Testimonials

"John handled the filming of our first ever conference in 2024 and we were so pleased with the film he complied of the event. Not being at all technical, it also gave us great confidence having him there and he slotted in as one of our team on the day. Nothing is too much trouble and John really understands the nature of our work and has great integrity and knowledge."

Mary Wakeham BA (Hons), MA, MRes, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Refuge4pets
Jan 2025

"John made 5 beautiful films with Devon Partnership Trust about the Arts Therapies that we provide. He steered us painstakingly through what was required for filming and made the making of the films very enjoyable and worthwhile. We are delighted with the results."

Hazel Bayley
Psychological Therapies Lead
Professional lead for Arts Therapies
NHS Devon Partnership Trust - Jan 2025

https://www.dpt.nhs.uk/our-services/psychology-and-psychological-therapies/ppt-service/therapies-we-offer

‘From the first meeting with John, I was reassured that he was very knowledgeable about his industry, he also really cared about our work and took time to find out more from us, so he could do all the appropriate planning and preparation ahead of filming. Throughout the process John has been professional, meeting all deadlines and communicating really efficiently; he also put our staff, volunteers and young people at their ease during filming. The finished product was excellent, I would highly recommend using Emberlense for any filming you need.’

Maria Goodwin CEO YMCA South Devon

"John Tomkins was recommended to us as we wanted to make a short film to
accompany a project we were running to catalogue the family and estate papers of
the Cary family of Torre Abbey.
John’s infectious enthusiasm and sociable personality are allied to technical
competence and vast experience of the practicalities of film-making, which enabled
him to translate our ideas into reality. His creative thinking took the film in a slightly
different direction from the one we had envisaged, and this greatly enhanced the
final product.
We wholeheartedly recommend John."

Brian Carpenter
Stuart Tyler
Devon Archives and Local Studies Service, South West Heritage Trust
Jan 2024

"John worked with me to document work happening with LocalMotion in Torbay. This involved filming live events, setting up and undertaking vox pop interviews, setting up visits to community projects and preparing and filming longer interviews and capturing footage to demonstrate their work. He edited a lot of footage down to create short films and longer narratives. He was able to present a good edit and then work with me to fine tune it.

John can see the wider story to tell, as well as its component parts and brings ideas to best tell it. His approach is very easy going, complimenting his great skill in story telling and his commitment to the community around him. He forms relationships easily across a range of characters and can draw out a good tale. He is a great collaborator, responds quickly to requests, completes work efficiently and effectively and is tolerant of others if they are not so prompt.

We’ve got a range of short and longer films that really reflect the strength of community in Torbay. Thank you John!"

Jo Curtis (Systemic Change Partner at local motion Torbay) Oct 2023

The 2nd Torbay Local Entrepreneur Forum and Community of Dragons took place at the Palace Theatre’s Stage Left venue on 1 December 2022. It was a super successful, well attended event which brought the community together to support four early stage social enterprises. John Tomkins of Emberlense enabled us to share the event with a much wider audience who could not attend. His comprehensive filming of the event, great editing and presentation mean that we have a range of excellent videos of different lengths, plus great collages and stills which we will be using into the future. These allowed us to show the funders (Torbay Council) what we did with their money, and will be a great resource when we invite people to come to the 3rd event later this year.

Chris Gunson
Co-Founder and Director
Local Spark: Torbay Community supported Enterprise CIC
Feb 2023

Intercom Trust is proud to present a new film highlighting the work of our Safer Rainbow Project in shining a light on domestic abuse and sexual violence within our LGBT+ communities.
If you are suffering from domestic abuse or sexual violence, the Safer Rainbow Project provides specialist LGBT+ support across Devon and Cornwall.
We offer a confidential safe space for you to talk about your experiences and learn what options of support are available to you.
You can talk to us on 0800 612 3010 (Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm) or email [email protected]
We would like to thank all the participants of the film for their work and cooperation, and @emberlensefilms for their brilliant production work.

Intercom Trust
September 2023

“John was fantastic to work with on this project at the Museum of Gloucester. He quickly understood our needs and was incredibly flexible in making himself available to do the filming at relatively short notice. He spent the day with us and couldn’t have been more understanding and accommodating on what we wanted and of course the end product just blew us away and was in fact out of this world (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

I would recommend working with Emberlense to anyone wanting to put together a quality stop motion production together and I hope we are able to use him again in future endeavours!”

Amy Washington
Events & Marketing Officer | Museum of Gloucester

John Tomkins at Emberlense Film Productions produced, filmed and edited ClearYolk’s advert. John made the whole process from start to finish painless and his patience was very much appreciated! He thought the whole process through and therefore, I simply turned up, gave him an idea of what I wanted to say and he did the rest!

