My way to producing

All of my films address different sides of mental health issues, struggles we all have with what it means to push through and pretend we are fine - and often from new points of view.

I moved to the film industry in 2021 - and I might have moved up faster than most people, but I have many transferable skills and have been supported by great mentors who all saw something in me.

I have had many jobs and lived many lives it seems. I usually got bored every few years and changed careers and moved more times than I can count. Since working in the film industry, I have not been bored and doubt I will ever get tired of it. Think I am addicted to the chaos of it…

I was a paddle board instructor at a Wakepark, a team shot a show with Tony Robinson on the water and asked me to teach him how to stand on a paddle board. I ended up helping them a lot and the producer said I’d be a great fit for the industry. As someone who’s always been made fun of for liking movies and tv shows a bit too much, that was something I could not shake off. I had applied to film schools after school, but did not get in and thought I’d have to be a nerd from a distance… but this changed my motivation.

I moved in with friends, did every course I could afford during lockdown and had a way in through Covid. I used to be a Data Manager in medical research and was used to explaining medical papers in an easy way and am great with spreadsheets and formulas. Thankfully, the agency Chapters took a gamble on me. I did one runner job and a few weeks later, my first job was on the feature Spencer. Since then I have not stopped working and kept being promoted. 

Ages ago on the BBC show The Split, one of the producers said I’d make a great producer – and that was a light bulb moment. 

I could use all my nerdy data related knowledge and soft skills I’ve accumulated over the years, I can regularly do what I am best at, putting out all the fires that inevitably happen on every production, solve all the logistical puzzles, all while being involved creatively, reading scripts in my spare time and helping creatives be the best version of themselves. 

I worked for a few more years in Covid, as In House Covid Supervisor for Sister, overseeing all of their shows and visiting sets in Europe frequently, and have since moved to production. 

So far I have worked on shows / movies like The Crown S5, Queen Charlotte, Eric, Kaos, Last Swim, All of You, Bookish and most recently Steven Soderbergh’s latest feature The Christophers with Ian McKellen in the lead.

I’ve been extremely lucky to have worked on productions of many scales – crew and budget size wise – and when reading a script, I immediately think of how it can be made and the implications of every tiny detail.

How I got my first producer job

After a twitter shout out looking for scripts for short films I started working with different writers and word spread that I was looking for things to produce. A friend introduced me to Alexander Jeremy who was looking for a producer for his short Still There, which is now online on Youtube with 11k views within 3 months. After Still There I worked with Manjinder Virk on DEKHO which now is BAFTA Qualifying and I have been helping many productions since and rather proud of my slate.

Still There is about how our mental health issues can haunt us and prevent us from living. Dekho is about the impact of caring for a family member with Dementia from the point of view of the 10 year old son. The others all have similar topics and all of them have a tendency to be talked about long after you’ve seen them.