*Who 1st influenced you to start making films?
Jonas Mekas was a great influence. I saw his exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in 2012 (I think). I was there by accident, hiding from work, trying to do nothing and not get the sack. It's a tightrope walk and I often fall
*Tell me about your film series Where In Walthamstow?
After Mekas I started making a lot of experimental films and using found footage. I'd buy it online, car boot sales, or just download it from YouTube. I have some opinions regarding copyright that are extremely liberal. As an artist, I believe, the world is our palette and we have permission to use whatever we want to fill the canvas. After all, we are creators before consumers, and who the hell is going to make money from experimental film any way?
*Who are your fav film directors?
The 'Where in Walthamstow' series was a film a day for the whole of April. It came from my NOWT - experimental advertising agency, and was a campaign aimed at highlighting the local area, giving the viewers a chance to interact, and promoting the Walthamstow International Film Festival (10 year anniversary). This project followed on from the 'Is This The Best Pub in Walthamstow' campaign (January 2020) and the 'Don't Vote' campaign (run up to General Election - Nov/Dec 2019). So far, the campaigns have had very limited appeal, but feel free to view them on Official Website
*How would you describe your film style?
At the moment I am concentrating on abstract expressionist adverts (Independent Walthamstow) for local businesses (un-commissioned and most probably unwanted, but I feel the urge to create, and that drives me on. On towards the cliff edge. The ABYSS).
*What upcoming film projects do you have coming up?
My favourite directors are: Wassily Kandinsky (not sure he made any films, TBH), Dóra Maurer, and that one from Scotland - Norman McLaren - yeah him. Amazing.
*Do you have any funny stories from your film shoots?
I founded the London Experimental Film Festival in 2017 and recently started a group/workshop/exhibition called XPRMNTL. Dedicated to the promotion, education and screening of experimental film. If I tried to articulate the focus I guess it would sound something like this: With experimental film we need to ignore narrative and look for a spiritual inner meaning / feeling, rather than the outer reflection of narrative, reality and associations. The spiritual is expressed in: • Form i.e. shape / line / borders • Colour and tones • Overlay of form and colour • Space • Movement • Repetition • Speed • Time • Sound
And if I were to be questioned on these principles the best I could do is show a film, shrug my slouching shoulders, and say 'nowt works'.