If you are thinking of a project like ClearYolk, then I would thoroughly recommend that you get in touch with John! We are really pleased with our advert in its entirety.

Raj Panchal Director - ClearYolk Limited Nov 2022

"Working with John on our film was an absolute pleasure. Throughout all stages, his professionalism and knowledge stood out, resulting in a finished product we are all immensely proud of. We have received great feedback from everyone who has seen the film and it has raised our profile as a charity. John was incredibly helpful during the process, making any small changes we requested and I could not recommend him highly enough."

Andy Bichard, Manager, Paignton Community Larder

"I approached John with an unformed idea for some training videos thinking the video production was the hard bit. He very patiently walked me through pre-production, script editing, scheduling… then we got onto the hard bit and he worked his magic. Couldn’t have done it without him and the end result is beyond what I’d hoped for.
Can’t recommend Emberlense enough."

Tony Horsey Director Ortus Group and Architecture DIY Nov 2022

John was really easy to work with and make sure he understood what we wanted.
We are so delighted with the end result,we got everything we wanted and more.
Maya King ( Centre Manager)
April 2023

John produced the 2022 South West Business Expo film of the show. We gave him some thoughts on what we would like in the video but we didn't need to as he got it straight away and knew exactly what we needed. And to his word, he produced exactly what we wanted plus added some other ideas along the way! He did such a good job that he will be filming the South West Business Expo 2023, our 10th Expo!

If you need a quality film produced, thought through thoroughly and delivered, John and Emberlense is the only company to be talking about film work. Highly recommended!

Dave Barr Director - South West Business Expo
Nov 2022

Agatha Christie Festival Ltd commissioned John Tomkins and his company, Emberlense Productions, to film selected live events at the 2022 International Agatha Christie Festival to create a promotional video and trailer for future years. John responded brilliantly to our brief and delivered a superb mini-film which captures the essence of the Festival within its stunning heritage setting. We are delighted with the result.

Heather Norman-Soderlind
Chair, Agatha Christie Festival

I approached John Tomkins from Emberlense about 2 years ago. I had by chance
stumbled across his work when I was in a Multi-Agency Meeting. He had been
commissioned to create a film which he presented to the group.
I investigated more of his work before contacting and meeting with him to secure
him for Torbay Wellbeing Engagement Project film, for which I was the
coordinator. Emberlense were able to listen to direction and work with me, be
flexible and patient to suit our communities. Emberlense were great at building
trusting relationships alongside me which is integral to our work.

The result was amazing ! The film was able to capture the intimacy and profound
work of the communities were working with but also maintain their privacy if
that’s what they wanted. One thing I like was the ability to understand creative
vision extremely quickly, even though it can appear left-field and to work with me
and our communities in a creative imaginative way.
I found the experience very enjoyable and working with Emberlense brought our
hard work to life and we were able to share this far and wide which spread
passion and enthusiasm throughout our wider communities and beyond. I have
continued to work with Emberlense on multiple projects since. I would
thoroughly recommend Emberlense to anyone who wants to create something
intimate, creative, and effective!

Bernadette McAuley
Community Mental Health Development Lead
Devon Mental Health Alliance Nov 2022

"It was a pleasure to work with Emberlense on our video project to connect Care Home residents with nature. He made all the connections for us and responded to all our suggestions. The video is very popular and his script fitted the job we needed just perfectly."

Pam Project Lead
Torbay Care Homes and nature project Nov 2022

We worked with John on creating a dynamic video for our Networking group - G12 Business Club, we chose John as his enthusiasm shone through and as such on the day of filming, we had complete confidence on letting him film and create what we'd discussed previously and he envisioned. The final result we're delighted with, we've had nothing but praise for and it has exceeded our expectations, we'll definitely be using him again.

Alistair Gleave
G12 Business Networking Club 2022

We have worked with Emberlense for the last 12 months and John has been very reliable, enthusiastic and professional. John has always been on hand to answer any questions and delivered a high-quality, affordable, friendly service with no job too small. He handled the subject matter sensitively and delivered exactly what we wanted. We would recommend to anyone needing a professional videographer.

Angie Manning Director "What's your problem?" - Chair Standing Tall Partnership
2021

We have worked with John on a number of projects in the past so when we wanted to film 6 educational videos about the history of the Stone Age/ Kents Cavern we knew John would be perfect for the job. I’m always impressed with John’s professionalism and editing of films to produce something of high quality. The feedback and response from these educational films has been great, and we will certainly be doing more in the future.

