Reflections of a Wandsworth Creative and Ambitions for 2026
I grew up in Wimbledon and was born in Sutton. As a South London girl at heart, I have stayed close to my ‘so called’ roots! I have lived just up the road from my old school, Wimbledon High, for most of my adult life.
When Mark and I set up our mission driven creative business, Chocolate Films, I remember us chatting a lot about the importance of firmly rooting ourselves in the local. Having a neighbourhood and feeling part of a community was something we felt passionate about. We were keen to anchor ourselves in a place and spread our roots as we grew and developed. We chose Wandsworth to be our place.
Ever since the start of our work as filmmakers, way back in 2002 we have been discovering local stories, exploring the people and place that surrounds us on an everyday basis. As we have built our knowledge and experience as we have broadened our horizons to national and international creative projects.
Still, Wandsworth remains our home, both for our family and work life. Having spent so much time here growing up professionally and personally, I continue to be excited to engage with local creative projects and organisations and immerse myself in the Wandsworth community.
The past year has been rich in creative activity, with humbling recognition from the local community with our Best Creative Business Award from the Wandsworth Chamber of Commerce. Having a social mission and a dedication to quality and best practice has been acknowledged nationally, with our recent appointment of our Royal Warrant from King Charles III.
Chocolate Films Directors Mark Currie and Rachel Wang celebrating their appointment of a Royal Warrant with Local Battersea MP; Marsha De Cordova
With these types of honour, I feel a huge responsibility to share our knowledge and expertise.
My recent work delivering Masterclasses on Storytelling, Building a Creative Business and How to Be a Relevant Museum using Video has been a wonderful development to my professional career.
Just this week, I delivered a Storytelling workshop to a group of Environmentalists going on an Expedition to Antarctica. Last week I presented a Masterclass to post graduates at Germany's Emden University in Social Sciences and during the summer I was fortunate enough to be invited as the Keynote speaker at the London School of Economics sharing my knowledge with over 200 fellow GDST young women on how to Successfully be a social entrepreneur.
Though I am missing the intensive work I did as the Digital Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery for 8 years, I am thrilled to be able to focus my time on supporting organisations and individuals with their aims for telling their stories with impact. 2026 Bring it on!
Rachel Wang’s Key Note Speech for GDST LEAD programme at London School of Economics
