Pearldrop was founded in January 2003 by current Managing Director Simon Mercer. At that time, he was working mainly in the entertainment sector. He split his time between London and New York, working with West End and Broadway producers to help build a portfolio of shows ready for investment. During this time, he worked with luminaries like Joan Rivers, Graham Norton and Lily Savage.
While working for the production company in 2004, Simon started making YouTube videos about a colourful member of the team. The videos gained immediate success on YouTube, and got Simon thinking about the power of the medium.
In 2009, spotting a gap in the market, Simon set his sights on the corporate sector, with the goal of making corporate video exciting and approachable. At that time, corporate video was really just the chief executive of the company droning on in front of the camera. Simon saw the opportunity to turn that into something far more powerful.
In the years since, Pearldrop has grown from a one-man operation to a team of creative professionals. We work across every sector of business and are pleased to have relationships with companies including Johnson & Johnson, Qinetiq, Elsevier, Thomas Pink and Amazing Apprenticeships, plus many local government bodies and the Department for Education. We travel all over the world to create exciting, engaging video content for everything from customer-facing viral marketing campaigns to high-quality internal training and health and safety packages. We use the latest camera, lighting and sound technology, and Simon holds the CAA’s permission to fly drones commercially.
We love making videos, and we hope we can make yours soon!
We work with customers across every sector and industry,
providing everything from company brand films to detailed instructional animations.
We create top-quality video, animation and photography for your website, marketing, training and broadcast needs.
Denise is a greatly-skilled event, marketing, location and production manager with over twenty years’ experience including working for major blue-chip corporations.
Having joined Pearldrop in April 2011, Denise manages all projects as well as the daily running of company and the team. She loves spreadsheets and is super-organised by nature which means with Denise on board we know every shoot is planned perfectly. Inquisitive by nature, she is our lead interviewer on shoots and enjoys asking probing questions.
Denise is known for her forward-planning and production management expertise, and she’s definitely the person you want planning your next shoot.
In 1999, Denise graduated with a 2:1 BA (Hons) European Business Studies from the University of Portsmouth as well as the Dutch equivalent from the International School of Economics Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Outside of Pearldrop you’ll find Denise cooking, walking, running, watching the latest Netflix series and reading.
Simon is an extremely experienced producer, director and cinematographer. He’s spent more than twenty years delivering complex entertainment and corporate film projects, and is known for his expertise, his friendliness and his cool demeanour on-set. He knows how to get the best out of both performers and locations, and is able to relax even the most nervous interviewee.
Simon understands every aspect of cinematography, and is just at home behind the lens or lighting a set as he is directing and producing.
He’s also an excellent photographer, and is Pearldrop’s principle headshot and portrait artist. In fact, he comes from a long line of artists – his father is a wonderful photographer and his grandfather was a skilled oil and acrylic painter – and he is proud to be carrying on his family artistic tradition.
In his private life, Simon is a keen guitarist and pianist.
Rob graduated from the University of Gloucestershire in 2019 with a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Television Production.
At the age of 21 he set up his own freelance video production company, collaborating with and producing films on behalf of a range of businesses across a broad spectrum of genres.
He joined Pearldrop in 2019, and became Senior Production Executive in 2022.
Rob’s passion is being behind the camera, conveying the message of the story through the lens. He is a highly-experienced cinematographer and a calming influence on-set. He manages all areas of production, inclduing camera operation, lighting and sound. He leads the production team on most shoots, working in collaboration with the diretor and clients.
When not at Pearldrop, Rob is usually out on his road bike, photographing nature or watching rugby.
