MOVING IMAGE
Due to shear volume, I have a curated a selection of my favourite pieces of work, stuff I thought turned out well, or that I am proud of, for various reasons.
These are organised into industry activity areas. Film, TV, Commercials, Branded etc.
I directed everything, and except for the broadcast TV drama and commcerials, I also wrote and edited them.
directing SHOWREEL
editing SHOWREEL
AFTER EFFECTS CC SHOWREEL
PITCH TRAILERS
I have spent much of the last ten years working to develop and finance independent feature films.
Pitch trailers, sometimes known as ‘Sizzles’ can be very useful as marketing tools, garnering the support of cast and crew around a script in order to make something that gives a sense of what the finished film might look like.
Below are a few examples of the trailers I have made.
tea shop asylum
John Hannah, Joanna Lumley and Sarah Smart, star in this romantic black comedy based on the true experiences of Yugoslavian actor Rad Lazar. The story concerns an ex soldier and asylum seeker from the Balkans, who is awaiting a new start when his past catches up with him leading to a bizarre and chaotic chain of events.
dark glass
This was shot over a day on location, on the Sony F55 at 4k, using Canon Cinema 35 prime lenses (oldies but goldies) and was lit largely by torchlight.
Television
Rock’n Roll cars
I conceived, directed, wrote and edited ten half hours with interviews with music names about the cars they loved. Illustrated with dozens of classic and beautiful motors filmed on the track and in beauty surroundings.
the giblet boys
I was the lead director on two series of this wonderfully anarchic and surreal comedy for CiTV. I also wrote a couple of the episodes for series 2.
I love this series and adored making it. We filmed in Bristol over two glorious summers using every ounce of our imagination to make the budget go further and make the episodes ever bigger, bolder and more crazy and our efforts were justly rewarded with the Best Drama BAFTA win.
Streetlife
This was a rather fantastic pilot for a series staring John Thomson and Jack Dee, in a comedy cop pilot with a quite surreal edge. Wrangles over options ensued and it died a quiet death. Sad as it is something I am still proud of.
dr willoughby
A comedy series written by Laurie Rowley and starring Joanna Lumley.
Savaged by the critics, mistakenly in my opinion.
A+E
A stand alone episode shot outside the permanent set for this show. A substantial set was built including the trailer with the digger. Many of the actors had escaped recently from the Yugoslav war. They were a joy to work with and we went on to develop Tea Shop Asylum from the insane stories they told me about their first months as refugees in the UK.
wuthering heights
This was made for ITV and WGBH Boston. Written by Neil McKay and shot over six weeks in North Yorkshire and at Elstree Studios.
commercials
homecooking
This commercial was one of a pair I made for the COI. They were an updating of a commercial they had made a few years previously where bacteria had been featured as a pink stain, and I was keen to see if we could improve on the idea. I wanted to do it in camera and the end result was achieved by using powerful ultra violet lights and pink Day-Glo paint. The result speaks for itself.
little chef
A campaign of 4 spots and three of them featured the same family, which included the young lad who is the star of this and who is fantastic!
The whole campaign ended up being nominated for the Film 4 Directors Cut Awards, and though it didn’t win, David Puttnam said some lovely things about them.
man in the mirror
This ad required a fair amount of planning to achieve. The assumption was that we would have to do the effect of someone seeing themselves as someone else in a mirror in post production, but much like the famous scene in ‘Duck Soup’, I wanted to do it in camera (which I usually do). So built two sets for two different shops, one chic and one dowdy and linked them via an opening in the wall that became our mirror. The actors had to rehearse carefully and try to imitate each others actions as perfectly as possible and to a strong degree it does work.
bound
This one of five test ads I made to get myself going in commercials. It is also the one I love most, partly because it’s sexy, but mostly because it’s surprising and funny and finally because it stars the wonderful Ian Puleston Davis.
Scripts were all genuine, bottom drawer material from JWT, shot on Panasonic HD cameras. We shot five ads over two days in four locations.
dance
A two day shoot in and around Kingston Upon Thames, post effects done by MPC, music for ‘Dance’ composed by Richard Drummie of Go West.
duel
I won these on the basis of a drawing I did that expressed my vision for the effect as being like the victims had their heads being swirled around briefly in a washing machine. Didn’t quite end up like that, but it’s close.
branded
I have directed branded productions on and off for over twenty years now. Past clients include O2, RPM, Fashion Retail Academy, M&S, Natwest, BT Openreach, COI, British Aerospace, Taylor Woodrow, Dell, Land Rover, Vauxhall Motors, Cow & Gate, Coca Cola, Talisker, Tanqueray and many others.
I am versatile, creative and enthusiastic film maker with a comprehensive range of skills. I wrote, directed and edited all of the work showcased here, which represents only a fraction of my output over the years.
como shambhala
A film made to promote the launch of a new cookbook of recipes from the Como Shambhala Hotel.
Four hour shoot and three day edit.
eric & ern
A film promoting the stage show celebrating Morecambe and Wise.
1 day shoot, 2 day edit.
omnijoin
I had to come up with an idea to promote the online conferencing software by Brother. The screens were shot as blank with tracking markers and all characters appearing on them were then added by an SFX house in post. Shot on two Sony F55’s at 4K and using Steadicam
sail in cinema
To promote Talisker’s presence at Cowes week. A one day shoot, including shooting at sea on a RIB. Based around an online presence where people supplied their own real stories it features clips of stories reenacted by actors, complimented by screen-grabs of the Talisker website, interviews, and dramatic music and that builds to a climax
love
Using a poem and actress to create an underpinning mood, I filmed on the Canon 7D with Zeiss primes for one day and then edited together the film over a period of four days, making both full length and shorter versions.
barclays accelerator
Shot over several short days and then edited, this film promoted the latest cohort of the bank’s Fintech start-ups.