“This is going to be fun and exciting.”

Founded in 2021 by theatre directors Mark Calvert, Matt Runham and Pippa Fox, Tiny Dragon Productions had already built a reputation for original artistic content sitting on top of serious technical kit. By mid-2024 the work was coming in faster than the founders could plan around it — a modular immersive build inside a Stack container in Sunderland, plus a contract with a Chinese shipping group's arts arm.

Mark heard about Unlocked Expertise through another mentee, Nick Williams at Living Archive. “Peter was very straight with us and talked through the protocol of how to qualify and present ourselves,” Mark said. “The process was seamless and we are delighted now to be working with two mentors, Barry Revels and Richard Lee.”

Barry's background in tech kit complemented Richard's detail-led approach. The combination unlocked the things creative founders typically can't get to alone — operational pacing, repeatability of a new contract, and the discipline to convert one-off wins into a delivery model.

Barry's own reason for taking the seat was the most honest summary of why mentoring works at this stage of a creative business: “From the start I found the enthusiasm from the team very infectious. They bring a combination of original artistic content and technology to a market which is growing year on year. This is going to be fun and exciting.”

The Stack contract has already opened conversations with food and beverage operators wanting to drive footfall. The mentors are along for the ride.