PIRATES

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

‘PIRATES’ is a feature film I’ve described as ‘The worlds shortest road movie’. It follows three eighteen-year-old’s on their journey from North to south London on New Year’s Eve 1999. I belong to a generation of big city kids who’ve never seen their experiences or more importantly themselves on the big or small screen, making PIRATES an overdue and inclusive time capsule.  

Inspired by the formative experiences and world I experienced during my teens, the people and places in the screenplay feel real because they are exactly that. For any real Londoner, there’s a desperation to see the inner city reflected with a warmth, joy and optimism beyond the guns and gangs. Shot entirely on location, this version of London isn’t just the setting; it’s a vital character.

My first experience on set came as an actor at the age of eight, on the Channel 4 sitcom Desmond’s. That first day left me convinced my career would always be in the word of film and TV. Thirty years later, the opportunity to make my first feature film isn’t one I take lightly and couldn’t be prouder of the story I’m telling. Influenced massively by the style and pace of 1993’s La Haine, Pirates is a stylish youth driven period piece. 1999 is recent history, but so much has changed since, and this detail heavy, pre-Internet version of British youth is uniquely London.  

La Haine was the first time I saw a world like mine on screen. It was multicultural, young, scrappy and unashamedly full of colloquialisms. The film achieved all of the above with a whip smart screenplay all while making the mundane cinematic. Kassovitz helped me believe that I can tell these stories too and through his choice of actors, soundtrack and setting, my teenage self understood that the world I knew had cinematic value.

Pushing to produce cinematic visuals has been a constant in my time behind the camera and my preference to shoot anamorphic on the Arri Alexa has consistently delivered the crisp digital picture I’ve always associated with quality. Working closely with D.O.P Benedict Spence on three of my four short films has given me a hunger to experiment and play with light. This collaboration led me to shoot in thirds and play with composition elevating the visuals of my Short Film Shelter, making it by far bolder than any of my previous work. With that project, I found the grander my ambition, the more striking sequences and scenes became.

Experiencing the best and worst of writing and directing during my time as an actor has taught me so much about what can be done to support and encourage the best in performance. As someone who’s always leaned toward naturalistic performances, my personal style has grown to reflect this.

Pirates centers around three teenage boys, so to sell their bond and for the audience to fall in love with their silliness and naivety, the performances not only needed to be believable, but their relationship and history on screen had to feel real. Being a time capsule of sorts, wardrobe and production design were essential to reflect 1999 in the most authentic way. Given our scale, I saw this as being achievable via smart decisions in locations and key props. Items like time appropriate BT phone boxes, mobile phones and fashion brought to life the pre millennium nostalgia.

Tonally, this is an accessible, young and funny feature that gallops given the back-and-forth banter of the three leads. Between the pacey dialogue and set pieces, Pirates intends to unashamedly grip the audience and not let go until the credits. The screenplay comes in at a tight 90 pages making for a potential speedy running time. This is totally deliberate as Pirates is an unashamed crowd-pleasing Friday night seat filler.

My graduation from short film isn’t just about me telling my stories on a larger scale, I see this as an opportunity to share the filmmaking experience with other new voices hungry for meaningful mentorship. By actively seeking fresh talent on screen and behind the camera, Pirates has the potential to kick-start the careers of a young cast and crew.

For my generation, UK garage wasn’t just a club scene or soundtrack, it was everything and PIRATES is the time capsule that moment in time deserves.