Venturing South

I found myself south of the Thames at the weekend and thrown well into that 'buzzing vibe' that's now often closely associated with Peckham Rye. It could have just been the warm sun accentuating everyones energy and boosting local moods but whatever it was, I liked it.

I was booked to shoot 3 days at the first ever Peckham Rye Music Festival and sometimes with these types of event it's easy to assume they'll all fall into the same category; wasted people, lots of mud, bad music and hard work.

However this was not to be the case at all and the weekend flew by in a flash of 80 fantastic artists, 10 local venues and a real good atmosphere. Kudos to founder and organiser Glenn Middleditch for his many months of preparation and ability to remain calm under pressure!

Having looked through the footage I know we're going to get a couple of really great films out of the shoot, time to start editing...

It's Nice That Our Documentary is featured on It's Nice That.

What a good start to the week. Super slick design website It's Nice That are running a feature on myself and photographer Chris Baker's latest documentary offering The Legacy of Wells Coates.

The film centers on modernist architect Wells Coates and two of his most famous projects, Embassy Court in Brighton and The Isokon Building in Hampstead, London.

These two buildings have wonderful stories. Although there is no direct connection to each other apart from Wells Coates himself, they both went through exactly the same rollercoaster of falling into mass disrepair, being on the brink of being demolished, before being rescued and returned to their former glory. 

We believe Wells Coates deserves to be celebrated and bought to the masses, hopefully this film helps to open up that awareness just that little bit more.

You can see the full feature on It's Nice That here.

Based on the photo series The Legacy of Wells Coates.
bakerworld.co.uk/home/the-legacy-of-wells-coates/the-legacy-of-wells-coates/

Ometepe Bilingual School | Nicaragua

I recently finished a short documentary shot on my travels in Nicaragua and am glad to see it online and speaking out about the wonderful work of Alvaro Molaro, owner of the Hacienda Merida on Ometepe Island and founder of the Ometepe Bilingual School.

The beautiful Ometepe Island situated right in the middle of Lake Nicaragua currently receives an average of three tons of plastic waste daily, a high percentage of which is generated by the bottled water business and soda drinks. Despite being made a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2010 the island is beginning to suffocate under the weight of its pollution problem.

Alvaro has been running his hostel on the island for over 20 years and has taken the initiative to create a system where by he can re-use the plastic waste to build a local school whilst also injecting money back into the local community.

Check out his inspiring story here.

Yoga Flow

This week saw me complete a lovely little film for My Yoga London, the yoga buffs who connect yoga to Londoners by providing comprehensive lists of teachers and studios throughout the city.

This was a really enjoyable shoot for me and being a part-time yogi myself I felt even more drawn to capture to beauty and strength of a flow routine in a unique and engaging way.

Shooting Abroad

For the last 7 weeks I've been making my way around Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua shooting a selection of short form projects on topics ranging from speciality coffee in the mountains of Armenia to the environmental efforts of those based on the tiny island of Ometepe.

This adventure has been just that; a real adventure, and for me the joy of travel filmmaking is in the unknown, the unexpected and the unforeseen situations in which we find ourselves purely by opening up to those around us. It does make me question just how much more we could experience in our day to day lives if we were to apply these principles of living to our everyday routine.

In the coming weeks I will be editing these projects together and collaborating with some online publications to showcase the work. 

Happy Christmas!

Ok so we're not quite there yet but it's getting close and with my last shoot of 2015 in the can (or on the hard drive I should say) it's definitely time to open a box of mince pies.

December's been as packed to the brim as ever and this month i've been working with creative communications agency KINC, New Era, ghd, and fashion brand ME+EM.

It's not often you get a behind the scenes of a behind the scenes shot but here I am relishing the chance to release my inner geek and play joyously with my new glide cam, sexy smooth shots now achievable like never before.

New Era have had a fantastic year and commissioned me to edit up a 2015 hype video to let the team know just how well they'd done along with a sneaky little 'coming soon in 2016' taster popped onto the end to get them excited for the year ahead. Congrats guys!

Something the New Era team are particularly excited about is an upcoming cap collaboration with a very well known band...I say no more! The guys got together with the brand design team and went for something pretty eye catching for their final design. Check out the New Era social media channels to keep up to date with the new artist collaborations and releases.

...And last but certainly not least here we are at Spring Studios for the last big shoot of the year with ghd, making some summery magic happen for their next series of how to vids to be released in 2016.

Enjoy the break and see you on the other side! x

Wrapping up Autumn

It's been a busy three weeks and what kicked off with a day trip to Dusseldorf to interview electronic and hip-hop producer Loco Dice has ended rather comfortably with a couple of weeks of sofa time back in the hands of Furniture Village for their Winter 2015 product shoot.

It's not everyday that you get to hang out with an Ibiza legend and Dice is certainly top of his game on the island these days. The shoot was a collaboration with baseball cap heavyweights New Era who asked the German dj to design a special and rather personal cap for their latest range.

After deliberating over design we also took some time to find out a bit more about the man behind the decks, what makes him tick and what the future holds. Keep an eye on the New Era site to see the full film.

Desk Spaces for Creative People

Something I love about working in a shared desk space is the natural incentive and opportunity for collaboration amongst the other creatives. Therefore it was a no brainer when Chris and Brendan, the guys who keep Shed London ticking over, asked me to make a film that would showcase the breadth and variety of talent who call Shed their (business) home. 

Keen not to fake any interaction between the group 'just for filming', we scheduled a genuine ideation workshop in the diary and invited a number of desk users to join us in taking the opportunity to recognise current problems with their businesses and then brainstorm some suitable solutions.

The workshop, hosted by The Pop Up Agency's Abraham Asefaw, solidified current friendships/creative connections as well as spark fresh ones...and all whilst tackling new ideas in a fun and engaging way.