Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl) (2019)
producer
40 MINUTES, A&E indie films / lIFETIME
Grain Media
Since 2016, I have had the privilege of working with an all-female crew producing a film about the young Afghan girls at the pioneering Skateistan project in Kabul, Afghanistan. The documentary captures intimate coming-of-age stories as the girls grow courage through the joy of skateboarding and the warmth of the women who teach them. A one-off A&E IndieFilms / Lifetime documentary commission, premiering at Tribeca Film Festival in April 2019.
Director: Carol Dysinger
Executive Producers: Molly Thompson, Colleen Conway Grogan, Marissa Grasso, Liz Gateley, Orlando von Einsiedel
Best Documentary Short, Tribeca 2019 | Best Documentary Short, IDA Awards 2019
Best British Short Film, BAFTA 2020 | Best Documentary Short, Oscars 2020
““A revelatory tale of how skateboarding can fuel the future of dignified resistance to gender oppression in war torn Afghanistan. Told through the innocent confessions of young girls and the steadfast dedication of their headstrong female instructors, this film shines an uncompromising and ultimately uplifting light onto righting injustice.””
World’s Most Dangerous Cities with Ben Zand
PRODUCER
3 X 23 MINUTES, BBC STORIES
BBC CURRENT AFFAIRS
I set up filming in Kabul, Afghanistan and Port Moresby, Papa New Guinea – two of the most dangerous cities in the world. Managed fixers, found stories and negotiated access with organisations.
Director: Alex Nott
Series Producer: Ben Zand
BBC's The Mind Set (2018)
PRODUCER
short film series
grain media
I oversaw the pre-production, shoot and edit of ten short films in Welsh and English for BBC's The Mind Set, the UK's first national peer-to-peer coaching network for GCSE students. Managed scheduling, costs, crew and delivery on a tight pre-Easter delivery schedule.
The Spark (2016)
PRODUCER
5 minutes
GRAIN MEDIA
Short film profiling a young female engineer in Pakistan overcoming entrenched sexism to achieve her goal. Set up filming in Lahore and managed a tight 3-day shoot on-location.
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel
Help Them Do Their Business (2016)
PRODUCER
60" & 90" TVC
grain media
Innovative advert for the charity WaterAid, a comedy sketch set in an 'Office'-like office where the workers have to adjust to working without running water or a proper loo. Worked closely with HOD, casting and client culminating in a complex London-based 2-day location shoot.
Director: Guy Paterson
Moon Shot (2015)
PRODUCER
8 x 9’ YouTube & SXSW Premiere
grain media
Series of short films exploring man’s search for meaning through space exploration, following teams across the world competing to send a robot to the Moon. Each film is a micro character study shedding light on something about the human condition - mortality, overconsumption, redemption. Working with the creative team behind the Oscar-nominated feature documentary “Virunga”, I helped craft story arcs liaising with contributors across Europe, North America and Asia. On location, I worked closely with the camera department and director to orchestrate key sequences.
Director: Orlando von Einsiedel
““On the surface, “Moon Shot” is a series about the brilliant, determined individuals competing for the prestigious Google Lunar XPRIZE. However, it’s also character-driven and absolutely awe-inspiring, giving us an intimate look at the teams fighting for their dreams as they embark on this once-in-a-lifetime journey.””
Stacey Dooley: Saving the Cybersex Girls (2015)
producer
60 minutes, bbc 3
watershed tv
Series looking at the challenges facing young women around the world. This film, set in the Philippines, shows a dark shift in sexual exploitation of girls – abuse is moving online and affecting ever-younger children, some trained to perform and abused by their own families. I worked with fixers and organisations to secure informed consent to film with young vulnerable people; managed several local producers editorially and coordinated with the major law-enforcement agencies and NGOs involved in tackling the problem to film live raids.
Director: Joyce Trozzo
Executive Producer: Mark Rubens
““Every so often a documentary comes along that haunts you for days afterwards” ”
Drugs Inc., Series 7 - Silicon Valley High (2014)
PRODUCER
60 MINUTES, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
WALL TO WALL
Part of an ambitious new series of Drugs Inc, this film reveals how Silicon Valley is nurturing parallel drug industries: coke for the well-to-do employees of iconic tech companies, and crystal meth for the service industry and growing legion of homeless in the Bay Area. I secured tough access to, and self-shot with, characters in America's largest homeless encampment 'The Jungle'; negotiated access to local meth cooks and dealers, as well as the operation of a major dealer to the tech industry.
