#level 35 studio

[level35studio]

Below is a fully rewritten, fully integrated Level 35 Studio Handbook, with all eight real team members woven into the roles. Same energy. Same chaos. Sharper, funnier, more polished, and totally fit for an official internal launch that HR would definitely refuse to sign.

THE LEVEL 35 STUDIO HANDBOOK

Version 1.0 | Updated after The Incident | For Internal Use Only

(Reading this handbook constitutes legally binding emotional trauma. Please have snacks ready.)

Welcome, brave recruit. Whether you joined intentionally, accidentally, or through the ancient ritual known as “standing too close to Chris,” you are now part of Level 35 Studio. Also operating under subsidiaries such as Take a Bigger Bite and Level 35 Confessions. Also known to HMRC as “Please Explain These Receipts.”

Your mission is simple: survive, thrive, and rally behind a content machine powered by adrenaline, snacks, and profound overconfidence.

Inside this handbook, you’ll find everything you need to know about our team structure, cultural norms, behavioural expectations, and emergency evacuation procedures for when someone (usually Fin) hits the wrong button.

Read carefully. Refer often. Hydrate occasionally.

SECTION ONE: ORGANISATIONAL OVERVIEW

Level 35 Studio is a nimble, innovative, wildly chaotic content engine producing food media, comedic commentary, podcasts, confessions, and whatever else seemed like a good idea five minutes ago.

We operate across channels, formats, genres, and sanity levels. Deliverables range from “seriously impressive” to “we cannot legally explain this to a sponsor.”

Workplace culture summarised in three mission-critical statements:

“Put the kettle on, please, I’m begging.”

“What if we did something absolutely unhinged and filmed it?”

“Did anyone bring snacks?”

We function on the cutting edge of creativity and the blunt edge of common sense.

SECTION TWO: THE CORE TEAM

Eight humans. One studio. No brakes.

CHRIS : THE STRATEGIST

Founder | Host | Lord Commander of Controlled Chaos

Department: Vision & Overthinking

Security Clearance: Too high for comfort

Weaknesses: Snacks, ideas at 3 a.m., pressing buttons just to see what happens

Chris walks into a room and instantly begins improving it, or at least loudly suggesting ways to. He is the architect of the studio’s creative universe, armed with notebooks full of plans, diagrams, and questionably illustrated sausages.

Key Behaviours:

• Uses phrases like “We need to operationalise this gravy shot.”

• Over-explains things nobody asked about.

• Makes everyone nervous by rewriting plans mid-sentence.

Risk Level: High scheduling risk. Low physical danger unless cables are involved.

How to Work With Him: Smile, nod, pretend you follow the plan. It usually works out.

CLARA : THE PRODUCER

Taskmaster General | Crisis Wrangler | Group Parent

Department: Herding Fully Grown Toddlers

Security Clearance: HR-approved

Weaknesses: Crisps, impatience, unrealistic hope

Clara is the one keeping the ship upright while everyone else reenacts a food-fuelled Titanic. She makes Chris’s wild ideas real using spreadsheets, willpower, and brute emotional strength.

Key Behaviours:

• Raises one eyebrow and the entire team stops moving.

• Carries plasters, gaffer tape, and unspoken disappointment.

• Yells “FOCUS!” like a Victorian governess at least four times a day.

Risk Level: Moderate. Frequently mutters “I need a holiday.”

How to Work With Her: Listen, obey, supply snacks.

SOPHIE : THE CREATIVE CHAOS ENGINE

Creative Director | Idea Generator | Eyebrow Archivist

Department: Whimsy, Panic & Beautiful Madness

Security Clearance: Officially Unsupervised

Weaknesses: Aesthetic distractions and anything that sparkles

Sophie is the studio’s creative detonator. She dreams big, pitches bigger, and redesigns reality as needed. HR has a file on her. It is thick.

Key Behaviours:

• Says “Hear me out…” and Clara starts sweating.

• Creates concept art faster than people can blink.

• Leaves trails of glitter, ideas, and refused limitations.

Risk Level: Extremely high.

