I’m a filmmaker originally from Leeds in northern England. Everybody there sounds like they’re from Winterfell. I now live and work in Toronto, Canada. I flew here in 2014 on a one way ticket. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

 

I lead something of a double life in film. When I’m not dressing sets or doing props for TV shows and commercials I’m writing and directing films of my own. I’m not prejudiced about format: if I like an idea, I’ll take an opportunity. I sometimes work small, DSLR in one hand and laptop in the other; and sometimes I work big, as the director of a team of collaborators - whatever works best for the project.

 

I have years of experience in production. I am comfortable communicating with personnel from right across the production spectrum, from crew members to client executives. I enjoy bringing a positive attitude to those interactions, and to the work place in general. It’s business, but it’s also pleasure.

 

Over the last few years I’ve been working with the Deaf community in Toronto, collaborating with artists and filmmakers in American Sign Language. In 2016, I wrote and directed Deafening Darkness, Toronto’s first all Deaf cast horror movie. And in 2020, I made Old Mother Tongue, a short film that looks at one of the most significant moments in modern Deaf history: the 1880 Milan Congress on the Education of the Deaf, when sign language was banned from use in education. More collaborations with the Deaf community are on the horizon…

 

I’m keen to expand my network of potential collaborators. I want to work with writers with interesting ideas, or who have the creativity and energy to help me develop mine. I want to connect with producers who have the drive to get stuff moving, and to bring forward new and exciting prospects that need direction. I want to connect with musicians and producers with a view to making music videos. And I want to develop relationships with creative agencies so that we can start building a portfolio of clients together.

 

“If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” Just because it’s a quote from Back to the Future, it doesn’t make it any less true. Let’s put our minds to this and see what magic we can create together.