I’m Not in Love – The Story of 10cc
Director and producer
First broadcast on BBC4
‘With a string of brilliantly unpredictable hits, 10cc were an almost constant presence in the charts for much of the 70s. Yet it’s easy to forget the people who were behind the music. This absolutely riveting documentary is a fine corrective to that.’ - The Mail on Sunday
‘Excellent… an especially good doc.’ - The Guardian‘
‘This affectionate history reunites the band members to provide an interesting, often humorous account of one of the most gifted, original groups to emerge in the 70s. A superb film.’ - The Observer
‘A pleasure to watch.’ - The Daily Mail
This was our first documentary and it had a rather tortuous gestation. We started by filming the band, led by the only original member, Graham Gouldman, in Guildford, but we had some technical problems and the only useable bits were the acoustic numbers. Then there was Eric Stewart, who flatly refused to be interviewed. I persisted for months, without success. In the meantime I interviewed the other three, then let him see what they’d said. This proved to be the turning point, as he could now see I was only interested in singing the band’s praises. The next problem was Gambo. Soon after I’d interviewed him he became entangled in Operation Yewtree. I didn’t want to edit him out, so we had to wait for the investigation to take its course. It took a year but eventually he was cleared. While we were waiting, I managed, with Harvey Lisberg’s help, to track down Kathy Redfern, the female voice on I’m Not in Love. So finally, two years after we’d started, we had all the pieces in place. When it was broadcast on BBC4 in 2015 it got a phenomenal reaction; there was a genuine love for the group.
Promises and Lies: The Story of UB40
Director and producer
First broadcast on BBC4
‘Both sides put their case in this sad yet gripping documentary.’ - The Guardian
‘Here’s a salutary tale of the music business and its ability to transform romantic ideals and group camaraderie into cynicism, greed and hate. Their enmity and rivalry give a piquant bite to the interviews in an authoritative rockumentary.’ - The Mail on Sunday
‘This perceptively told documentary explores the Birmingham band’s roots in the economic lows of the mid-Seventies and, most significantly, how money issues and ego contributed to their break up.’ -The Daily Telegraph
‘This is a sad but fascinating pop history. Recommended.’ - The Observer
This one was even harder to pull together, simply because of the enmity between the two factions. The idea came from Bill Curbishley, who we got to know while making a documentary about festivals (more of which below). Bill was the manager of the Who and also of the Ali Campbell half of UB40, and suggested there was a good story to be told. While he was able to set up interviews with Ali, Astro and Mickey Thomas, I was left to make contact with Robin, Brian Travers and co. Suffice it to say, they wanted nothing to do with it, and without them there was no documentary. So again I spent months negotiating, this time with their manager, trying to persuade him that it would be a balanced account, and that I wouldn’t be taking sides. Eventually he agreed to set up a meeting with the group in Birmingham, which went well enough for them to agree to tell their side of the story. I must admit it was not the sort of film I would normally have undertaken; I’m interested in celebrating great music, and I couldn’t care less about the personal issues that afflict every band. But Bill was right, this was a compelling story; as well as the family split, it had the financial element of how one of the most successful groups of the 1980s had ended up bankrupt. It went out on BBC4 a year after the 10cc one and again was well-received. But for our next project I wanted to return to a group about whom I could wax lyrical.
XTC: This is Pop
Director and Producer
First broadcast on Sky Arts
‘What a wonderful piece of work. How chuffed I am to be a small part of it.’ - Harry Shearer (The Simpsons and This is Spinal Tap)
‘I love the XTC movie so much. The train, the footage, the interviews with the band... the whole movie was an emotional experience for me.' - Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live)
‘Much like the band itself, this documentary defies convention.’ - The Mail on Sunday
‘This eye-opening documentary takes an alternative look at XTC, one of Britain’s most influential yet unsung bands.’ - The Sun
‘A charming, affectionate and effortlessly entertaining documentary.’ - Rick Koster, The Day
‘This vibrant documentary is the tribute they deserve, filmed against an aptly surreal backdrop.’ - Radio Times
‘This is Pop is a hoot from start to finish.’ - Classic Rock Magazine
‘Like the Swindon rockers it profiles, this documentary does its best to stand out from the crowd.’ - The Daily Mail
‘That great XTC documentary.’ - Ed O’Brien, Radiohead
Since the turn of the millennium XTC had stopped making music. I had no idea how to contact them, and anyway I’d heard that Andy Partridge was deeply opposed to rock documentaries. It seemed a non-starter. But then a friend of guitarist Dave Gregory got in touch to say that Andy had watched, and enjoyed, our 10cc film. She put me in touch with him and we began communicating by email. He told me that he was approached at least once a month by directors wanting to tell the XTC story. It never came to anything. After a few more emails, he suggested we talk on the phone. We chatted for well over an hour but still he resisted. Even so, our conversations became increasingly frequent; if nothing else, we seemed to be developing a friendship. Then one day I got a call from Andy. ‘Let’s do it,’ he said. What had changed? Apparently Steven Wilson, who was remixing the XTC catalogue and who I’d interviewed recently, had told him he could trust me, and that was enough for him.
