Isis O’Regan is the founder of The Sugar Factory, a creative communications and strategy agency working across music, art, film and technology. Over the past five years, the agency has worked with clients including Tate Modern, Somerset House Studios, Warp Records, Erased Tapes, One Little Independent, AD 93, ICA London, London Short Film Festival and Scottish Queer Film Festival.
Founded with a focus on bespoke strategy and culturally engaged storytelling, The Sugar Factory operates across digital, print and broadcast PR, brand development, strategic consultancy, partnerships, crisis communications and cultural advocacy. Embedded within independent and experimental creative scenes, the agency is known for supporting artists, institutions and projects working across contemporary culture.
What is the role of the publicist? What’s a day like working at TSF?
The role of the publicist in the creative sectors is essentially to be the guardian and amplifier of artistic expression. We are storytellers, and it’s our job to connect our clients' work and ideas with a variety of audiences and with as much exposure as possible. There isn’t really a one-size-fits-all approach as we work with record labels, cultural institutions, film festivals, brands, start-ups, and independent artists. Our idiosyncratic thread is quite simple; we support bold ideas that challenge convention. Pushing for positive change in the arts is a key pillar of The Sugar Factory’s work. Otherwise, what is the point?
The landscape is ever-changing, so we have a Swiss army knife of skills, which mirrors the type of people we work with, too. We offer traditional media campaigns across digital, print, broadcast and social media.
As well as other essential elements to PR: identity development, crisis communications, partnerships, strategic consultancy, ambassador and influencer collaborations, plus content ideation and creation and editorial direction. We can help bring out key messaging and the visual and ideation that accompany any idea or project. I also host guest lectures and mentoring now and again, and have appeared on panel discussions for my insights.
Every day can be different depending on campaign cycles, but Lily and Jo, my fantastic colleagues, and I will always start the week by dissecting news and trends and forecasting for what we think is around the corner. A big bulk is the actual pitching to the media, and the pipeline for it to be published. It’s a very meeting-heavy and social career in general. A big perk of course is attending as much culture highlights as possible to stay in the know. It’s a dream job for some.
How did you decide when it was time to carve your own path and start The Sugar Factory?
I had been at a couple of great agencies before and carved out a particular niche representing boundary pushing artists, events and venues before I started The Sugar Factory in 2021.
I’m going to shout out Elspeth Merry, who runs The Artists’ Way Agency, for being instrumental in encouraging me to begin my own company. Having someone I looked up to giving me that nudge was needed. I wanted to keep growing in this area of multi-hyphate everything.
While I was on the phone with her, talking about dreams for my next steps, walking through London Fields, I coincidentally bumped into an instrumental player in the arts who I had worked with briefly years before. So, of course, I had to say I’m starting something exciting, and it led to them becoming one of my first clients at The Sugar Factory. It was a huge opportunity that solidified what I do and offer. Serendipity, in my opinion, can’t be ignored.
There are clients I have been working with since my career in PR began, and they came along for the ride. They include Somerset House Studios (whom I love and are turning 10 this year!) and the iconic Warp Records.
I champion those who are steadfast in their craft and making a difference in the arts, whether in a particular genre or through new technologies. Is it trite to mention the zeitgeist? I don’t care, our clients are really shaping it. It’s special, and we take it seriously.
Our current projects include the Tate Modern’s 2026 Infinities Commission, Jenkin Van Zyl’s new exhibition Enclosure, james K on AD 93, Laura Misch on One Little Independent, a fun art discovery app called gowithYamo, plus some exciting projects to be announced soon.
The name of the company comes from a beet factory that once stood in my hometown of Tuam, Co. Galway. I always loved the grittiness of something so industrial, making a saccharine product; I love dualities and contradictions. Apparently, when you’re standing near a sugar factory, and you stick your tongue out, you can taste the sugar on your tongue. Mysterious, omnipresent - like PR!
After an intense or difficult day, how do you properly switch off or reset?
I was actually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease recently, so downtime is a non-negotiable. I know I’m meant to say yoga, fresh air and the like, which is true! But a glass of red, a cig and chatting shite with a loved one has its own particular healing properties. Having my own artistic practice is probably the main thing that keeps me sane outside of any work stresses.
I write a bit, and I make soundscapes compositions, a mix of field recordings and synths. I am in love with a synth called the Motor Synth MKII - the inner mechanics are so noisy the wheels scream, creating these odd harmonics. It’s mental.
I’ve been hogging it at Glasgow’s Library of Synths. I’m a proud member! I adore radio as an outlet, and have a homophonic travelling series called Éisteacht Aisteach, which means “weird listen” in Irish. Resident Advisor said it’s sometimes eerie, sometimes sensual, and that’d be spot on. It’s R&D for my own soundscapes; it might be based around a specific theme or a text.
What’s something you wish someone had told you earlier about sustaining a long-term career in music and culture?
Get a good accountant, be financially literate, set your rates and boundaries, and don’t let anyone take the piss.
What are you listening or reading (or both) to at the moment?
Reading: Cronenberg on Cronenberg by Chris Rodley. I’m a big fan. Also constantly dipping in and out of Clarise Lispector's Aqua Viva - one of the most incredible books I’ve been gifted. It’s a sliver of a book, but it’s taking me a while to get through it; it causes me to hardcore daydream. Not in a bad way, it’s just that hypnotising with all its lust and lunacy. Audio book: Revelations: a warts and all mammoth of an autobiographical account of Francis Bacon’s life. Salacious, too.
Listening: Streaming on repeat: Magnetism by Drew McDowell and Kali Malone, Lotto by They are Gutting a Body of Water and Neight Riegn by Aroof Aftab
Physical: have a gorgeous compilation on Somewhere Press titled The Black Hill, The Glass Sky. I love a tape. Here’s my latest show on Clyde Built, the theme’s Savage Bunnies inspired by Sylvia Plath’s Rabbit Catcher.