First, it must be noted, I started out as an actor.

In England I attended Birmingham School of Acting, then known as The Birmingham School of Speech and Dramatic Arts and now part of Birmingham City University. Here I undertook a series of LAMDA drama exams before appearing on stage with the Birmingham Youth and later Solihull Youth Theatre groups.

My first paycheck came from acting in a professional theatrical production of O Fair Jerusalem at the then New Birmingham Repertory Theatre, written by playwright David Edgar and directed by David Rome.

After graduating from King’s College, University of London with a BD degree and while working for ITV in Television production, I maintained an involvement in independent production and education. I also continued my own professional training, attending short production courses at The National Film School, London and in the USA at Rockport, Maine, following which I worked as a 1st AD and UPM on a series of short drama film productions.

Before obtaining my MFA in Screenwriting I attended writing courses led by legends in Screenwriting craft – Chris Vogler, John Truby, Robert McKee and Syd Fields, as well as several prestigious European writing residencies held in London, Berlin, Hungary, and by the Mediterranean Film Institute (MFI) in Greece.

Moving to New Mexico I continued a more formal interest in teaching. I taught a series of 200 to 400-level degree classes from production, direction, to world cinema at Santa Fe Community College, (SFCC); Santa Fe University of Art & Design (SFUAD); and the Institute of American Indian and Alaskan Arts (IAIA).

In 2018 I gained my MFA in Creative Writing (Screenwriting) from the Institute of American Indian Arts and Alaskan Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, after which I began a career in writing feature film screenplays.

Throughout my career I have involved students in production. I strongly believe in learning by doing, creating a powerful hands-on educational experience for students.

This approach led to the creation of short films, such as the films made over a summer of production in Goole in the North of England working with young people, combining workshops with short film production. The Goole Silent Movie Project produced films such as The Lost Princess which encouraged a love for cinema and an understanding of early filmmaking techniques.

In New Mexico, classroom-produced shorts such as Henry and the Animals were made entirely in a teaching class with many students using cameras, sound, lighting, and working with a professional actor for the first-time.

As a writer/director I continued to create independent International Award-winning shorts such as Cinema of Horror 2 which told the story of 3 student filmmakers. The production of COH2 involved students drawn from a series of colleges and creative programs. This was the first time I combined Industry professionals with students to produce a professional production. Students came not just from film production courses but animation, costume, make-up, and dance programs.

I used this model in New Mexico at SFCC on the International multi-award-winning short film Psyche Ascending with its professional cast and a mix of Industry keys working alongside numerous student production and post-production classes. This film went on to achieve serious global festival success.

These are just a small sample of several short film productions created collaborating with film students and part of a body of fun experiences. As any good teacher will tell you, you learn from your students, so a big thanks to the hundreds of students I have had the pleasure of exploring film story with.