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Internationally screened & awarded filmmaker who has directed promos, dance, experimental and documentary shorts. Assistant director on commercials & films. Artist using video & photography for prints, exhibitions and books. Currently finishing his film Spirit made in residency and working on unique projects the Vortex Museum and Worlds of AI. |
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full biography
I have been working as a filmmaker in crews and my own work since finishing education in 2012 at The Northern Film School (Leeds Beckett University) where I specialised as a director in the inaugural "Filmmakers MA" masters degree, then mentored by practitioners such as the late Nicholas Roeg. I grew up in the countryside in a small Leicestershire village and after secondary school in Uppingham in Rutland, I began my studying of film production at Melton Mowbray college, attaining a BTEC with Distinction Distinction Merit. In Leeds for five years I completed my BA (hons) Degree with a 2:1 and MA passed with Merit. |
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After education I started making promo videos for events and bands. I also shot and edited Indian wedding highlights which taught me a lot including navigating crowds. I had made a short documentary A Film By Abigail as an MA assignment and the film school, seeing something in the film, began to submit to festivals. Following its screening at BAFTA as the opening film in a “short film showcase” with it forward by the school, its first official selection was in Estonia at the Sleepwalkers International Student & Short Film Festival, a destination for some of the best student films in the world at the time, sister event to the respected Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
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2013-2018 I worked on film commissions with Filthy Lucre who commissioned creatives and groups towards a central theme culminating in a concert / event of eclectic art forms but connected in music curation. At this time I also started a collaboration with Danish dancer / choreographer Julie Schmidt Andreasen after responding to her online advert searching for a documentary slanted filmmaker interested in opening up to improvisational art and dance. After our co-directed film The Body Canvas was selected in the multi-disciplinary Zealous X exhibition (Oxo Tower Wharf) as one of ten films chosen, we would go on to work together many times including two commissions travelling to Denmark. A Film By Abigail continued to screen including at BAFTA-qualifying London Short Film Festival at the ICA nominated for "Best Lo-Budget Short", San Diego Comic-con for "Best of Fest", Emden-Norderney Internationale Filmfest as opening film for their "London Shorts Special" and LA International Children's Film Festival at the LA County Museum of Art. See all festival screenings and achievements here.
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Around this time I also worked on feature documentaries: New Town Utopia about Basildon as a production Assistant was beautifully realised / researched and narrated by the late Jim Broadbent and 1st Assistant Director on Postcards From The 48% which received a standing ovation in EU Parliament, was in cinemas national in the UK and screened at Edinburgh International Film Festival as well as Denver. I would work on BBC feature "Rodney P's Jazz Funk" as production assistant in a crew of three and 2nd Assistant Director on proof-of-concept film Porcelain, an adaptation of a British graphic novel starring Lenny Henry and directed by Tim Wildgoose who'd manufactured for Lucasfilm and a career with Disney, Marvel, Paramount, Dreamworks and Warner Brothers productions. The film was a complex effects heavy shoot. Additionally, English Heritage photography commissions would see my images printed in national marketing campaigns, books and published online.
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Festival successes continued 2017-2019 with Lost In The Nameless City and The Divine Visions of Hildegard von Bingen with New York, Toronto, Mexico and Colombian selections. Two of my films were selected to be in the on-demand video library Ginkgo Projects in an NHS Edinburgh hospital for neurological patients.
I'd moved to London by 2016 and after a crew member was asked to leave a set for unprofessionalism I was thrust into working as 2nd Assistant Director on commercial content (only previously done on a Sony music video and Channel 4 short) for Ford, Estée Lauder, Lamb Society and Compare The Market. I then regularly worked as the runner on commercials and video content for clients including Amazon, GQ, Sky, Vice, British Library and McDonalds consistently with Sassy Films (now Sassy Create) but also companies The Outfit, Firehouse, Good Relations and Gravity Road. Where opportunities opened I did further assistant directing including for a Netflix commercial of feature film "Red Notice" as well as: shorts, music videos and commercials. Although I was still running about putting out fires though; on an NBC Universal studio show for Channel 4, augmented / virtual reality shoots and the launch event of FIFA '18 with Electronic Arts, I was often filling eclectic roles off the back of working well with people such as on the major Panini stickers Premier League campaign television commercial in charge of props / set dressing and assisting a camera on The Mall a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant for Jaguar Land Rover. I still worked irregularly as a 1st assistant director when the opportunities opened up, on commercials and other content including for American company OFF! advertising worldwide and short films. |
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Being trustworthy whilst making a good impression with Sassy Films, I became a regular part of the team for shooting and live streaming red carpet premieres at Leicester Square as well as BFI IMAX and Tate Modern. In summary I worked on the premieres for franchises such as Star Wars, Marvel, Star Trek and Harry Potter; shows like Game of Thrones: House of The Dragon, The Witcher, Good Omens and Loki with films including: Dune, The Irishman, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, House of Gucci, Rocketman, Elvis, Frozen II, Andy Murray: Resurfacing and the royal premieres of 1917, The Lion King and No Time To Die at the Royal Albert Hall. Clients included Disney, Warner Brothers, Prime Video, Universal Pictures, Paramount, MGM and Netflix.
