BIOGRAPHY IN BRIEF

I’m an award-winning documentary filmmaker, investigative journalist, podcast creator and writer; I was recently named Freelance Journalist of The Year. I pride myself on creating compelling human stories, often dealing with complex and emotive topics. I combine journalistic rigour, cinematic sensibility and compelling narrative structure to create work that is both accessible and in-depth. I have delivered several high-profile stories that have garnered international recognition. I believe storytelling is a team game, and I have built and managed teams to create a collaborative process. I have told stories to fast-turnaround timelines or deep-dive investigations spanning as long as eight years. I ran the landmark Multiplatform Release for the BBC of The Shamima Begum Story and I am developing work within the drama space where I am managed by Anonymous Content. My stories have a track record of reaching new audiences. I also created the BBC most awarded audio series to date; I’M NOT A MONSTER.

CREATING NEW MULTI-PLATFORM MODELS: Over several years at the BBC, I developed and built a new way of working, taking one story across multiple media and platforms to maximise its reach and impact. This also made budgets go further. It involved building a story and a team that could deliver across documentaries, podcasts, weekly live radio discussions, online web articles, magazine long reads and much more. I also managed a weekly rollout for a major landmark series for the BBC. After completing this, I then set about creating a drama adaptation idea that has now been picked up by Hollywood. I am currently working on the pilot script. This has given the BBC a truly multiplatform story that reached record audiences while also allowing them to secure commercial sale. I also help broker that IP agreement.

CONTRIBUTOR CARE: I have a track record of working with vulnerable contributors suffering from trauma or mental health issues, including children and highly sensitive sources. I have also secured a plethora of specialist access, be that with terrorist groups, elite military units, intelligence officers, Whale hunters, sex workers, or friends and family of contributors. I believe that it’s a huge responsibility to take someone’s testimony in an interview, regardless of who they are, and with that, comes a duty to represent that fairly and accurately. I also have experience in putting in safeguarding or security measures around contributors.

Specialist investigations: I have run a number of high-profile investigations for the BBC that have made national and international headlines. Covering issues such as terrorism, serious organised crime, espionage and human trafficking.

ROLES UNDERTAKEN: Writer, Producer Director, DOP, Series Producer, Host/Presenter, Investigative Journalist.

LEGAL & EDITORIAL: I have worked on several stories that have required me to manage and navigate complex legal and editorial issues, from terrorism and espionage to sex work. I have also managed highly contentious stories with big reputational risks.
EDITS: I have run edits for episodes at 90/60/ 52/45/30/15 minutes, and mini-series. As well as writing a 13-part series and then a 10-part series. In addition, I have experience coordinating with marketing teams to provide material for promotion on TV, online and Radio.

SECURITY BIO: I have established a track record of thorough security planning for deployments in high-risk environments, including at the critical risk level. I have also planned and run trips in hostile environments for high-profile individuals and worked in frontline combat situations where he has had to mitigate, plan and react to various risks, such as kidnap, life-threatening injuries, unexploded ordinance and many others. He is on the steering committee for the ACOS Alliance (A Culture Of Safety Alliance), which aims to embed a culture of safety across newsrooms and among journalists worldwide. Separately from my journalistic work, I have been involved in humanitarian rescues from a number of different countries.

I was also a board member of the Frontline Freelance Register, a charity that is working with broadcasters, High-Risk Advisors, and safety training companies to improve safety training and standards for freelance journalists working across the media industry.  

HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT, SECURITY & MEDICAL TRAINING

  • Royal College of Surgeons Medicine In Remote Areas Medic

  • Hostile Environment -1st Option - 3-day refresher

  • Hostile Environment - AKE - 5-day course

  • Counter Surveillance

  • OSCE Mine, Trap, and Unexploded Ordinance Training and practical experience of working in the most IED areas on the planet.

  • Several first aid courses, including first aid for hostile environments, with practical experience in administering first aid in life-threatening circumstances.

  • Ethical Hacking

  • I have also been assisted with training for journalists deploying to conflict. Lecturing on surviving a terror attack and practical preparation for conflict, as well as taking part in K and R training.

BACKGROUND

I spent 4-years investigating the story of one family's journey to the heart of ISIS cont Syria and their return to America. It aired as a one-hour special on BBC One. The story was also a multi-award-winning 10-part podcast; I’m Not A Monster. The project brought together the two journalistic powerhouses of FRONTLINE and THE BBC to create a multi-part story across multiple platforms. Alongside this, I have made films with Louis Theroux and Stacey Dooley. The Louis Theroux work saw new levels of engagement across the 16-35-year-old audience, and with Stacey Dooley, I created one of her highest-rated films. 

Other work

In 2017, I was an Investigative Producer on two fast turn-around films for BBC 1 following the terror attacks in Manchester and London. I was one of the first journalists to get testimony from one of the friends of the Manchester bomber.

My 2017 film, The Battle for Mosul, was critically acclaimed and seen across the globe and earned him two Emmy nominations. It told the story of those trapped in the Iraqi city as special forces fought to retake it from ISIS. During filming, he narrowly survived a suicide bomb, and a building collapsed on top of him, but once healed, he quickly returned to work in Iraq and Syria.  (UK LINK) (US title, Battle for Iraq (LINK) for Frontline PBS and The Guardian. During filming, I narrowly survived an ISIS truck bomb (LINK). Before that, I broke the global story of the death of Kadiza Sultana, one of the three girls known as the 'Bethnal Green Girls' who joined ISIS. I was the only filmmaker the family would trust to document the situation from the inside as they attempted to formulate a rescue plan. ITV News put me forward for a Foreign Press Award. 

I have guest lectured at Cambridge University on the future of ISIS, lectured at The Council of Europe on the strategy for managing ISIS detainees in Syria and was a key contributor to a report on the impact of warfare on civilians for The International Committee Of The Red Cross (LINK).

Professional Backdrop

I started in print, working for The Times and in less than 18 months went from being a desk researcher to being one of the Foreign News Night editors. I would go on to work with the Guardian. This gave me a solid journalistic foundation. Some of his online work is here. 

Cameras & Editing

I have an advanced understanding of many camera systems, most commonly shooting on the C500 M2 with Primes. I also edit. 

Countries/Territories worked in.

The UK, US, Iraq, Syria, Gaza, The West Bank, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Turkey, Bosnia, The Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Uganda, Niger, Nigeria, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, France, Germany and Guatemala.

VISA

Valid I-VISA for the USA

Extra bits. 

I worked with many NGOs in Humanitarian Emergencies to gather stories or document testimonies in challenging circumstances. I have also shot or directed commercials. Before that, I worked on a total of 6 fictional feature films in the Art Department.