INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION COMPANY MAKING
POWERFUL TELEVISION WITH A PURPOSE

ABOUT CLEARSTORY

ClearStory (www.clearstory.co.uk) was founded by the BAFTA and Grierson Award-winning Executive Producers Molly Milton and Russell Barnes. The company has built a reputation for its dynamic and diverse creative output in branded content and factual television, which has been successfully distributed to networks worldwide. Among other projects, the company has produced: the Grierson Award-winning documentary Gypsy Blood and series Richard Dawkins: Sex, Death & the Meaning of Life for Channel 4; #Connect, a 2015 viral for Havas which scored 70 million hits and made Youtube’s top 10 video ads of the year; three feature-length films profiling the Allied leaders of World War Two and Long Shadow, a landmark BBC2 series about the legacy of the First World War, presented by the eminent historian Professor David Reynolds. Recent ClearStory productions include a comedic biography of artist Damien Hirst, Passions: Damien Hirst by Harry Hill, for Sky Arts; DanceWorks, a series of observational films made with Sadler’s Wells and winner of the 2019 Golden Prague Grand Prix; Oceans Apart, an immersive exploration of the clash between the west and Pacific cultures that began 250 years ago with the voyages of Captain Cook; and How to Go Viral, a playful look at the artistry and impact of internet memes. ClearStory is currently in production on three new BBC projects for broadcast in 2020, including African Renaissance, presented by Afua Hirsch and a second series of Danceworks.

MEET THE TEAM

RUSSELL BARNES

Director

Russell Barnes has been directing documentaries for over 20 years, often in partnership with intellectual heavyweights such as Niall Ferguson, Richard Dawkins and David Reynolds. Credits include the Grierson-nominated history films Armistice and 1941 and the Man of Steel and the Bafta and Emmy award winner The Virtual Revolution for BBC2. Russell also directed Channel 4’s Broadcast Award-winning Genius of Charles Darwin, the CGI-driven global hit Extinct and the revisionist history series Empire.
CLARE BURNS

Production Manager

Clare Burns spent three years at Uden Associates before leaving the nest for the freelance world, working for, amongst others, Science Pictures, Discovery Europe, Grain Media, Proudfoot TV and Twenty Twenty. She joined Clearstory as Production Manager on BBC4’s 3 part series Utopia: In Search of the Dream, and is currently Production Managing Clearstory’s latest slate of commissions.