How to Work With Her: Redirect energy. Don’t say “no.” Try “Perhaps not with fire.”

ALFIE : THE TECH WIZARD

Audio Engineer | Human Soundboard | Keeper of the Sacred Wires

Department: Fixing Things That Should Never Have Broken

Security Clearance: Maximum

Weaknesses: Cables, caffeine, and people touching his mixer

Alfie is the reason the studio produces professional audio instead of feral gremlins yelling into a tin can. He lives in a world of waveforms, decibels, and existential dread.

Key Behaviours:

• Speaks fluent USB.

• Carries a bag of cables that looks like a boss battle creature.

• Fixes problems before you finish describing them.

Risk Level: Emotionally hazardous to those who move his equipment.

How to Work With Him: Say thanks. Don’t touch anything.

EMMA : THE FOOD PHILOSOPHER

Head of Content | Narrative Surgeon | Tea-Dependent Oracle

Department: Taste Analysis & The Written Word

Security Clearance: High Sensory

Emma experiences flavours the way monks experience enlightenment. She gives food the emotional gravitas of Shakespeare and edits scripts with ruthless grace.

Key Behaviours:

• Says things like “This gravy has depth and sorrow.”

• Rewrites your sentence, then rewrites your personality.

• Sips tea like a judgment ritual.

Risk Level: Moderate. Prone to poetic ranting.

How to Work With Her: Let her monologue. It becomes great content.

JAMES “DON’T TOUCH MY MIXER” : THE QUIET MENACE

Logistics Overlord | Adapter Locator

Department: Stealth & Sarcasm

Security Clearance: Uncomfortably High

Weaknesses: Biscuits, passive-aggressive sighing

James doesn’t speak often, but when he does, it’s devastating. He manages the studio like a covert operation and terrifies with silence alone.

Key Behaviours:

• Observes everything like he’s solving a murder.

• Drops one-liners that ruin people’s self-esteem.

• Knows exactly where every missing cable is.

Risk Level: High. Weaponised wit.

How to Work With Him: Respect the silence. Prepare for carnage.

MARCUS : THE SOCIAL BUTTERFLY

Writer | Context Chatterbox | Networking Oracle

Department: PR (Unofficial)

Security Clearance: Public-facing

Weaknesses: Free samples and approachable strangers

Marcus can befriend anyone, anywhere, anytime. He writes scripts, charms waiters, and returns from a two-minute errand with three new contacts and possibly a free Yorkshire pudding.

Key Behaviours:

• Knows everyone. Everywhere.

• Wanders off to “just ask” and disappears 12 minutes.

• Creates rapport faster than broadband.

Risk Level: Low, unless he befriends someone mid-shoot.

How to Work With Him: Harness the charisma. Or let him talk you into freebies.

FIN : THE WILD CARD

Junior Producer | Button-Pusher | Chaos Catalyst

Department: Unpredictability

Security Clearance: Controversial

Weaknesses: Impulse control and mysterious cables

Fin is the human embodiment of “What just happened?” He is unpredictable, energetic, and often the reason Chris yells “WHO PRESSED THAT?”

Key Behaviours:

• Always has “an idea” nobody asked for.

• Presses unfamiliar buttons. Smiles. Runs.

• Shows up late but contributes something iconic.

Risk Level: Maximum.

How to Work With Him: Redirect. Contain. Never encourage.

SECTION THREE: GROUP DYNAMICS

Decision-making cycle:

Strategist proposes plan

Producer enforces plan

Wild Card ignores plan

Creative Chaos Engine improvises

Tech Wizard fixes fallout

Food Philosopher narrates the emotions

Quiet Menace judges silently

Social Butterfly documents socially

Snack supply: Mission-critical.

Failure: Catastrophic.

Volume levels range from “library quiet” to “the neighbours have definitely called someone.”

