Secret Compass

Secret Compass There's Always A Way. To us nothing is impossible and nowhere is unreachable.

Whether there’s a new destination to be reached, a new path to be forged, or a pioneering feat to be achieved – we’ll always find a way. We lead pioneering expeditions to the most remote regions on earth and have designed some of the most ambitious film shoots on the planet.

After the North Pole, Botswana might sound straightforward.It isn't.Big game territory has its own risk profile. The wil...
10/06/2026

After the North Pole, Botswana might sound straightforward.

It isn't.

Big game territory has its own risk profile. The wildlife is not a backdrop, it's a variable. One that doesn't follow a schedule and doesn't respond to a risk assessment written in an office.

Every territory on Pole to Pole looked different. The approach to each was the same: understand the environment before you arrive, put the right people in place, and plan for what you can't predict.

Pole to Pole with Will Smith - Produced by for National Geographic and Disney+ Streaming now.

Most production risk assessments are written alone, late, against a deadline.Sound familiar? Try this:Before you open a ...
20/05/2026

Most production risk assessments are written alone, late, against a deadline.

Sound familiar? Try this:

Before you open a blank document: get your key people together. Find a whiteboard. Write down where you're going, what you're doing, who's going, when, and how you're getting around.

Then look at what you've written.

The hazards appear by themselves.

From there, structure what you've found under clear headings: team, medical, environment, security, activities, transport, legal, emergency planning. Work through likelihood, consequence and controls for each.

The risk assessment isn't the hard part. Getting the right people in the room is!

We've written a practical guide to the full process, drawn from 350+ productions across 111 countries. If you've got a shoot coming up, it's worth a read.

Link in bio.

Diving under the ice at the North Pole is serious enough when you're an experienced diver.Will Smith is not an experienc...
14/05/2026

Diving under the ice at the North Pole is serious enough when you're an experienced diver.

Will Smith is not an experienced diver.

Getting him into the water in an overhead environment in extreme cold required one thing from us before anyone committed: clarity. How much training would he need? Where could it happen? Was it realistic in his schedule?

Answer those questions early and production can make an informed decision. Answer them late and the money has already been spent.

We defined the parameters. Production made the call. It happened!

Pole to Pole with Will Smith - Produced by Nutopia for National Geographic and Disney+ Streaming now.

We believe there is a way to tell every story.Go Back To Where You Came From has now won a BAFTA... Well done Minnow!A s...
13/05/2026

We believe there is a way to tell every story.

Go Back To Where You Came From has now won a BAFTA... Well done Minnow!

A series that tackled difficult, divisive and deeply human subjects with empathy, care and courage.

Proud to have supported Minnow Films and Channel 4 behind the scenes to help make this ambitious production happen safely and responsibly.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

Channel4

Six territories. Two and a half years. Every environment on earth.Lead safety advisors. Doctors. Paramedics. Water safet...
06/05/2026

Six territories. Two and a half years. Every environment on earth.

Lead safety advisors. Doctors. Paramedics. Water safety teams. Dive teams. Polar bear safety specialists. Maritime procurement. Big game safety management. Security planning. And where the environment demanded it: rigging teams, cave specialists, whitewater experts, 4x4 drivers.

Every discipline had its own specialist. SC's role was bringing all of them together under one coordinated structure: one team lead, one point of communication, one aligned approach to risk.

"What was often missing on productions was a holistic view bringing those subject matter experts together. What we do is bring all that together into a cohesive team." — Tom Bodkin, Secret Compass founder and MD.

Pole to Pole with Will Smith - Produced by for National Geographic and Disney+.

This is what it looks like when risk management is delivery infrastructure, not a compliance function.North Pole. A dive...
22/04/2026

This is what it looks like when risk management is delivery infrastructure, not a compliance function.

North Pole. A diver going under the ice in an overhead environment (meaning if something goes wrong, you can't just surface) in extreme cold, in a blizzard, in front of a full production crew.

That moment was possible because of decisions made months earlier. Training parameters defined, feasibility established. The right specialists in place before anyone committed to putting a dive operation at the top of the world.

Pole to Pole took SC across six territories over two and a half years. Antarctica, Ecuador, Bhutan, Botswana, Papua New Guinea, the North Pole. Over the next few weeks we're going to share what that actually involved; the decisions, the operations, and what it takes to make the most ambitious productions on TV happen safely.

Starting here.

Thanks to the brilliant team for trusting us to help make this happen.

Excited to see this one land. We worked with Lucy on the risk assessment and high risk filming protocol, and connected h...
16/04/2026

Excited to see this one land.

We worked with Lucy on the risk assessment and high risk filming protocol, and connected her with the right fixers on the ground.

The rest was all her.

Saturday 18th April, 7pm, C4.

Some stories are almost impossible to tell. This is one of them.Hostage; on BBC Two and iPlayer now. A three-part docume...
25/03/2026

Some stories are almost impossible to tell. This is one of them.

Hostage; on BBC Two and iPlayer now. A three-part documentary telling the story of photojournalists John Cantlie and James Foley, taken hostage by Islamic State in Syria in 2012.

We believe there's a way to tell every story. For productions working in hostile environments, that means having the right risk framework in place before the team steps foot on the ground.

We were proud to provide hostile environment consultancy to the team at Story Films on this one.

Watch now on BBC iPlayer.

Skyscraper Live was broadcast last night around the world...A live, real-time free solo ascent of Taipei 101.When Alex H...
25/01/2026

Skyscraper Live was broadcast last night around the world...

A live, real-time free solo ascent of Taipei 101.

When Alex Honnold stepped off the ground and began the climb, there were no ropes, no second takes and no margin for error. This was free soloing, broadcast live, on a 101-storey building.

Secret Compass was proud to act as lead safety partner, supporting Plimsoll Productions and Netflix in managing a large-scale live event spanning the building itself and the live broadcast stage.

Alongside the climb, our specialist rigging teams, led by the awesome Waldo Etherington, enabled camera operators to move and reposition safely in real time, while wider safety systems supported a large, mobile production crew operating in a high-consequence vertical environment.

Delivering safety in a context like this is not about limiting ambition. It is about enabling it through detailed planning, robust systems and clear coordination across the production.

Live events of this complexity demand experience, clarity and trust.

Huge credit to everyone involved in making it happen.

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