Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘The Last Show’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?
I’ve been writing and directing since 2002 but I’ve normally focused on narrative not documentary. I’ve made 15 or more short films which have played in festivals and several have been shown on TV in the UK. My first feature Here And Now was released in 2014 and my second feature Cold was released in 2023. I haven’t made a documentary since 2008 so the Last Show is a creative departure for me.
Tell us about ‘The Last Show’. How do you describe it?
The Last Show happened by accident. Alongside working in film and TV I also write plays. Back in 2008 my first play The Idiot Colony was performed in London as part of a festival called The London International Mime Festival. It was amazing to play in central London at the Institute for Contemporary Arts and the show sold out. It kickstarted careers in the theatre for both myself and my wife and creative partner Claire Coaché. The festival was the longest running theatre festival in the UK. Then in 2023, after 47 years of showing incredible art, funding cuts and issues created by Brexit forced the festival to close. I offered to make them a five minute film with people offering their memories of the festival and the shows it presented. That turned into a 30 minute documentary featuring five decades of archive alongside the footage we shot.
Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.
There have been two real inspirational periods in my life. I grew up in the 70s when directors like Spielberg, Lucas and Scorsese were all just getting started. Their films were my childhood education and I used to sneak out of school to watch matinees at the cinema. Then in the 90s when I was deciding what I wanted to do with my life there was a renaissance in both US and UK cinema. In the US Tarantino started causing cinematic trouble with Pulp Fiction and that was followed a couple of years later by Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting in the UK. Both showed that you could still do new things in cinema and that was exciting. Nowadays I watch everything I possibly can. I’m a big fan of Japanese cinema including everyone from Akira Kurasowa to Takeshi Kitano.
If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?
I’m lucky in that my next feature is already greenlit but if I could I’d multiply that budget by ten to make it a much bigger movie! And if the sky was the limit on budget I’d make either a western or a sci-fi movie. Both need big budgets to look good and I like to play with established genres and try to give them an unusual message.
Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?
If you want your production to stay on schedule get a good line producer and a good first AD. The line producer will keep your top level schedule on track and the first AD will make each shoot day stay on track. Stuff goes wrong all the times on shoots. The secret is to have good people to put it right with a minimum of delay. I schedule every single shot on a feature and that level of preparation gives me more freedom to freestyle on the day.
What was the hardest part of making ‘The Last Show’.
The shoot was easy. We just ran round London shooting these amazing artists doing really cool stuff and talking to really them about their work. The edit was a nightmare. As we never planned to make the film we were looking for archive as we went along, building the narrative step by step. It took a long time and a lot of patience. Thankfully my editor has a great sense of humour.
If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?
I’m currently writing the feature that is we’re funded to shoot in either fall 2025 or Spring 2026. It’s a revenge thriller dealing with toxic masculinity inspired by a Buddhist folk story. It’s brutal but ultimately hopeful. I’ve been studying Buddhist philosophy and martial arts for many years and this story brings those two interests together.
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