I work as Head of Brighton Film School, which was relaunched six\u00a0years ago to offer a wide\u00a0<\/em>range of film making courses delivered by industry professionals. I also make films – most\u00a0<\/em>recently Dreams are Free, which charts the life of acclaimed jazz musician Bobby Wellins.<\/em><\/p>\n What inspires you to make film\/ moving image?<\/strong><\/p>\n The things that inspire me are stories.\u00a0I’m\u00a0interested in telling real people\u2019s stories – I feel\u00a0<\/em>that real people are more interesting that fictional characters, and sometimes real people\u00a0<\/em>have the most fantastic stories to tell, stories that you\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0believe if you wrote them\u00a0<\/em>down as fiction. But when they come from the mouths of real people, they sound pretty\u00a0<\/em>incredible.<\/em><\/p>\n How has Brighton and Hove influenced your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n Having lived in Brighton now for 20 years, Brighton feels like home. Also, the light is\u00a0fantastic, the sea, having creative people around… all of those things feed into me hopefully\u00a0being a creative person.<\/em><\/p>\n What advice would you give to creative people working\/ looking to work in the city?<\/strong><\/p>\n Brighton\u2019s a strange place really because it\u2019s not the creative hub of the film and TV\u00a0<\/em>industry – that\u2019s obviously London – but Brighton offers other things. It has its own creative\u00a0<\/em>community. Once you start to work in the local industry, you can make links with other\u00a0<\/em>people. Brighton is very creative – it\u2019s a small place, and you find that everybody knows\u00a0<\/em>everybody. But it\u2019s supportive, and it\u2019s productive.<\/em><\/p>\n What is the most interesting part of your job?<\/strong><\/p>\n At Brighton Film School, the most interesting part of my job is being surprised and excited\u00a0<\/em>by some of the new work that\u2019s being produced by our students. Young people bring fresh\u00a0<\/em>ideas, and it\u2019s interesting to see how they approach filmmaking, both fiction and factual.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Being at the film school also feeds into my work as a filmmaker. I\u2019m surrounded by creative\u00a0<\/em>students at the Film School, but also the fact that all my colleagues are working filmmakers.<\/em><\/p>\n We have writer\/directors, producers, editors, art directors… My whole day is working and\u00a0<\/em>liaising with creative people. It can only support and inspire my own ideas and creative\u00a0<\/em>approach.<\/em><\/p>\n What is the most challenging aspect of your job?<\/strong><\/p>\n Helping my students achieve their goals and visions. My job is a management job essentially\u00a0<\/em>– I manage students learning, and try to make sure that they can achieve what they set out\u00a0<\/em>to make, so I have to sometimes say no, I have to sometimes help them achieve things that\u00a0<\/em>are on paper difficult to pull off. Shooting period costume dramas on farms, getting people to\u00a0<\/em>locations, shooting in a boxing ring and making sure a whole 20-person crew is there… So\u00a0<\/em>it\u2019s just helping them create and get their films together.<\/em><\/p>\n The challenging thing about my own filmmaking is finding time, as I work six days a week\u00a0<\/em>at the Film School. Plus, my own films tend to take longer to make nowadays. My last\u00a0<\/em>documentary took over two years, and although it has screened at festivals, there are still\u00a0<\/em>changes to be made, so that will make it three years… So the most challenging thing is\u00a0<\/em>finding the time. But there\u2019s always time if you want to make stories.<\/em><\/p>\n Dead or alive, who are the top three people you\u2019d most like to collaborate with?<\/strong><\/p>\n I suppose for me, the golden era of documentary filmmaking was during the 1960s in\u00a0<\/em>America, Direct Cinema. There are some outstanding directors that inspire me, people like\u00a0<\/em>Fred Wiseman, D.A Pennebaker… And closer to home is Nick Broomfield, who has been\u00a0<\/em>making challenging, creative, original documentaries for the last 30 years, and is still a\u00a0<\/em>working filmmaker, who inspires all documentary filmmakers.<\/em><\/p>\n If you could only take one film away with you on a desert island what would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think it\u2019s going to have to be Gimme Shelter by D.A Pennebaker.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n More information about Brighton Film School can be found at brightonfilmschool.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n Dreams Are Free has previously screened at Cinecity Brighton<\/a>. You can see it this August at Chichester Film Festivals.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dreams](\"http:\/\/filmcitybrighton.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/image002.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n