Why we’re called Plan 9

The story behind the name of Plan 9, the London web agency, and the 1950s B-movie that inspired it.

Studio

Plan 9.

Search for “Plan 9” and you’ll find a cult sci-fi film, an operating system from Bell Labs and, if you scroll far enough, us. Plan 9 is an independent web agency in London, building Umbraco websites, online stores on Shopify and ShopWired, and AI-powered tools. People often ask where the name came from. The answer involves aliens, flying saucers and Johnny Depp in an angora sweater.

It started with Ed Wood

In 2001 we were looking for a name. Around the same time, our founder had watched Ed Wood, Tim Burton’s 1994 film starring Johnny Depp as Edward D. Wood Jr., the director often described as the worst of all time. The film follows Wood’s attempts to make movies with almost no money, borrowed sets and a cast of loyal misfits, including an ageing Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau in an Oscar-winning role.

The film builds to the making of Wood’s most famous picture, Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Plan 9 from Outer Space

Released in 1959, Plan 9 from Outer Space is about aliens who decide the only way to stop humanity building a doomsday weapon is to raise the dead. Their first eight plans have failed. Plan 9 is the one that’s meant to work.

The production became famous for its wobbly cardboard gravestones, flying saucers on visible strings, and footage of Lugosi shot before his death and stitched into a story he never knew about. Critics later named it one of the worst films ever made. Audiences loved it anyway, and it has been a cult favourite ever since.

Eight plans didn’t work. Plan 9 was the one that would.

Why it stuck

We liked the name for three reasons:

It’s the plan that worksClients usually come to us after trying something else. We want to be the plan that finally delivers.

Ambition beats budgetWhatever you think of his films, Ed Wood got them made with enthusiasm, resourcefulness and very little money. Every small studio can relate to that.

It doesn’t take itself too seriouslyA web agency named after a B-movie about alien grave robbers is easy to remember, and it reminds us to enjoy the work.

The UFO in our logo

The flying saucer hidden in the A of our logo is a nod to the film. Its tractor beam forms the triangle of the letter. It’s also a reminder that the best ideas sometimes arrive from somewhere unexpected.

Plan 9, 25 years on

Since then, Plan 9 has grown from a small London studio into a team with partners in Greece, India and California. We’ve built on Umbraco since its early days, we run online stores on Shopify and ShopWired, and we now use the latest AI tools to design, build and test faster. The props are better than Ed Wood’s, but the attitude hasn’t changed: big ideas, made real by a small team that cares.

So if you were searching for the film or the operating system, welcome. If you were looking for Plan 9, the web agency in London, you’re in the right place.