Over the moon after helping win London's Olympic bid

10:33am Friday 26th August 2005

When praise is dished out to those who brought the Olympic Games to London, Lord Sebastian Coe is rightly at the head of the queue.

A speech that inspired the IOC to vote for London to host the games in 2012 is unlikely to be forgotten.

The numerous athletes and Prime Minister Tony Blair who were in Singapore are also revered for the part they played.

But it shouldn't be forgotten what part the London bid films made to the vote, Caroline Rowland from Barnes certainly won't, she produced them.

And although she is pleased that so much has been said about the films, she seems almost embarrassed by the hyperbole.

"There has been so much praise which had said we were integral to the success of the bid, I think that is disproportionate," she says "We did not win the Olympic Games for London."

The we' she talks about is New Moon, the company set up by 37 year old Caroline almost ten years ago, initially run from a bedroom in her house.

"I worked in advertising but wanted to be involved in the production side of things," she says. "I was kept at arm's length. I was disillusioned with corporate life and decided to go out and do my own thing. My boyfriend Richard supported me," she explains.

"He told me not to worry about the house and that he would support me. Immediately I started working for some very big names, then I moved into Barnes Business Centre. It was a small local business and from Barnes Business Centre we moved to Soho and have grown from there. We are now the third ranked corporate production company in the UK, we make commercials, corporate films and broadcast television.

"Just over a year ago we set up Moongate Films and are starting to work on feature films."

Caroline explains that New Moon entered a bidding process for the first film produced by the 2012 team.

"This time last year London 2012 invited 12 production companies to present prospective ideas for making a film intended to celebrate and showcase London," she says.

After three rounds of pitching we won the pitch and made the film. We had to come up with the creative idea but they knew what they wanted to say. They needed something that represented all the aspects of London that we are proud of. The film was immensely successful and was fun to make."

That film, with a large amount of celebrity involvement, encouraged the bid team to get back in touch when they needed something to present to the IOC in Singapore.

"In the more recent film they had a clear vision, they wanted it to be about inspiring the youth of the world to take up Olympic sport," says Caroline.

"In the first meeting I said I had reservations but they were clear and it was our job to come up with the creative approach. We defined the brief and came up with the creative solution all in that first meeting, decisions never get made by committees and it is the first time one has made a good decision. Then it was straight to work," she continues.

"We were casting within four days and shooting within ten, we delivered three weeks after that. We shot it in South Africa and have an incredible partnership with them, they were superb. Everyone was committed and we worked every hour God sent."

Shooting in South Africa was a trip back to the place Caroline grew up. Born in Kent her parents took her across to South Africa when she was young. She moved back to London, in particular to South Kensington, in the 1980s before moving into Barnes to be with Richard Arnfield, the supportive boyfriend and now husband of seven years.

"Richard brought me across the river and encouraged me to come to this area," she says.

"It is where I want to be now, I wouldn't live anywhere else in London. You have the river, so much green space and we can see the sky, which is underrated. Lots of people in TV live in this area due to the BBC and Sky being close, it is a creative environment, the community is open minded and creative."

The immediate future for Caroline involves a step into feature films, working with director Daryl Goodrich. Moongate has three feature films on the table, two in pre-production and one in development.

It is the start of a road that may eventually lead to Hollywood for Moongate, although Caroline says she would not like to move to Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, New Moon will, she hopes, continue to grow.

"We are the only production company who work in all three areas of commercials, corporate films and broadcast television and we are continuing to grow as a business and expand," she explains.

"It's very exciting and we have had all sorts of calls from the most extraordinary people since the bid films were released.

"It is not a real job and to make a reasonable living doing something stimulating, exciting and fun is such a privilege, I'm very lucky."

There may even be another call from those involved in London 2012. Caroline says she would love to do more work with them on any films they need for the Olympic Games, "the ultimate sporting event", according to Caroline.

If they are as successful as the ones produced for the bid they will be lucky to have her.