in the forum to receive regular news updates...

page 1 | 2 | 3

What do the critics say about me?

‘One of the up and coming filmmakers of the next generation’ - BBC 2, Moving Pictures

‘A filmmaker to watch out for in the future’ - Variety

‘U.K.’s answer to Robert Rodrigues’ - Screen International

‘Teton is a newcomer of considerable promise who not only has a real eye
but is also determined to seek out present realities in an original and daring way.
Clearly a filmmaker to look out for’ - The Guardian, Derek Malcolm

‘Teton works wonders with his ludicrously low budget’ - The Star

‘Dark Summer bodes well for Teton’s future in film’ - Ms London

‘One looks forward to Teton’s next movie’ - Philip French, The Observer

My story so far :

Born in England of English and Canadian-French extraction, I left school at 16 to act in theatre productions of ‘Kes’, ‘Forty Years On’ and ‘Marathon,’ at The Redgrave Theatre and the Young Vic. It didn't take long to realise that maybe acting wasn't my born vocation; I was incredibly shy at the time and that sort of immersion therapy didn't really help. I used to freeze-up just as I was about to deliver my only line in the play. It was a total nightmare. I finally came to my senses when I tried to enter drama school, coached by a sadistic instructor who insisted that I sang ‘I'm Burlington Bertie, I rise at ten thirty’ at the auditions, instead of a more James Dean, brooding character. I would go completely blank after the first verse. I still cringe at the thought. My heart definitely goes out to the staff at R.A.D.A. for watching my terrible audition and to all actors for what they go through.

Deciding to save the world the agony of having to watch me act, I went into public relations, becoming one of the many assistants to Mercia Watkins at M.W. Publicity. Mercia was reportedly the model for ‘Patsy’ in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’; the alcoholic one, so you can imagine what it was like.

A few years later I followed my passion for photography by becoming a freelance assistant to fashion photographers in London and Paris, working with the likes of Albert Watson, François Lamy, Steve Silversteen, Marcus Tomlinson, Roger Eaton, Carol Latimer, Pat Booth and Adrian Bradbury. Deciding to start up on my own, I moved to Milan, Italy, for three years to build up my portfolio. The Art Directors in Italy are great; you call them to say you've got some new picture and they want to see you straight away. In total contrast, when I came back to London and made appointments, the attitude was, ‘Yeah great, I can see you in six months.’ Go figure.

Fortunately I was asked to gaffer on a no-budget B/W feature film called ‘Malevolence’, set during the big storm in England in 1987. For three weeks I worked 18 hours a day and slept on the kitchen floor with a wonderful dog called Digby. I loved it, well, not the dog part. I ended up shooting a lot of the night footage, because the cinematographer had prior arrangements. For me it was a massive learning experience, and one which I didn't want to stop. When the shoot had finished, I asked the director, Marcus Thompson, if he needed a hand editing. Thankfully he did, and my baptism into the film industry began. I stayed in Surrey for a further two years, learning how to sync-up rushes, edit on a Steenbeck, lay sound FX, ADR and Foley. I ended up grading the movie for two days with the head grader from Bucks Laboratories.

Doing anything legal to buy a 35mm Arriflex 2c camera

Clockwise: 2 weeks on the back of a motorcycle filming the Honda
Pan European Rally; Sound Recordist for a week in Lapland, Antartic
with Marcus Thompson and looking like a right plonker but very warm.

Insatiable for more knowledge of the film-making process, I continued to work on anything I could, paid or otherwise; from runner, assistant producer, assistant director, spark, gaffer, sound recordist to lighting camera. I'm proud to have worked with Derek Jarman before he died, a truly great independent film-maker.

Encouraged by my mentor Marcus Thompson, I began writing a script called ‘Dark Summer’, based around my personal experience with a girlfriend who suffered a miscarriage. At the same time I started working nights as a waiter and cocktail barman in order to buy a 35 mm camera, the venerable Arriflex 2C, along with a Canon K35 25-120mm macro zoom lens. With a rough script in my hands, suddenly fate seemed to be on my side when I was given a truck-load of tungsten lighting which was to have been thrown away, and also when I managed to acquire 50,000 feet of assorted 35mm short-ends and re-cans.

While I was helping out students at the Royal College of Art, one of the tutors, David Jones, knew I was desperate for stock and called me while I was working on another film in Liverpool, telling me that a load of film was now in a skip outside the college and if I wanted it I'd better get there ASAP. I immediately called my mum and her boyfriend Mike and asked them if they could go and rummage in a skip for me. Being the troopers they are, that night, with the help of David Jones, they unloaded the contents of the skip into a van. I'll never forget what they did. (continue)

have your say in the forum

page 1 | 2 | 3