DigitalBeans: Star Business of the Month – September 2013

Digital Beans Search and Social Marketing

Piperis Filippaios – Managing Director at DigitalBeans specialises in Digital Marketing with a strong focus on Search Engine Optimisation. The business which was originally called uTargeting was founded when he was just 22 and he has been working hard at it ever since. A very creative and hardworking individual showing true entrepreneurial spirit with his resilience to face any business challenge.

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DigitalBeans was developed in response to supporting companies to grow their business online. Traditionally it started out with small companies and sole traders but the company is now increasingly serving larger clients ranging from manufacturers to shopping centres. The company’s success was recognised in the 2013 Kent Excellence in Business Awards receiving the status of Finalist in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category. The company is evolving and always takes into consideration any changing trends and adapting their services to meet these needs.

There is plenty of ambition with both DigitalBeans and Piperis. The aim for the company is to grow the business and size of the team, alongside growing other ventures Piperis is already involved with. Piperis hopes to be able to maintain this momentum and grow the number of companies he is involved with over the coming years.

Business Tip:

“Take the plunge and create your own future”

Website     Facebook    Twitter

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Electric Lantern – Motion Picture Festival

electric-lanterns-festival-rectangle-720Client: Samuel Marlow – sam@electriclanternfestival.co.uk

Business: Electric Lantern Motion Picture Festival

Description: Now in its third year, The Electric Lantern Festival is a week-long international film festival in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, at the start of September 2013.

Telephone: 07599 716453

Website: www.electriclanternfestival.co.uk/schedule.html

Kent Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs supported this event in it’s infancy and are now pleased to announce it’s growth and success. Read on to find out more and join in… 

The Electric Lantern Festival, Tunbridge Wells’ International Film Festival has doubled the number of days it runs to cope with the volume and quality of submissions.

The director of Tunbridge Wells’ Electric Lantern International Film  Festival, Samuel Marlow, announced that he was doubling the duration of the event to cope with the volume and quality of films the Festival has received this year.

Running for a week at the start of September in Tunbridge Wells’ Trinity Theatre, the Electric Lantern International Film Festival screens feature length and short drama, comedy, documentary, animation, music video and experimental film from local, national and international directors. This year the sponsor-funded festival is  screening 63 films from 18 countries including the USA, Iran, Brazil, Cambodia, India and the Slovak Republic, with other films coming from people almost literally a stone’s throw from the venue.

Originally three days long, Samuel Marlow decided to expand the Festival to a week once the quality of the films being submitted became apparent: “You know something special is happening when you start watching another excellent film and your heart sinks because  you’re thinking ‘Oh, no. I’ve got to find space for this one, too!'”Despite the extra days and the addition of a second screen, the Festival is still only able to screen about a quarter of what was submitted.

“It was exceptionally difficult to make the selection,” Sam  continued. “I had to whittle the films down favouring premieres, films with a strong voice or unusual angle.” The Festival’s line-up boasts 41 world and UK premieres, and closes with “Traveller” starring David Essex and newcomer Billy Cook in an adaptation of John F McDonald’s novel.

The Festival’s full schedule can be found at: www.electriclanternfestival.co.uk/schedule.htmlsamuel-marlow-electric-lantern-festival-rectangle-721

Tunbridge Wells resident Samuel Marlow founded the Electric Lantern Festival in 2011 to bring some of the best in independent films to his home town.

Business Tip

“The Festival’s strap-line is See The World In A New Light, and I feel we really stayed true to that. Whether it’s a documentary about caring for elderly zoo animals or floating schools in Bangladesh, a film about a plastic toy diver having an existential crisis or a drama about which of two communities you belong to, every film is surprising, enlightening of inspirational.”