I loved acting and role playing when I was a kid. In my mind, I was the hero of my backyard. I played and played until my heart was content.  

I watched The Lone Ranger and became the Lone Ranger on a rocking horse.  

I watched E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and instantly I had an imaginary alien best friend.  

I wrote short scripts inspired by the films and TV shows I liked. My first script was an entire episode of The X-Files. I read it recently and it is damn good for a teenager’s first attempt at a TV script. Chris Carter (creator of The X-files) when you read this blog, make this episode!  

What I noticed after reading that fan fiction was that I was inspired to write because the TV show got in my head. It made me question our society and inspired me to think differently. The show had changed me.  

Filmmakers that have made me stop and look at the crap I was gobbling up in my life are Alfred Hitchcock, Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Nolan, and Stanley Kubrick. Their films have made me think about the way I see the world and myself. These ideas have stuck with me for days or weeks or even years after watching their films, and that is my hope for my films will do the same. 

I love the idea of getting people to think about their life. I want to stop people in their tracks, whatever they are doing, and remember that part from one of my films.  

People need to think for themselves. Be critical. Make your own decisions, do not just gorge up the fake news that we are constantly fed.  

The more people thinking for themselves, acting against the grain, and being unique makes for a far more interesting society and dinner party conversation.  

And when I wrote this blog, I did this simple exercise. I asked myself the question – why did I want to be a filmmaker? I wrote at the top of a piece of paper “Why did I want to become a filmmaker?” And answered that question. Then I wrote “but why?” and answered that. It got me thinking deep about me.  

I realised I am a creative punk and I want to inspire my audiences to be a creative punk in their own lives.  

What I want you to get out of my art is to stop, think, reflect, question and act on your own life. Do the thing that makes you, You! 

You can do this simple exercise too. Get a blank piece of paper and write yourself a why question? Answer your why. Then write why again. Answer that question. Repeat until you get to the deepest part of your subconscious, then you will have your answer.  

Be unique, be weird, be yourself and be a creative punk.