Director: Victor Buhler
Series Producer: Ralph Perring
Drugs Inc., Series 6 - Flesh-Eating Krokodil (2014)
SHOOTING PRODUCER
60 minutes, National Geographic
wall to wall
Series looking at the multi-billion-dollar industry that fuels crime and violence like no other substance on the planet, this film – the highest-rated Drugs Inc to date – looks at the myths and reality of the infamous home-made drug Krokodil. Secured tough access with users and dealers in Tbilisi (Georgia), where most have gone deep underground due to harsh drug laws; and Ukraine, where corruption fuels the pharmacy narcotics business. Filmed second camera and conducted large portion of IVs.
Director: Nick Norman-Butler
Series Producer: Ralph Perring
The Unexplained Files (2013)
story producer
8 x 60' Discovery Channel
raw tv
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS @ discovery.co.uk / Anton Raikhshtat / Alexander Gubi
Series looking at unexplained phenomena through scientific theories and eyewitness accounts. Developed stories in Russia, unpacking mysteries through journalistic investigation. Collaborated with the Russian Geographical Society on an expedition to remotest Siberia.
Series Producer: John Fothergill
Siberian Cut (2013)
CASTING PRODUCER
8 X 60' Discovery Channel
RAW TV
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT @ discovery.com
Casting Producer responsible for finding brilliant Russian characters for new Discovery series about a team of American and Russian loggers working in extreme conditions in Siberia. Conducted casting calls, Skype interviews and edited character tasters.
Executive Producer: Jos Cushing
Tusk Hunter (2013)
self-shooting assistant producer
Feature Documentary Development Recce
bulb films
Travelled to Yakutia, Siberia, for month-long recce to assess feasibility of feature-length documentary about hunters who look for mammoth remains in the Siberian permafrost. Travelled with locals on an expedition into the Arctic circle, negotiating access and making contacts. Self-shot and rough-cut taster for delivery to funder.
Executive Producer: Paul Islwyn Thomas
Stacey Dooley Investigates: Europe's Dirty Drug Secret (2013)
ASSISTANT PRODUCER
60 minutes, BBC 3
watershed tv
Ukraine-based film in this series looking at the international drugs trade and the real human cost of narcotics coming into the UK; Stacey investigates Ukraine’s status as a new transit country. Set up filming with government agencies as well as sourcing contributors who tell of law enforcement corruption and complicity.
Director: Adam Jessel
Executive Producer: Mark Rubens
12-Year-Old Lifer (2012)
shooting assistant producer
64 MINUTES, Channel 4 (UK) / 89 MINUTES, A+E (USA)
nerd tv
Feature-length documentary about two boys in Indiana who committed a murder and, at 12 and 14, were sentenced to 35 years in prison as adults. We look at how the event has changed their lives and that of their families. Gained unprecedented access to the victim’s family and others with first-hand experience of the crime and trial. Shot second unit including interviews on C300 (DOP Will Pugh).
Director: Zara Hayes
Executive Producers: John Farrar, Jago Lee, Karen Grau, Chip Warren
““Zara Hayes’s film talked to relatives of the dead man and to Paul and Colt’s parents, and implicitly arraigned a system that had charged and tried children as if they were adults.””
““A gripping documentary””
Inside the Gangsters' Code (2012)
shooting assistant producer
60 minutes, Discovery Channel
nerd tv
Discovery Channel series on prison gangs around the world, presented by ex-mobster Louis Ferrante. Produced programme set in New Mexico about the rise of a young new prison gang threatening to spill over onto the streets.
Director: Alan Sim
Series Producer: Kim Flitcroft
World's Scariest Plane Landings (2012)
ASSISTANT PRODUCER
45 minutes, Channel 5 / discovery US
mentorn media
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT @ Channel 5
Series revealing extreme uncut footage caught on camera, including airplane incidents in "World's Scariest Plane Landings". Conducted interviews with pilots, aviation experts and survivors in the US.
Series Producer: Amy Walker
X-Machines (2011)
ASSISTANT PRODUCER
8 X 60' Discovery Channel
WAG TV
Series following machines on cutting-edge missions, from the world’s largest moving machine mining coal in Germany to Russian helicopters installing anti-avalanche cannons. Found stories and set up filming in Europe, Russia and Singapore; filmed sections for broadcast using Z5.
Series Producer: Greg Chivers
The Health Show (2011)
ASSISTANT PRODUCER
5 X 5' BBC World
ROCKHOPPER TV
I spent three weeks in Lesotho filming a soap-style collection of stories about how healthcare workers on motorbikes are changing the impact of HIV and TB on communities. Conducted interviews and liaised with local contacts.
Series Producer: Alex Seaborne