A Day in the Life of Shmee150: Tim Burton’s Journey Behind the Wheel and Camera

1. Can you describe your morning routine?

It’s cliché to say it, but genuinely, no two days are ever the same and that begins with waking up anywhere from 5am to the middle of the day depending on what the previous 24 hours entailed, my travel movements, and the workday ahead. Most mornings begin with a rushed panic to be ready in time for what might be coming, from meetings to filming appointments. Generally, I will plan these to avoid rush hour travel, to prevent additional unnecessary stress being thrown onto the pile of matters to attend to. One downside of being constantly on the move is the inability to keep a pet of sorts, however the perks of waking up in all sorts of exotic locations adds to the excitement of it all.

2. Could you walk us through a typical workday?

Days vary between one of two options; either filming or focused on other tasks. A film day will generally not allow any time to focus on ‘desk job’ tasks, so it’s a balance of planning enough to meet the requirements of the content schedule, with the balance of leaving time to catch up on everything else. With a team assisting on the fronts of business discussions, editing and content scheduling, it has certainly smoothed out this process, but there are constant challenges to make the optimum plans.

If it’s a day without the camera coming on, that typically breaks down into a split across three topics: meetings and calls, emails, planning future trips or video content. Any future video will require arrangements made to get to where it is taking place, a script to follow for the video piece, and often planning the relevant integrations and links to other products and services. Then there are the days with filming, and those are taken almost entirely by travelling to the location, a full day on the camera, and most normally a very late return thereafter.

3. How did you get started with your YouTube channel in 2010?

Like many established YouTube creators, the channel’s start was very much without a specific plan. Experimenting video cameras and editing had been a huge part of my teenage years, so naturally that progressed into finding subjects to film, and eventually discovering social media and the means to share content with others. In fact, the first automotive video to appear on my channel was purely a test shoot in preparation for an upcoming ski holiday and therefore checking everything was working correctly with the camera. However, while this wasn’t intended, it quickly became the start of what’s been 5,500+ videos in the 15 years of the channel to date; an average of one or more a day for a decade and a half.

4. You currently own 16 Shmeemobiles, including a Ferrari Roma Spider and a McLaren 675LT Spider. Where do you store them?

For most of my career as a content creator with a car collection, I have lived in central London and managed cars dotted in various locations. In recent years I first kept the cars in one facility in the surrounding countryside, before eventually moving to a nearby location – balancing the accessibility of the city, with the privacy and ability to more openly create videos that’s offered by departing from the areas of city streets. This is a personal decision as the ultimate move for the business would be further afield to a more remote location offering better value for money and more space to expand.

5. As someone who’s often in the public eye, how do you unwind and relax after a busy day?

One thing you quickly learn as you move into the public eye is how much that changes more-or-less everything that you do. Conscious that somebody could be listening in to your every word, it means that you become ‘always on’ and must think more carefully – especially not to leak an upcoming plan or business idea. If relaxation and downtime is the priority, ultimately this comes at home; and a holiday suddenly becomes the time spent not travelling.

Having been a keen skier in earlier years, and even an instructor for a couple of seasons, more recently it has been forced to a back seat. However, with a career in automotive having started as a passion first and foremost, time spent in the car and at motoring events is never a bad thing.

6. How long have you been coming to Top Marques?

My first visit to Top Marques Monaco came in 2011, having seen photos and videos online from previous years and being fascinated by the automotive scene and country itself for many years prior. The event offered a completely unique opportunity to see and hear cars from brands you would rarely find, let alone see on the move. Of course, our annual calendar is loaded to the brim with car events that take place around the world, from attending motorsport races to dedicated launches of new supercars, with events the world over on the radar, there’s constantly something taking place, somewhere. Fast forward many years later and having attended Top Marques Monaco for the majority of years since, there’s always a draw to return and enjoy everything that it offers.

Shmee150 can also be followed on Instagram @shmee150