About Us - History

Ridge Films originated out of south Sydney in 2002, with the aim to provide quality video productions to corporate, government and small business. Co-founders Brendan Southall, Executive Producer and Chris Schwager, Creative Director were former school buddies who worked on creative projects such as short films and weddings. They established an office (with studio and staff) near Cronulla in Sydney, but had limited knowledge of the video business. Within 3 years, they had secured video productions with clients such as Telstra, Woolworths and Westpac.

During 2005-2007, Chris was contracted as 1st Assistant Director by two feature film companies. Brendan began a joint venture with a start-up e video service learning company. They narrowed their video business services to corporate video production and stopped all short film and wedding related videos. Also during this time, their work on 'Gabriel' (feature film) was released to cinemas world-wide by Sony Pictures.

In 2008 the video business incorporated and became Ridge Films Corporate Pty Ltd. Popularity grew for online video so Chris and Brendan started www.clivevideo.com (a TV Presenter and online video joint venture) which streamed over a million videos within it's first 18 months. CLIVEvideo brought more diverse clients such as St George Dragons, Harvey World Travel and The Good Guys.

The invention of CLIVE generated the need to operate a more flexible and mobile video service. Ridge Films management systems migrated online and the video studio needed to be anywhere in the country at the drop of a hat. Ridge invested in mobile green screen technology that enabled full-body filming, with multiple presenters but limited crew. This made green screen filming fast, efficient and affordable. Enough of the technical!

In August 2011, Ridge became fully mobile. They increased their network of experienced video crew to Melbourne and Brisbane, accommodating clients with temporary boardroom studios either on site or in the city at the Sydney studio. The need for a fast and flexible service had been met.

The characters of Brendan and Chris, have made Ridge Films what it is today. Online video and other video services, enabled a robust and reliable turnaround on all video productions, but that's just 'process'. These two dynamic individuals is what has kept Ridge growing strong. They listen, educate and get results for their clients and always try and keep it fun.