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Advancing, I then had roles of production coordinator with tasks including overseeing the runners on the massive royal premiere of Top Gun: Maverick and production assistant on premiere of the final series of The Walking Dead where I produced a camera with a client brief and assisted (akin to my AD work) in the shooting of the zombie orchestra.
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Founding Captain Cowboy in 2019 as a label for my artistic output and idea, I self-published two photobooks: The Light That's Lost and Strange Space. I had a mixed media debut solo exhibition at the Documentary Media Centre in 2022.
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Whilst not an aim of mine to work professionally as a cameraman commercially, I found myself in a hybrid role on camera shooting with my Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K mixed with assistant directing during the pandemic with colleague Paul Cockcroft on music videos, live music and commercial content. Telfast medicine for the Dubai market was a shoot we did that amassed over a million views on Youtube.
When the film premieres fully returned after Covid, I felt the need for more and it was a challenge to progress out of my positioning in the crew despite experience, rapport with security, longevity and knowledge of the days, to name a few aspects. At that point I chose to step away from pursuing self-employed work of that type and put time into finding pastures green. To package and present myself to new companies and for openings - to identify who I'd like to work for. Taking all I'd learnt, made and sensibilities gained into a new workplace or team full time. |
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In this liminal time I was invited to show work at the DocPhoto8 group exhibition where I hung mainly photography but also early AI generations that I'd been experimenting with. I've been requested to take part in another exhibition July 2025. I was selected for an online exhibition with California / Chicago based Unearth, which lead to a virtual residency with them. Collaborating with artists from UK, USA and UAE we worked towards the creation of a public digital garden and virtual installation. My core contribution was a new film about tech and nature: Spirit. During this I gained a lot artistically and personally but learnt about new software Figma, Slack, Riverside and Notion as well.
I was a guest speaker at the first Real Documentary Festival who screened A Film By Abigail marking it as roughly 10 years of it being consistently in front of festival audiences. Proudly, just about the anniversary of my first Q&A and screening at Bradford International Film Festival. |
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Alongside my creative career, I’ve been accumulating transferrable skills and valuable experience working consistently at Clapton Girls’ Academy school. Hired as an exam invigilator in 2017 I have developed beyond this to care for students and run exams alone for those needing my calm separate room. These are GCSE and A-level students often associated with SEND (Special Educational Needs Disability) and/or requiring access requirements such as: managing anxiety, delivering prompts or spending extra time with them because of a visual impairment. Rather than a job on the side with little value, I have found this a rewarding part of my development. The work has been character building and given me aspects of experience I can take into any work that follows and for the handling of a particularly challenging group I was awarded an official commendation.
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I have been developing a heritage project: Vortex Museum. Following successful and informative physical pop-ups, I'll be designing and building an active digital museum on new domain vortexmuseum.com consisting of physical media, digital archaeology, books and ephemera. I will present my modern museum in varied designs using Square, Figma, audio and video. Approaching the project with patience and thought, I aim to build this into something special and unique with personal touch, that will grow with new technologies and ideas whilst heralding and celebrating the past.
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With one foot in the future using AI to make imagery for my museum to reflect tone and early branding, I was enamoured by the process and impressed with my results; the accuracy when it goes well and also the happy accidents you discover collaborating with artificial intelligence. Through this I conceived of Worlds of AI which will be a narrative focussed storytelling / world building / investigatory AI project and website. I want to develop windows into “worlds” revealed gradually in chapters and also annotate with my ongoing process. Additionally I'll discuss AI with its new users and seek ordinary people for their thoughts in a new blog entitled Sandpit.
