I live with my girlfriend and our children in the county of Norfolk in the UK. From 1997 – 2007 I worked for a digital agency as a flash developer & designer, towards the latter part of that time flash video started taking off and I got involved in a few flash video based projects, I started to becoming more and more interested in video as time went on.

In 2006 I was attending a flash conference in Brighton where renowned flash guru Hillman Curtis did a presentation about his discovery of film making and how he was moved by it. I don’t know why but I really connected with what Hillman was saying and shared in his emotion as he sat and almost cried as his very simple video about movement played out to the audience. Why was this simple thing so emotive?

Towards the latter part of 2006 I got my first video camera, a Canon XH-A1 and started on the long road of learning all about shooting and editing video. I loved every minute of it, even the bits where it all went horribly wrong!

In March 2007 I decided to quit my job and work for myself, my heart was no longer in what I was doing at the agency, I’d fallen for video big time and new that I’d never satisfy my need to be creative as a filmmaker while in that role. I started by offering my flash & design skills out on a freelance basis and slowly started adding video work into the mix to gain experience.

Working for myself gave me the freedom to explore film making and video production further, between 2007 & 2009 most of my shooting was purely personal and solely to allow me to develop my  knowledge and shooting skills. By mid 2009 I was able to finally cut the developer/designer strings and was working as a full-time filmmaker.  Today I’m relieved to say that I’ve managed to continue to support my family whilst doing what I love. I’m getting work from some really nice clients and travelling all over Europe shooting so it’s made a hugely positive impact on my life.

One of the best things about being a filmmaker is getting to mix up my interest in the technical side of the business with my passion for the artistic and creative sides including lighting, shooting & directing.

The camera reveals more than our eyes normally capture and it’s that part of filmmaking that I get moved by on a personal level. I think part of the magic for me is that I’m also a musician and being able to combine beautiful music with meaningful imagery is a very big part of what I love about film.

Paul.

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