At the heart of every great initiative are human stories waiting to be discovered
Clipo is a Melbourne-based creative production company with documentary storytelling at its heart.
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We combine the strategic thinking of a creative agency with the curiosity and craft of filmmakers.
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Our roots are in photography, documentary, the arts and social-impact storytelling. Today we work across education, government, nonprofit, arts and culture — helping organisations turn complex ideas, important programs and lived experience into stories people can understand and connect with.
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We like real people. Real environments. Unexpected details. Thoughtful questions. Beautiful images. And the moments that happen when nobody feels like they're performing for a camera.
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Because the best content doesn't simply explain what an organisation does.
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It helps people understand why it matters.
Our Story
Tamsin Sharp and John Sones, partners in life and production, established Singing Bowl Media in 2007. After hundreds of productions, two kids, and a significant pandemic, the company transformed into Clipo, emerging with fresh colours, new wings, and a shorter name.
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So, why CLIPO?
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It sounds cute.
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But there's a little more behind it.
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C — Collaboration
The best work happens when people make it together.
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L — Listening
Before cameras, scripts or creative concepts, we listen.
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I — Insight
We look beyond the obvious to understand what really matters — and what an audience needs to see, hear or feel.
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P — People
Real people and lived experience sit at the centre of much of what we create.
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O — Openness
Open minds. Open conversations. Unexpected ideas. Different perspectives.
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Collaboration. Listening. Insight. People. Openness.​
Tamsin Sharp
She/Her
"I love the diversity of our work. We get to meet really interesting humans and gain an insight into many different worlds. I also really like the fact we get to create work that can impact how people see the world and each other."
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John Sones
He/Him
"As a producer, I strive toward collaboration and longevity, focusing on sustainable processes, and using innovative technology. I also believe the process is just as important as delivering quality results."
Tamsin Sharp
Co-Founder | Creative Director
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Tamsin has spent more than 20 years finding stories in unexpected places.
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As a director and editor, she's particularly drawn to real people, lived experience and stories that can shift the way an audience understands a subject — or each other.
Her work spans documentary, education, government, arts and social-impact projects, but the approach remains much the same: listen carefully, make people feel comfortable and find the emotional thread that turns information into a story.
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Tamsin leads Clipo's creative development and post-production, working closely with clients and contributors from the first ideas through to the final cut.
John Sones
Co-Founder | Lead Producer
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John's route into production wasn't particularly conventional.
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After moving from Northern Ireland to Australia in 2000, he swapped a career as a financial analyst for travel photography, eventually becoming represented by Lonely Planet Images.
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Photography led to filmmaking. Filmmaking led to producing. And producing turned out to bring together two things John is particularly good at: working with people and making complicated things happen.
Today John leads production at Clipo — building teams, managing budgets and logistics, solving problems before they become problems and making sure the creative ambition survives contact with the production schedule.
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His philosophy is simple: the experience of making something should be as good as the thing you make.