Six months later I sent him a rough cut, then waited a day or two before calling him, with some trepidation. ‘I think it’s rather wonderful,’ he said. From the man who hated rockumentaries, that was all I needed to hear.
Come Together - The Rise of the Festival
Director and Producer
First broadcast on Sky Arts
‘The line-up for this documentary would grace any festival.’ - The Daily Telegraph
‘This enjoyable documentary examines the evolution of the music festival, from unrefined Sixties greats such as Monterey Pop and Woodstock to today’s corporate behemoths, such as Glastonbury and Coachella.’ - The Times
‘This one-off special offers a fascinating look at the evolution of these events.’ - RTE
This one was unquestionably the most enjoyable to make. The summer of 2014, a gloriously sunny one, was spent filming at a wide variety of festivals. Although there are some big names in the film, it is really about the unsung heroes who staged the original events, such as George Wein (Newport), Michael Lang (Woodstock), Freddie Bannister (Bath and Knebworth), Michael Eavis and Andrew Kerr (Glastonbury) and Ray Foulk (Isle of Wight). One of the highlights of that summer was the afternoon I spent with Lang at his home near Woodstock. He was almost a mythical figure in my mind, so to meet him, and find him so remarkably youthful after all those years, was very special. As was the day we spent with Andrew Kerr, the instigator of the first Glastonbury Festival in 1971. He was a delightful man but in very bad health, and less than a month later he died. The festival as we know it simply wouldn’t have happened without him, a fact I hope our film makes clear.
Fairport Convention - Folk Heroes
Director and Producer
First broadcast on Sky Arts
‘Among the many talking heads in this absorbing account of Fairport’s life and times, it’s Rick Wakeman who provides the best quote. The band’s decision to go electric in the late 60s was, he says, ‘like putting a condom machine in the Vatican.’ The watershed moment came with A Sailor’s Life, the centuries-old ballad that Fairport fashioned into what founder member Ashley Hutchings calls ‘the first British traditional folk rock track’. Director Charlie Thomas does a fine job of explaining how they got there and where they took it.’ - Prog Magazine
‘Fifty years after their formation, this documentary examines why the band remains so influential.’ - The Mail on Sunday
‘A great job. Very enjoyable.’ - Joe Boyd, record producer
After three films in which at least one of the protagonists had been dead set against being interviewed, it came as something of relief to make one about a band who were all good friends and were more than happy to talk about their experiences. All of the numerous members, past and present, of Fairport Convention clearly had huge affection for the band and their time in it. They had also inspired many great musicians along the way, including Steve Winwood, Ian Anderson, Maddy Prior and Rick Wakeman, all of whom contributed. We spent a week at Cropredy, filming preparations for their annual festival. It was the 50th anniversary of the band’s formation, so the event itself was an emotional one. Everyone, the musicians, their crew, the crowd, was a joy to be around.
The Kinks: Echoes of a World
Director
First broadcast on Sky Arts
And this was one was the least fun to make. A great privilege, but Ray and I had different ideas as to what the documentary should be, which only became apparent once we were a fair way into the production. Ray decided he wanted it to reflect the political and social context in Britain at the time, whereas I was focused on the musical context and why the album was so out of kilter with what was happening. Both approaches perfectly valid, but Ray’s concept would have meant starting again. As the deadline approached, we tussled, going back and forth. For instance, Ray didn’t approve of Jon Savage - he wanted a historian like Dan Snow rather than a music journalist - so reluctantly I cut a lot of his stuff. What we ended up with was a compromise, somewhere between our two visions. Still, the talking heads (Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Graham Coxon, Natalie Merchant, Andy Partridge, Suggs) were high calibre, and visiting Greg Kurstin at his studio in Los Angeles was fun.
‘‘This month marks the 50th anniversary of ‘one of rock’s greatest lost albums’. That statement is just about the only thing this rock documentary gets wrong (lost? It’s a classic!) as the band discuss this most English of records.’ - The Times
‘In 1968, in the face of opposition from a singles-obsessed music industry, the Kinks released the concept album The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. Here, Ray Davies and the band explain the inspiration behind their treasured record of lost youth and innocence on the village green.’ - The Guardian
‘Released the same day as the Beatles’ White Album, its songs of draught beer and strawberry jam sank without trace. Fifty years on, however, it is – according to Noel Gallagher – ‘one of the three albums you have to have’. - The Sunday Times
For films, unseen interviews and out-takes, head to CT music films - YouTube