SECTION FOUR: OPERATIONS & EMERGENCY GUIDANCE

Wild Card says “I’ve had an idea” → sound the alarm

Tech Wizard sighs → something’s broken and it’s probably your fault

Food Philosopher hums → enlightenment happening, do not interrupt

Creative Chaos Engine disappears → check the kitchen

Quiet Menace smirks → someone embarrassed themselves

Social Butterfly says “Hold on, I’ll ask” → add 10-minute delay

Strategist says “We need alignment” → someone has royally messed up

Producer says “FFS” → meeting over

SECTION FIVE: CULTURE & VALUES

Transparency: Loud truths

Agility: Chaotic pivoting

Innovation: Risky and unhinged

Accountability: Blame Fin

Food: Constant

SECTION SIX: RECOGNISING EXCELLENCE

• “I Didn’t Think You’d Actually Do It” Medal

• Golden Snackbox of Bravery

• Certificate of Surviving Another Day

• Producer’s Appreciation Badge (mythical)

• Strategist’s Gold Star (never awarded)

SECTION SEVEN: CLOSING GUIDANCE

By reading this handbook, you now belong to Level 35 Studio. Please understand the following will be part of your daily workflow:

• Chaos

• Snacks

• Emotional rollercoasters

• Unexpected adventures

• Unfiltered commentary

• Regrettable decisions

• Incredible content

You are not just joining a team.

You are joining a flavour-fuelled, laughter-driven, dangerously creative force of nature.

Welcome aboard.

Good luck.

And no, you cannot return the handbook.

[level35studio]

Abbie Has Entered the Chat: Continuity, Change, and a Marriage We’ve All Agreed Not to Overanalyse

Let’s deal in reality from the first line, because anything else would be theatre.

Level 35 Studio is changing.

Not in a performative, rebrand-heavy, mission-statement-on-a-slide-deck way. Not the kind of change that comes with a new font and the same old habits underneath. This is human change. The kind that happens when people’s lives expand beyond the walls you built together and refuse to shrink back down again.

Some of the crew are leaving. They’re moving to different parts of the country. Different parts of the world. Different time zones, climates, ambitions, and daily rhythms. This isn’t a rupture. It’s geography and growth doing what they’ve always done best: being inconvenient, unavoidable, and oddly clarifying.

When people leave a studio like this, they don’t just take their laptops and hard drives. They take muscle memory. Shared shorthand. The ability to finish each other’s sentences in meetings. The unspoken understanding of when to push and when to leave something alone.

The space doesn’t collapse, but it does shift.

That shift is where we are now.

And it’s why Abbie joining Level 35 Studio actually matters, not symbolically, not ceremonially, but structurally.

Let’s Not Romanticise People Leaving

Here’s the part that usually gets smoothed over for public consumption.

When people leave, it hurts.

Even when it’s friendly. Even when it’s logical. Even when you fully support their next step and know, on paper, that it’s the right move.

The people moving on from Level 35 weren’t filler. They weren’t interchangeable units or temporary energy. They were part of the internal compass. They helped define what good looked like, what wasn’t acceptable, and when something needed to be pushed further instead of politely signed off.

They were the ones who noticed when standards slipped by a millimetre and said something anyway. The ones who carried institutional memory without turning it into dogma.

You don’t replace that.

You carry it forward.

Distance doesn’t erase contribution, but it absolutely changes the daily gravity of a place. Meetings sound different. Decisions land differently. Silence shows up where voices used to be. There are moments where you instinctively wait for someone who is no longer in the room.

Pretending that isn’t happening is how studios stagnate while insisting they’re “fine.”

Level 35 has never been interested in pretending.

Change Isn’t the Threat, Staying Still Is

There’s an outdated fantasy that creative studios reach an ideal form and then simply maintain it forever, like a finished sculpture that just needs dusting.

That version exists only in hindsight.

Real studios evolve or they quietly decay under the weight of their own routines. They turn habits into rules, rules into rituals, and rituals into obstacles.

People leaving forces a choice: preserve the past at all costs, or decide, deliberately, what deserves to continue, what needs refinement, and what should be allowed to end with dignity.

That decision is uncomfortable. It requires honesty. It requires letting go of the idea that longevity alone equals value.

This studio chose adaptation.

Which is how Abbie arrived.

Abbie, Properly Introduced

Abbie is French.

That’s not a novelty detail or a charming footnote. It’s context.

