Our Journey started a long time ago...
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2001 - Conception
Founder and director of Floating Harbour, Richard da Costa, worked for many years as a freelance actor, writer and director across TV, Film, Theatre, Radio and in corporate markets. In 2001, he teamed up with fellow actor Colin Rote to create Dramatic Solutions, specialising in both live and recorded productions for organisations across a variety of sectors.
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Refinement - 2005
With a wealth of experience in working with drama and substantial exposure to Learning and Development arenas, Dramatic Solutions became accomplished at creating films that engaged audiences with content that inspired audiences and enhanced learning.
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2011 - Birth of Floating Harbour
By 2011, the company had grown, with a greater emphasis on production work. We bought a very big, very old, very lovely boat and Floating Harbour Films was created to take on the full array of film work, which had by now also expanded to include other types of films such as brand films, sports films and documentary.
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Freelancers
We work with some amazing in-house and external freelance staff and clients. We have developed our storytelling skills, our technical capability and have looked for opportunities to learn new things on every job. At every point, we strive to go above and beyond and exceed expectations.
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2017
We continue to work to give our clients the best films we possibly can, to operate in true collaboration and to look for ever more opportunities to learn and to create amazing films. We have now fully renovated our Dutch barge base from where we run our film productions, as well as production equipment hire, studios, venue space and website development businesses, all under the Floating Harbour brand.
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2019
In co-production with MET Film, we completed and releasedour first feature documentary, Last Breath. The film was selected for HOTDOCS 2019, Scooped 4 RTS West Awards including Best Documentary and will be available on NETFLIX until 2024
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2020
COVID made this a very challenging year but we rose to the challenge and developed new ways of working. Our physical studios were busier than ever providing a safe environment to shoot in and we saw the birth of the HYBRID Live Remote production. We produced a week long festival for Wildscreen with a full expedition camp built in the studio and broadcast 47 programmes live from the boat during the week. We also produced countless other live programmes for a range of clients including Sirona Healthcare, Whitley Fund for Nature, Strava and Bristech. It wasn't an easy year - but what a learning curve!
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2021 to 2026
Floating Harbour has become known for sustainable, climate and nature-focused film production. Sustainability now sits at the heart of how projects are planned and delivered, with a deliberate focus on partnering with organisations that share strong environmental values. Much of our work supports climate action and nature recovery, particularly for public bodies and environmental organisations. Early 2024 marked a major step forward on the home front too, with a significant studio retrofit including solar panels, heat pumps, and improved insulation. Documentary filmmaking has remained central throughout, from Emission Impossible for the Hot Docs Roads to Regeneration project to the continuing story of Last Breath, which has since progressed into a major drama adaptation. Alongside this, our technical approach has kept moving, combining virtual production with AI-enabled workflows that improve both creative quality and day-to-day efficiency.
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...And Beyond
Floating Harbour continues to evolve, balancing purpose-led storytelling with high-end production craft. We are excited to keep collaborating with brilliant clients, new and long-standing, and to keep improving how we work, creatively, technically, and sustainably, as we take on the next chapter.