Meet the Affarians – David Marsh

Meet Mr. David Marsh, Affari’s Project Manager. David’s been working with us for around 18 months, and brings his experience in the media industry to the table every day. Read on to find out more about David’s fun and entertaining career, and what makes our Project Manager tick!

What makes you stand out from the crowd?

Absolutely nothing whatsoever! I suppose part of my role is to stay in the background, keeping the wheels turning. I guess it’s part of the job, you’re not always front and centre. I try to remain as anonymous as possible! I keep a level head and stay calm, I feel like I’m approachable – I don’t know if that makes me stand out though.

I’m a big fan of music, history, and the arts. I’ve got a ridiculously huge music collection which has been growing for thirty-odd years. My wife, it drives her insane! Of course, when streaming became widely available I stopped buying music, and then I realised how much more I enjoyed the traditional way of finding music so the collecting started again! I’ve played in bands in the past as a drummer, I think there’s at least three drummers on the Affari team. It’s not going to be much of a house band!

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

When I was really young I wanted to be a TV presenter. I thought it looked like quite a glamorous and fun job. But I didn’t think it would be achievable – back then there were only 4 channels so it wasn’t as accessible as it is now! I went to college and university, and flipped from wanting to be in front of the cameras to behind them, and I spent my career on the other side doing production. I produced all sorts of silly comedy and entertainment shows for about 15 years. Showbiz!

How did you find your way to Affari?

Weirdly, I think Affari found its way to me! It was following a period where I’d been made redundant from my previous job during lockdown. I’d worked with Ben Hankin, the Managing Director of Affari, previously as he was one of my clients at another agency. When he heard I was on the lookout he gave me a shout. It all fell into place really nicely and I am very lucky to have landed a great role with a great team.

Why were you drawn to media, design and tech?

I suppose it’s what I’ve always done. I’ve spent most of my career as a producer in TV and video, and Project Manager is a similar role, just covering a bigger scope of projects. From video and animation, which I’ve always done, I’m now working on design and web development projects. I think the good thing about it is no two days are the same. That’s the biggest appeal of the job for me – the variety.

What’s the best thing about being an Affarian?

We’ve got an incredibly talented team. The creativity everyone brings to the table everyday – it’s brilliant to see where our team goes with the projects we work on. ​​We deal with lots of complex and often technical subject matters, and it’s great to take on the challenge of bringing these things to life in a visually exciting and interactive way!

What’s the most exciting project you’ve worked on at Affari?

We did some incredible things last year. Interactive platforms for the NHS, and our 3D city, which we’ve been given amazing feedback on. There were lots of moving parts there, especially the NHS project, which involved the whole team having input at some point. The clients were blown away by the results. The 3D city, similarly, we’re trying to present large volumes of information in an interactive and immersive way, it’s gained a lot of attention from clients.

Outside Affari, I did a game show years ago with Ant and Dec called Push The Button for ITV. We had this game called Simon Cowell’s Teeth, with a giant head of Simon Cowell about ten foot high with these massive teeth. Each tooth was on a separate piston and we made the teeth dance to the music. One of the things I had to do was programme the sequences, as the contestants had to guess how many teeth were shown during the sequence. Ridiculous fun and harder to plan than it might look!

What other interests do you have, aside from Affari?

Family time is really important. I love to travel whenever I can. I find it fascinating to visit a new city and wander around, take in the sights, and explore. Years ago we spent two weeks traveling around New Zealand in a camper van. We parked up in a different town every day, stayed the night, and then moved on to the next place. An incredible experience! I’d like to do the same around Scotland and Ireland. I’ve always enjoyed wandering around European cities and taking it all in, usually hunting for record shops.

Tell me about your creative inspirations.

I’ve always been a big fan of comedy, music and film. Well, films before 2010 I’m alright on, I can’t really keep up after that! I’ve always been drawn to alternative, leftfield culture with a slightly anti-establishment outlook!

What advice do you have for the aspiring creatives out there, and potential applicants to Affari?

My advice for aspiring creatives would be to ignore anything I say!  The creative industry is way more accessible now than it was when I started. There’s so much more opportunity, certainly locally in Nottingham now. I had to leave the area to do what I wanted to do first off, but now you don’t have to go too far to find incredible creative talent.