Matthew Fone, Owner, [email protected]
Matthew started his production career in 1991. He has worked on most rungs of the production ladder, now finding himself working for his own production company, Riff Raff which he started in 2010.
Previously to Riff Raff he produced award winning creative work for clients such as Cadbury’s, Nike, Adidas, Orange, Olympus, JC Penney, Diet Coke as well as music videos for the likes of The Streets, Madonna, LCD Soundsystem, Bats for Lashes, Badly Drawn Boy, Basement Jaxx, Coldplay and Kings of Leon. Directors he produced for include Dougal Wilson (7 years), Juan Cabral, Patrick Daughters and Adam Smith to name but a few. The highlight was producing the Grand Prix Cannes winning Cadbury’s Gorilla commercial in 2008, as well as picking up a D&AD black pencil for his efforts.
At Riff Raff over the past 10 years Matthew has been successful in helping the likes of Megaforce, Francois Rousselet, The Sacred Egg gain both local and International acclaim. In recent years with Riff Raff he has produced work for the likes of Wes Anderson for Adam&Eve/DDB and H&M, The Sacred Egg’s Cannes Grand Prix Winning Mailchimp for Droga 5 New York as well as the most awarded D&AD commercial ever, Megaforce’s Nike LDNR through W&K London.
He currently spends his time trying to make his bio interesting as well as trying to move Riff Raff up the proverbial production company ladder, which he is having some success with being humbled to win Creative Circles’ Production Company of the Year for 2017 & 2018, SHOTS Production Company of the Year 2018 and most recently Campaign, Kinsale, Ciclope, Cresta, Televisual and Creative Circles Production Company of the Year for 2021!
In 2019 he expanded Riff Raff into the US, as well as starting a social media company and finally getting his toy bear YAKO to a mass market. In the year that was 2020, Matthew oversaw the first direct to brand work for Burberry for their Festive Campaign.
Matthew is the current Chair of the British Arrows Craft Awards 2020/21.
Natalie Arnett, Global Managing Partner, [email protected]
Natalie joined Riff Raff as Head of Music Video (and Creative Development) in 2015 previously working as a producer, commissioner and creative director.
Flash forward and Natalie now works as an Global Managing Partner while still keeping an overseeing eye on the music video division – as well as making sure the office is 40% humans / 60% plants at all times. Fair to say she’s not often bored. She lives in the 1950’s but we can talk to her as we have her 4-digit London phone number.
Tracey Cooper, Global Managing Partner, [email protected]
Tracey Cooper is the Executive Producer behind some of the industries most celebrated work, spanning commercials, short films and interactive.
First studying Film Theory at Kent University then gaining a Masters in Film Production at Christchurch, she began her career at the multi-award winning Blink. There she rose from Chief Tea-Maker to Head of Production where she specialised in live action and VFX, working with Directors including Dougal Wilson and Doug Foster. From Blink she moved to Stink, where she partnered with Bafta winning director Gaelle Denis on high profile work for Nike, Du Pont, and Coke.
Breaking the established format of working for companies that rhyme with wink, she joined Nexus in 2010 with the opportunity to work with Bafta & Cannes Grand Prix winning and Oscar Nominated directing duo, Smith and Foulkes. The three of them soon forged a strong alliance and have been responsible for some of the most talked about commercials over the years since. Their award stash includes every piece of silverware going from British Arrows' Gold, Webbys, Clios, Sharks to Cannes Lions and everything in between. Notable work includes Honda 'Hands' for W&K, Channel 4's 'Stand Up To Cancer', Adam&Eve's ‘Temptations', BBC's 'Sprout Boy' Christmas campaign, Wimbledon and the interactive storybook app 'Radio Jones'.
Most recently her work on BBC Winter Olympics picked up a Bafta, and the beautifully crafted film for Fender and Jimmy Page won a prestigious Annie award.
And because she is a wonderful human, Tracey also volunteers for Speakers for Schools; a charity which encourages people who have made a name for themselves doing rad stuff to visit schools in areas with little access to such insider insight. We’re delighted to have her and her insight as part of the Riff Raff family.
Jane Tredget, Global Managing Partner, [email protected]
Jane has a produced a lot of jobs. Loads. Many of them for us here at Riff Raff, for The Sacred Egg and Francois Rousselet, so who better to join the family when we needed someone. Thanks Jane, now you just have to deal with all the slack notifications!
Sarah O'Kane, Head of Development & Special Projects, [email protected]
Sarah first broke onto the scene with her high school dance troupe who performed an interpretive routine on the lifecycle of an eel at a huge competition in Belfast. Unfortunately no one read the small print and it turned out the event was actually a national cheerleading competition. Since then she has really valued the importance of choosing the right projects, and reading the small print.
Sarah will be helping to nurture the incredible talent we have at Riff Raff, exploring projects from the world of commercials, music videos, branded entertainment and beyond. Whilst Sarah is still slightly scarred from her dance days, if anyone does have a project that involves eels… she is your girl.
Kate Brady, Senior Producer, [email protected]
Kate is from Wales but has a Yorkshire accent; she says it’s because she visited Manchester. I mean…. So we are all going to Manchester next week.
In other times here in London, Kate is responsible for (and rather adept at) herding cats (otherwise known as pulling together productions) for music videos and now commercials too. Some may say she’s a Producer. Or PRADUSER as they say in Wales / Manchester.
Natnael Dawit, Graphic Designer & Creative Content Manager, [email protected]
Natnael describes himself as a creative swiss army knife, after graduating from the University of the Arts London he shortly found himself at a creative production company working as a graphic designer before taking up responsibilities as a production assistant & runner on sets for the likes of The 1975, SG Lewis, TSHA & Lewis Capaldi and transitioning to creative coordinator. He then left the nest to focus on freelance graphic design, production, photography and videography before finding a new home at Riff Raff. Natnael spends his time in the office convincing people coffee and cigarettes is the ideal breakfast, writing reviews that people don't care about on Letterboxd and making sure things run smoothly for Riff Raff design wise.
Maddy Smith, Junior Producer, [email protected]
Maddy is our organiser of all things riff raff! She is responsible for managing production requests, press, awards, and social events. She spends her time collecting colourful books and thinking about her dreams from the night before. Give her a ring if you’re ever in a jam …. or just fancy a chat.
John Ayrton, Office Manager, [email protected]
John is pro-marmite who enjoys nothing more than chilling out with a picnic and soaking in a beautiful sunset wherever he goes. Yet he still hasn’t found a decent one up in Manchester. Having started his journey in production in 2018, he likes to stay in tune with all things trendy, attend to Riff Raff’s office, loves a juicy discussion on edgy films, and thinks that all dogs are truly his best friend.