After four years working without US production representation, international creative collective Tomato has found a new home with Believe Media, which is planning to undertake a variety of ventures with the group. They range from traditional commercial and film direction to branding, in-store design, large-scale installations, mobile and web projects.

Founded 17 years ago, Tomato's current members include John Warwicker, Dylan Kendle, Dirk Van Dooren, Jason Kedgley, Joel Baumann, Simon Taylor, Tota Hasegawa, Michael Horsham and Karl Hyde and Rick Smith - founding members of UK-based dance act Underworld.

They've got about 30 projects on the go at the moment, including top-secret mobile applications, product design, magazine design, a film for Nokia and Heathrow's new Terminal 5 and an installation entitled "Water For Life" (pictured) at the water-themed Expo Zaragoza in Barcelona.

This month they have convened in New York for the opening of Beautiful Burnout, an ongoing "artjam" exhibition at Jacobson Howard Gallery. The work spans painting, video, sculpture and photography and stems from a 16-hour, all-night multi-media "ArtJam" held in Tokyo last fall, which resulted in the design of a 42.5-meter long and seven-meter high wall.

The show marks the first time Tomato has collectively shown work in a gallery, and may lead to an installation on the side of Mount Fuji next year for the Fuji Rock Festival. To find out more about their future plans, we rang up several of the Tomatoes at Believe's New York office.

Why has Tomato decided to work through a production company again?

Simon Taylor: We've tried a few different things but it hasn't always worked to plan. We've been talking to Believe for a while and it seems like they're on our wavelength. So we're quite excited about it and we think it'll probably work between us.

Why hasn't it worked out previously?

ST: I think that there's a kind of discrepancy between what is perceived as a commercial and what might actually be commercial - between the way that we see it and the way that possibly the business side sees it. That discrepancy doesn't seem to exist with Believe; they seem much more open-minded. We're a collective of creators so we have a very loose structure and that's not always the way that production companies are comfortable working. They may not always know who they're going to speak to or how many people are going to get involved. It's not about the type of project, it's more about the way you approach the project.

Michael Horsham: I don't know many other groups like us, so the idea that an MO that suits the way we work is out there for everyone to experience is not true. What we have to do is to find people who we feel are the right fit and who are open to the idea that we are unique in terms of how many of us there are and what it is we do... In order to do that you need support, you need the kind of willingness to deliver that support and back-up without being too worried about it not fitting into a traditional mould.

What kind of projects have you found yourselves working on lately?

ST: I think the installation design area is really interesting because it's experiential rather than purely screen-based, even if you are using television and film techniques. So that's a really interesting area for us. We've been talking quite a lot recently about how the experience of something is becoming very much de rigueur at the moment. But it's not just that, it'd be great to be making some things for television in a traditional way of working.

Can you describe your working style?

John Warwicker: We don't have any particular style that defines us. The style comes out of the conversation of the context and content in which we're working with, so there's no dominant particular rules in how we do things. That's the thing that's kept us fresh over the last 17 years.

When creative collectives work with production companies, often they'll work mostly as film directors with all other creative pursuits falling outside of the prodco.

JW: I think the same. I can't remember the numbers, but the commercials Tomato has collectively made is in the hundreds... the richness of the approach and the things we can offer aren't just about being able to make something for one particular medium and one particular voice. It's important for the people we work with to get that and not shoe-horn us into the idea that it's just about directing for a medium and a mode that is rapidly changing and becoming something else. The roots by which you can communicate an idea or a campaign are changing almost monthly. I think one of the reasons why we're working with Believe is we all realize the map is changing somewhat and we're trying to recalibrate the compass and keep stuff fresh and be aware that it's not all about the 30-second TV commercial.

Webfiles

Believe Media> www.believemedia.com

Tomato> www.tomato.co.uk