Bio

Award-winning director - immersive and traditional documentaries, news and PSAs. Professor of Practice Narrative, Arizona State University’s center for Narrative & Emerging Media in Los Angeles. Current Work: - Director, Documentary & Immersive Series on NASA’s Artemis Mission the the Moon. (Produced by Surround Vision for Sky) - APlace to Be (Co-director) with Black artist Michelle Scarlett to create an interactive documentary experience about underground nightclubs set up in the 1980s as safe spaces for the Black community escaping from the violence and racism of Britain’s streets. (In development) Immersive Highlights: - 2021: Series Director, “A Brighter Future”, an interactive factual documentary series showcasing positive news stories about solutions to the climate emergency. Epic Games grant winner Jan 2021, working with the UK Government to be exhibited at COP 26 in Glasgow Nov. 2021 and shared with various news outlets. - 2020: Lead Director, ''New Realities'', a ten-part 360 documentary film series showcasing young female activists around the world. - 2019: Producer/director/writer - ''Nobody's Listening'', an interactive documentary VR experience filmed in northern Iraq highlighting the ISIS genocide against Yazidis. - 2017/2018: Director of five-part 360 GoogleVR documentary series ''The Female Planet''. - 2016: Director, ''Mamie's Dream'', a factual documentary about a young woman who refused FGM, filmed in Sierra Leone. (Premier Sheffield’s 2017 Doc/Fest in competition - Alternate Realities Award). Traditional film & Journalism: I cut my teeth as a journalist in the late 1990s reporting on Colombia's drug cartels and guerrilla war for The Guardian, National Public Radio and The Christian Science Monitor. I then returned to the UK and spent the next 10 years making award-winning documentaries & news stories in post-confict countries with international charities such as Save the Children & Plan International for BBC & C4 News. Teaching, Masterclasses & Judging: Jan 2021-present: Mentor, Sulaimani Polytechnic University, Kurdistan March 2020-Jan 2022: Course Director, MA Immersive Storytelling, Royal Holloway University of London, UK May 2021-Jan 2021: Director, StoryFutures Academy Train the Trainer, UK July 2021: Course Director, Immersive Storytelling - MIAT, Milan, Italy 2018-2019: Mentor, YouTube VR Creator Lab LA, London & Tokyo 2019/2020: Mentor, various directors from under-represented groups entering the VR world 2019-2021: Judge, The VR Awards