He is also an entrepreneur in film and technology. His projects involve collaboration between large groups of people with a common interest[3] and are often crowd-source financed,[4] the most notable example being feature-film Tortoise in Love which was made by a village in Oxfordshire.[5]
Education
Born and raised in Blickling, Norfolk,[6] Aquarone was educated at home as a member of Education Otherwise until the age of 12, before being privately educated at Norwich School. He then read politics and international relations at the University of Warwick, graduating with a BA in 2006.
Business
In 2004, Aquarone co-founded media business Ephex Media Limited with two fellow students at the University of Warwick. Ephex Media received investment from the Advantage Early Growth Fund in 2007[7] in order to acquire regional post-production facility Oakslade Studios.[8] The company made and edited corporate films for brands including Land Rover, Vodafone, Massey Ferguson and American Express. The business was placed into administration in 2008.[9]
Aquarone co-owned feature film production company Immense Productions with author Guy Browning.[10] Their feature film Tortoise in Love, on which Aquarone was producer,[11] was released in the UK in 2012.[12] Immense Productions was dissolved in November 2015.[13]
In 2011, Aquarone co-founded peer-to-peer[14] mobile payments platform Droplet.[15] In 2013, Droplet was named among the 'Top 25 UK Startups' by influential technology blog Mashable.[16] Droplet closed in 2016 after the founders were unable to scale it to become profitable.[17]
He has worked through Econsultancy[18] with brands like Sony, Ralph Lauren, and General Mills and gives talks on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital transformation. Econsultancy sold to Centaur Media PLC[19] in 2012.
He joined online video platform Buto in 2010[20] becoming strategy director in 2013. Buto sold to TwentyThree in 2019.[21]
Writing
In 2014, Aquarone was named by the Daily Mirror as one of the Top 20 most influential media figures under 30.[22]
Aquarone writes on digital marketing topics including online video. In 2012 he wrote "Online Video: A Best Practice Guide" for digital publishers Econsultancy.[23]
In 2017, with his sister Freya, he published Fourth to First: How to win a local election in under six months. It recounts how he won a council ward for the Liberal Democrats at his first attempt, even though the party finished fourth in the previous contest for the ward.[24]
Politics
On 4 May 2017, he was elected as county councillor for the Melton Constable division of Norfolk County Council.[25] He was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council.[26]
In September 2022, the Liberal Democrats picked him as the prospective parliamentary candidate for North Norfolk at the 2024 general election.[30] He won the election, gaining the seat from the Conservatives, with 19,488 votes (41.4%) and a majority of 2,585 over the second-placed Conservative candidate. There were five candidates and a turnout of 66%.[31]