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I'm inspired to continue my projects, creative endeavours and professional work seeking a company to hang my hat on.
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As director and editor; A Film By Abigail was selected for the ICA at London Short Film Festival, Los Angeles County Museum of Art & BAFTA. In the last few years selections at Cinetekton Film & Architecture Festival in Mexico for Lost In The Nameless City following its New York world premiere at The Artists Forum Festival of The Moving Image and Experimental Award win in Romania, with The Divine Visions of Hildegard von Bingen screening in Colombia at Festival de Cine Experimental de Bogota. Films have been supported by Arts Council England, Danish Arts Foundation and Filthy Lucre screening worldwide from South Africa to India and cities like Toronto, New Orleans and Cairo. My directed promo work has been broadcast on BBC One. The Body Canvas was selected at London's Oxo Tower Wharf exhibition Zealous X, screened in Copenhagen and broadcast worldwide on Ikono TV from Berlin.
Paul is currently developing his artificial intelligence project Worlds of AI within which he is developing a core website that will house multiple created places, found themes, experimentation and stories exploring generative art and visuals in chapters. WOAI will also look to interview practitioners, scientists and ordinary people about AI. As well, written notes, articles and behind the scenes of the ongoing work on its "Sandpit" blog.
Internationally screened award-winning filmmaker who has directed dance films, promos, documentary and shorts veering into experimental cinema.
Lost In The Nameless City had its world premiere in competition at the Artists Forum Festival of The Moving Image in New York, was the winner of an Experimental Award in Romania and screened in Mexico in competition among only nine other films at the Cinetekton International Film & Architecture Festival. The Divine Visions of Hildegard von Bingen is an experimental film funded by the UK Arts Council and commissioned by Filthy Lucre about the prolific German nun, mystic, artist and scientist. It premiered at Hackney Showroom with a live vocalist and synthesiser performing Hildegard's original music.
As 1st assistant director I've worked on award-winning shorts films, feature documentaries, commercials and music videos - with most recent being for OFF! commercials, 2nd assistant director on a Netflix commercial, production assistant filming The Walking Dead premiere and 3rd assistant director on a Wrigleys video content shoot. I've also regularly worked on red carpet premiere filming/streams, TV shows/commercials, content and films for BBC, NBC Universal, Sassy Create and Vice with clients such as Disney, Amazon, Universal, Warner Bros, McDonalds and others working as an assistant or experienced runner.
A Film By Abigail is a short documentary about a young girl describing a film she wants to make that was in the official selection of the London Short Film festival screening at the ICA and had its world premiere as opening film of a short film showcase at BAFTA. It has been viewed worldwide at over thirty film festivals, galleries and exhibitions and has continued screening years after its initial release - including at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Diego Comic-Con & educationally in New York, New Orleans, Rouen and Leeds.
"Poignant"Alexzandra Jackson, The Short Cinema Festival (UK)
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“A unique & playful look into the
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"Awesome"Mai Damgaard Rasmussen, DOC Lounge (Denmark)
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I have worked as the 1st assistant director on small commercials and shorts as well as feature documentary Postcards From The 48% which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, screened in the EU Parliament and released in UK cinemas. I've also worked in other roles from runner to production manager; gaining invaluable insight, experience and knowledge on TV commercials, TV shows, royal screenings (The Lion King and 1917), virtual reality, features (New Town Utopia, Porcelain), music videos, short films, online content, premiere broadcasts (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, The Irishman, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker and others), football and streaming shoots with clients such as Sky, BBC, Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros, Vice, Electronic Arts and Mcdonalds.
After launching CapCow I self-published The Light That's Lost and have my second book Strange Space being released soon in 2021 which focusses on architecture.
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During the pandemic whilst work was often non-existent in its previous form, in addition to working on my books, I was shooting with my new Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K rig and Ronin-S gimbal. I shot the title sequence of new Sky television show Mens Talk (the B Cam on the show too), a Telfast commercial for the Dubai market and RKD TV / music videos with new venture Dirty Knees Club with Jason Knott and Paul Cockcroft. Previously I have travelled to Denmark for Danish Arts Foundation film commissions and had my promo work televised on BBC One during the second series of The Voice.
