Change Your Image
info-17204
I'm an award winning writer/director with a number of award winning and critically acclaimed short films. Although I'm based in London, England, I am happy to work anywhere.
Previously I have produced and directed 30 TV commercials for advertising agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, incl. Pepsi and Whirlpool, as well as documentaries for the BBC and ITV in the UK. I am also a published paperback novelist with The Nature of Flames (Chipmunka Publishing, 2011, 164 pages) and am married with twin children.
I attach a couple of weblinks to recent critically acclaimed short films I've directed:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq01OnKJy-Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZINK4QSXVoo
Reviews
21 Grams (2003)
A memorable movie
This was one of the best cinematic experiences I've had. The story was original and cleverly thought out, and the acting first rate. The director left gaps in the narrative to allow my imagination free fall - and even at the finale, I was like...wow! Did that really happen? Though I was not emotionally driven through a catharsis, my brain was made to work hard in every scene. The film keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat, partly because of the powerful script and also because the actors are driven and charged with electricity. I liked the fact that the direction was not gimmicky and refused to show off visual fireworks - the images allowed us into the characters' lives seamlessly. Great editing and music helped the overall impact.
A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)
Greenaway comes to nought
I first saw this film when it came to British cinemas in 1985. Now, in 2010, I've just seen it again. 25 years ago, as an impressionable film school student, I was both baffled and fascinated by its multi-layered imagery and anarchic themes. Greenaway was my hero then for he had mastery over cinematic form and a unique style that I had never seen before. Added to Michael Nyman's powerful, pulsating music, this film gave me the shivers and also left me breathless. Looking at the film today, it seems barren of emotion (intentional) and laboured. I struggled to sit through the film, and luckily, as I was watching it at home, I could get up at intervals to make tea, have a cigarette, and look out the window. I made the effort to watch Greenaway's patronising director's commentary and 'introduction' to the film, but it still left me with the feeling that I had largely wasted two hours. I may have learnt something about sumptuous photography and resonating soundtracks, but A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS left me cold, sickened and bored. In 1985 this film may have caused a stir, being made in the negativity and economic/cultural stagnation of Thatcher's Conservative Britain. I remember that was not a good period to live through. A film like this might have caused a sensation among cinema-goers, as it is certainly original. But that is its saving grace.
Keane (2004)
Disappointed at the lack of a narrative
I didn't know what to make of this movie. I'd heard so much about the film, and was really looking forward to it. Being a film director, I'd just completed a short drama (Open Secrets) about mental illness, so was keen to see how this subject would receive the big screen feature length treatment.
I found the protagonist's acting first rate, and was totally immersed in his realism. But I must admit I found the plodding narrative and sudden plot twists a bit strange. For instance, he exhibited all the manic behaviour of a typical bi-polar individual, then as soon as he met the lady with the young girl in the hotel, his behaviour became charming and sensitive. I've done a lot of research into mental illness for my short film, and I know that mental patients on a 'high' do not become "normal" by simply switching their illness 'off'. Mental illness is not something that can be flicked on and off randomly by the individual concerned and yet here I found that to be the case here. The protagonist would became crazed with mania, then suddenly in the next scene he would be contrite and mellow.
Top marks to the film-makers though for a brave attempt at a difficult topic, though. The film looks beautiful, with great cinematography and editing. I felt that the script was where it could have been improved upon. Perhaps the actor's performance was improvised, in which case it was an excellent job, but still lacked narrative clarity. After about half an hour of viewing the film, I began to wonder whether I could last the entire length of the movie.
As I mentioned, I have mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand I didn't really "enjoy" the film as it has a weakish story, but on the other hand the film is a landmark because there aren't many feature length dramas about mental illness, and this one was pretty good in many respects. Overall, I was glad to have seen the film on cable TV, and not paid to see it in a cinema, as I don't really think the film fully justifies paying a ticket price.