Creative Collaborations: A Documentary Filmmaker’s Look at Sunderland’s 10×10 Project
In 2016, I worked as a documentary filmmaker to capture a remarkable initiative that brought together two worlds often seen as separate: business and the arts.
The project, called the 10×10 Project, took place across Sunderland and the wider North East, and it became one of the most thought-provoking experiences in my journey as a documentary filmmaker.
My practice as a documentary filmmaker focuses on revealing how creativity shapes our communities. The 10×10 Project was a perfect example. In April 2016, ten North East artists were paired with ten regional businesses. They met for a workshop to explore how they might collaborate and bring new ideas to life. Each pair then had a month to develop a proposal for a creative business partnership.
By May, the teams were pitching their ideas to a panel of arts and business experts. Two proposals were chosen for commissioning and received funding to be fully realised in Sunderland. Yet what truly speaks to the project’s success is that three other partnerships decided to keep working on their ideas independently, even without the official commission. It showed that the bonds formed through this initiative were authentic and inspiring, a notion close to my work as a documentary filmmaker who values genuine human stories.
While filming, I captured numerous conversations that revealed why collaborations like these matter. One participant shared:
“I was really quite excited at the prospect of working with an artist to see how we could try and stimulate our thinking a little bit differently… We really recognise that artists tend to see the world differently.”
That idea of “seeing differently” became a key theme in my film. As a documentary filmmaker, I’m drawn to how people create new ways of thinking and problem-solving. The artists and businesses met not only in boardrooms but in studios, around the city, and even along the river. These environments shaped how ideas were shared and developed. Another person explained:
“It was important to me to really see what his environment was like. The time spent doing that was really fruitful… It’s important that businesses see different ways of doing things—and have eyes to see new and different ways as well.”
The collaborations sparked some inventive ideas, including:
- Kaleidoscopic sculptures integrated into Sunderland’s urban landscape.
- A giant inflatable character designed to transform public spaces into playful encounters.
- An animation narrated by a seven-year-old, explaining the adoption process from a child’s perspective.
- A whimsical project based on a Sunderland joke about a tin soldier travelling through the city’s sewers, using storytelling and technology to imagine new uses for vacant urban properties.
Not everything created through the 10×10 Project was necessarily meant to become permanent artwork. Many participants emphasised that the true value lay in the conversations, the shared process, and the fresh perspectives gained. One person put it this way:
“It’s not always my favourite piece of art that comes out of these collaborations—but that’s not what matters most. It’s the engagement, the discussion, the conversations. It’s understanding where artists can sit in the process and the differences they can bring.”
As a documentary filmmaker who often works on filmmaking in Sunderland and across the North East, I believe projects like this demonstrate how creativity can fuel not only artistic practice but also community and economic development. The experience was transformational for both the artists and the businesses involved. Some businesses talked about how working with artists had given them the space to rethink how they approach problems or communicate ideas to customers. They discovered new ways of storytelling and visual communication that could have long-term benefits for their brand and audience engagement.
Another participant expressed this insight:
“This is not something which is a six-week or six-month programme… The work essentially contributes to what we’re building for the next 5 to 20 years.”
Filming the 10×10 Project reinforced why I became a documentary filmmaker: to document the ideas, practices, and people driving art, heritage, research, and creative change. The 10×10 Project is a vivid example of how art and enterprise can come together, sparking ideas that might never have emerged in isolation.
I’m especially grateful to have had the support and insight of Dr Suzy O’Hara from the University of Sunderland. Her expertise in cross-sector collaboration and her work leading Co/Lab Sunderland brought invaluable depth to the project and informed much of the structure behind the initiative .
Thank you to Suzy for her guidance and for championing creative innovation within our city. Her commitment to exploring how art and enterprise intersect continues to inspire filmmakers like me today.For more of my work exploring artists and their stories, you can visit my artist films at alanfentiman.co.uk/vimeo-videos/artist-films.