you probably won’t be able to use any of that”! Were there moments during lming where you had to choose between getting the shot and protecting your subjects' identities or safety? How did you navigate those decisions? Never. e more documentaries I make, the more I realise that it’s best to lm everything you can, when you can, and then make discretionary calls like this AFTER the shooting. Early in my career I missed amazing moments because I didn’t wan’t to impose, or lm something potentially compromising. Film it, then if it actually does end up presenting problems, bin it o .
What was the most dangerous moment lming "CONCRETE SUMMER"? Did you ever think "this is too risky for the camera”? is was as ‘guerrilla lmmaking’ as it’s possible to get, no budget, no crew, no fancy rigs, just me and my camera. While lming one of the alleycats, I was riding with my expensive (and uninsured) camera on a tripod attached to a bike with sellotape and string - needless to say, it fell o and broke. e £274 I spent on xing it was more than the entire £150 budget of the lm! Red Bull Media House has championed extreme sports and underground culture - how do you see your grassroots documentary work preparing you for that kind of commercial storytelling? Some people may disagree, but I truly believe if you’re used to creating something amazing with no crew and no budget, then it’s much easier to scale up than if you were to have to go the other way around. e current documentary I’m editing has an actual budget, and all that means is that now I’m able to outsource the small, time-consuming jobs which leads to a much nicer, smoother edit for me. If Red Bull were to hire me tomorrow, I’m more than con dent that I could create something worthy of being in their catalogue. e academic document mentions you built the documentary around Robbo aer spending time with him. What made you realise he was the perfect central character? e guy oozes passion, and regardless of what he himself might say, he’s extremely good at expressing himself. A er we lmed his second interview, from which all the narration in the lm is taken, Robbo turned to me and said “I think I was chatting shite,
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