She comes from a background where clarity is respected, craft is non-negotiable, and inefficiency is something to be addressed rather than quietly tolerated for years because it’s familiar.

She doesn’t rush to fill silence. She doesn’t inflate urgency for effect. She watches how things actually function before offering an opinion.

And when she does speak, it’s rarely decorative. It’s usually the sentence that reframes the entire conversation.

Then, typically, she asks a question so direct it exposes how much unnecessary complexity has been allowed to accumulate.

That kind of presence changes a room.

Not loudly. Not dramatically. Permanently.

Calm as a Structural Asset

Every studio runs on energy. The mistake is assuming all energy has to be loud, fast, or performative.

Abbie brings steadiness. The kind that doesn’t announce itself and doesn’t seek validation. She’s interested in whether systems hold up under pressure, not whether they look impressive in theory or photograph well for an internal update.

Once someone like that joins a team, weak processes surface quickly, not through confrontation, but through contrast. It becomes obvious what’s working because it’s solid, and what’s been held together by momentum, goodwill, or sheer habit.

That’s not disruption for sport.

That’s maturity entering the room.

Yes, the Marriage. Let’s Address It Once and Keep It Running.

Abbie is married to Chris.

This fact has become something of a recurring studio aside, and for good reason. It operates as a shared piece of comic relief, a raised eyebrow that threads through conversations without ever undermining credibility.

The joke isn’t that Abbie made a mistake.

The joke is that Chris is very much a you take him as he comes kind of person.

No assembly required. No configuration menu. No hidden settings.

What you see is what you get, consistently.

And here’s the part worth paying attention to: Abbie didn’t just accept that, she committed to it.

Which tells you more about her than any formal biography ever could.

She doesn’t shy away from complexity. She doesn’t require perfection. She understands that real partnerships, personal or professional—are built on clarity, patience, and an ongoing choice to stay engaged.

That instinct shows up in her work, quietly but relentlessly.

Why Abbie, Why Now

Timing isn’t accidental. It’s alignment.

As familiar voices step away, the studio doesn’t need noise, panic, or reinvention theatre. It needs someone who can hold structure while things rebalance and not mistake transition for crisis.

Abbie isn’t here to replace anyone. That framing matters.

The people leaving shaped this place. Their influence doesn’t evaporate because their postcode changed.

Abbie is here to add weight where it’s needed, perspective where it’s useful, and restraint where it’s overdue.

She strengthens the spine rather than repainting the surface.

What Abbie Actually Brings

Strip away the welcome language and get practical.

Abbie brings operational clarity. She spots energy drains, circular discussions, and inherited habits that no longer earn their keep.

She respects process when it serves a purpose and questions it when it doesn’t. That balance, between discipline and flexibility, is rare.

She brings an international perspective that isn’t decorative. Different assumptions about pace, hierarchy, responsibility, and accountability.

Different thresholds for what counts as finished, not just acceptable.

That contrast sharpens everything around it.

Level 35 Studio, Defined Without the Gloss

This studio has always been built on a contradiction.

We value tradition, craft, and doing things properly.

We refuse to become rigid.

We care about quality without performing importance. We take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. We believe scale is optional. Integrity isn’t.

Abbie fits that philosophy because she understands that legacy isn’t preservation, it’s continuation.

The past informs the work. It doesn’t trap it.

To the People Heading Elsewhere

This deserves to be said slowly and clearly.

You are not being written out.

Your standards, instincts, arguments, and insistence on doing things properly are embedded in how this studio operates.

Distance doesn’t undo that.

You leave with respect, gratitude, and an open door that isn’t symbolic or polite it’s real.

And to Abbie

Welcome to Level 35 Studio.

You’re joining a place mid-adjustment. It’s opinionated, demanding, and allergic to nonsense.

You will be challenged.

You will be trusted.

You will be listened to.

You will also continue to be teased about being French and most of all about being married Chris. That is now a standing arrangement.

But you’re here because this moment requires exactly what you bring.

The studio isn’t afraid of change.

It’s choosing it deliberately, thoughtfully, and without apology.

And now, so are you.