AN EAST Yorkshire film business is going global after landing big-name contracts with pop stars and large corporates.

The small business, Digifish, based in Seaton Ross, near Pocklington, started out as one man and a camera doing free videos for local organisations.

Now the company is travelling the world recording alternative rock band The Script, and doing work for the likes of Playstation and Gary Barlow.

Paul Banks, who started the business in 2002 after being the guitarist in York band Shed Seven, said the company has grown rapidly in the last two years.

It has just moved from his home into its own offices, and employs four full-time members of staff, using five regular freelancers.

Paul said: “The last two years have just gone crazy. We haven’t had chance to pause for breath.”

Last year, Digifish recorded The Script’s world tour, The Road To Aviva, and released the documentary which went to number one in the music DVD charts last Christmas.

The company was commissioned to record the making of their third album, called #3, and has now been asked to join the group as they tour the world again.

Paul, who has just returned from the first part of the tour, visiting Singapore, Australia and the United States, said they were capturing everything from concerts to talk shows with the likes of Ellen in the US and frontman Danny O’Donoghue’s work with Australian X-Factor.

The company also works with local organisations on educational projects with the University of York and York Museums Trust, national and international charities and is working on a project to document the stories of holocaust survivors on film.

“It’s just as important to have local work and give opportunities to graduates,” said Paul.

The company has taken graduates from the city to work on huge international projects, such as filming for the charity Linking Alms in deprived communities in Ghana.

Paul said: “One day we had a team of people at the University of York filming for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, I was in LA filming Will.i.am and The Script and we had two people in Paris filming for Playstation.

“For a small business from York, that’s quite a lot to have achieved.”

Paul will set off again in January doing the European leg of The Script’s tour.

“It’s impressive they make so much time for their fans. The fans will wait for an hour in the rain to see them and they will sign everything.

“That’s where we get some of the best footage,” he said.