James Hull General Manager Kents Cavern 2021

Emberlense Productions filmed a storytelling session we did at Christmas, which needed to go virtual at the last minute due to COVID restrictions. John did an excellent job at very short notice and was professional, creative and courteous throughout. He delivered an edited final product ahead of schedule and it meant we were able to share some Christmas magic with local families who were unable to attend in person. We have collaborated with Emberlense several times in the past and look forward to doing more work with them in the future.

Matthew Newbury
Torre Abbey
2022

On behalf of Ladies’ Lounge a big thank you to John for producing an excellent video about us. His service is excellent, he was prompt, sensitive, patient, very helpful and thorough. John went above and beyond to make sure we were happy with the video. We would certainly recommend Emberlense to anyone requiring a similar service.

Ros Ede
Ladies’ Lounge Project Manager
2022

In 2018 the Bay Education Trust received a £4m government grant to demolish an old 1920s building at Paignton Academy and rebuild a new state of the art catering and performance centre in its place. The Trust wanted to record a visual narrative from beginning to end and commissioned John Tomkins and Emberlense to document the process. The result was an eight minute video entitled ‘Our Journey.’ The Trust is delighted that we chose Emberlense for the recording of the project and is very pleased with the video which was shown to the one hundred guests who attended the official opening of the new building on January 10th 2020. It will form an ongoing part of the Academy’s website.

Regards
Stephen Kings
Chief Executive – Bay Education Trust
2020

Thanks John! It’s rare to find someone who genuinely isn’t happy unless the client is.
Really happy with the final video.

Emma Baker
Marketing Manager WBW Solicitors
2020

Torquay Museum Society is a ‘Community Hub’, as well as a ‘Learned Society’, with around 200 members that has been in the Bay since its formation in 1844.

John Tomkins has been instrumental in helping the Society adapt to the 21st Century!

We had to completely reinvent ourselves over the past couple of years and John has always been there to help above and beyond the call of duty. He advised us in developing schemes and initiatives to engage with our membership in new and innovative ways, but his most notable triumphs have been in documentary film making
and enhancing our social media content.
Additionally, John did a sterling job in producing a series 19 video lectures which enabled our members to watch on-line lectures at home in place of physical lectures in the Spring of 2021 that had been postponed due to the lockdown.

All of our Trustees and Members are grateful for his expertise, input and vision. We consider him a friend of our Society and hope to do even more amazing things with Emberlense in the future.
David J Wills PABP President - Torquay Museum Society
2021

Torquay Museum has worked with John for seven years and during that time he has produced consistently high quality video content for the Museum, which we have used across our social media platforms, and in our exhibitions, to great effect. I would have no hesitation in recommending John. His passion, commitment, energy and ideas are second to none.
Carl Smith - Visitor Services, Marketing and Membership Manager
2021

May I express my appreciation to John Tomkins and Emberlense for the work undertaken on the Torbay Domestic Abuse videos. From approaching John, we found that the project was professionally supported, guided and we were very pleased with the finished product. Our suggestions and ideas were taken on board and the videos were filmed on location, appropriate actors were sourced, and the videos delivered quickly, to a very high standard, and to our agreed budget.

Dr Kevin Dixon
Director Healthwatch Torbay
part of the Standing tall partnership
2020

I have worked with Emberlense on a couple of occasions now and have been delighted with the results. Not only does John provide his own ideas as to how the videos should look and feel, but he is also not afraid of embracing other ideas from other quarters as well. Their combination of experience, flexibility and a willingness to give the client exactly what they want is very refreshing and we will certainly be working with Emberlense again in the near future

Oliver Dax
Managing Director
Monkey’s Paw Sales Training Consultancy Ltd.
2020

At Fiveway Apartments , as we opened post lock down, we were looking for a way to get our message across in a more interesting fun way. We commissioned John to produce a video for us which would explain all the additional cleaning we are doing in a fun way, capturing our brand. The result was awesome, thanks John!

Kevin Cope
Fiveway Apartments
2020

John at Emberlense recently completed the promo video for my latest novel "I Will Survive." I felt completely at ease during filming and it was a pleasure to work with him. He is a real professional and cares about his art.

Graham Sclater Tabitha Publishing Limited 2020

I’ve hired John Tomkins, or worked with him on projects for other people, on several occasions. I’m always struck by his professionalism and his attention to detail. His work is always of a high quality and he approaches it with an enthusiasm which is infectious. His turnaround is prompt and friendly. I would highly recommend him for anyone who needs filming work done, whether corporate or something more artistic.

Robert Garnham Spoken word artist 2021

John created a video of the Quayside Hotel end of October 2019. He did one main video for the Hotel and a short one of cooking. Both were very successful and have been viewed on our web site, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. John is accommodating and very pleasant to work with. He tailored the video to the brief and fitted in with our Hotel hours including an evening in the Restaurant and Ernie Lister Bar. His editing and music resulted in an excellent video.
I would not hesitate to warmly recommend him.

Bridget Bowring
Owner Quayside Hotel

John did our film for skivvies Torbay, he was a pleasure to work with and very professional. A great finished product.

Timothy Treneary ( Owner Skivvies )

Hi John.
I just want to say a huge thanks for your work regarding the videos you did at the BMAD festival this year.
They are without doubt totally professional.
The videos portray exactly what the festival is with a fresh approach to filming, editing and narration.
Wishing you all the best.
Kelvin Halloran. Founder of BMAD 2019

John and Emberlense have worked with the BrixFest team in the past to craft National Lottery funded heritage films for the Brixham Heritage Trail. John was asked to produce a film which captured the true meaning behind the stories told by local people of all generations - and the film which he produced did exactly that. His compassion, enthusiasm and dynamic photography ability means that he could accurately yet sympathetically represent everything we needed while simultaneously doing the stories justice, without exploiting them.

This year BrixFest returned for its eighth year and John created the official movie for the weekend. We expected a short, three minute clip which covered a few of the key elements of the festival and a few plugs for sponsors. What we received, was an incredible 11 minute film which perfectly recorded the visitor's experience at a BrixFest festival weekend. The value gained by the festival from this film will be immense, both in terms of added value for sponsors and when it comes to showcasing what we can do for awards, or new perspective visitors.

John is a pleasure to work with. His ability to produce complex, intimate video clips with speed but without compromising quality is to be commended. We're all looking forward to working with him on the next one.

Harry Bower Brixfest Chairman ( June 2019 )

John and his team at Emberlense were extremely easy to work with. From the initial stages of the ideas for content for the film, throughout production to final stage amendments, John was creative, willing and efficient despite us not given him a deadline. I would not hesitate to recommend him if you are looking for a video to promote your business . We are very happy with the finished product and feel it depicts what we had in mind exactly

Richard Cuming Owner Bygones

“It was a pleasure working with John of Emberlense. Professional. Skilled. On time. Approachable. All essential qualities when desiring a marketing video”

Martin Brook Director Torbay Holiday Helpers Network

Working with John at Emberlense to create a short film for the 'Sharing Stories' Festival with Torquay Museum was a great experience. The service from the initial concept to delivery was superb.

Sarah Hemingway - Marketing and Event Programmer

John is a tireless evangelist for the film sector in Torbay. He organises & promotes genuinely innovative events & his enthusiasm is infectious. Recently my 15 year old son took part in a documentary workshop run by Emberlense with Squircle Arts and Torquay Museum. Over the weekend Ryan learnt genuine film direction skills far above just simple video editing. It was apparent that all the participants were really proud of the finished result (with a near 100% turnout at the screening evening) and that John had very effective rapport with the course members. It would be great to see more film making training events like this as they have excellent potential to add to the cultural engagement of young people in this area. John’s commitment, vision and organisational skills are very highly recommended.

Peter Blackler e- Commerce Director at Insignia Creative LTD

I'm delighted with my new videos produced by Emberlense Film Productions. John met with me beforehand to discuss the project and alos afterwards to discuss how the videos could be used in marketing. The filming session was fun , professional, efficient and productive due to the work John had put in beforehand to ensure everything went smoothly on the day. The videos were completed promptly and I'm impressed with the end results.

Chris Roots - Director Roots 2 Success

John at Emberlense, has such a vast knowledge of film. He has done a couple of pieces of work for us and we have been extremely happy with the results, John has a very professional approach and listens to what the customers needs are. We highly recommend John.

Dale and Samantha Triffitt - Managing Directors at Clothing Your Way

Thank you to John at Emberlense for making this project ! Great job! I would defiantly recommend you !

SP Cristina - Co Owner Canopy Restaurant

John has done a great job on both of my videos . He had alot of patience listening to what I wanted and great after sales editing when needed. Looking forward to the next project .

Ozzy Dee - Man of Magic

John Filmed and edited a Promotional Video for my company with great care and interest ; he had a wealth of creative ideas when it came to editing the film and capturing the spirit of what we are about. The whole process was conducted in a timely and professional manner. I would defiantly recommend .

Marie Cassidy - Founder at Boo to a Goose Theatre.

Brixham Cottages commissioned a promotional video from Emberlense and have been delighted with the results . John is talented individual with patience and an eye for detail that shines through his work . John made several visits to shoot footage and provided several edits , nothing was to much trouble and we would have no hesitation in using Emberlense in the future.

Johnny Village - Brixham Cottages