Bio
I am a fight director and combat teacher, for both screen and stage. I believe that good action is informed by character and story and that a fight should progress the narrative of both. I look to make movement that is specific to these aspects, to ensure the fight seamlessly fits into the world of each project.
Dramatic violence is one of the most impactful and universal methods of story telling in my opinion. Each scene portrays high stakes and emotions. They are almost always showing someone at their worst, at their weakest, and that is an incredibly rewarding thing to explore and create.
I fell in love with dramatic combat as it combined my two passions: sports and acting. It then led to me East 15, and their BA Acting & Stage Combat degree where I gained invaluable skills and methods of creating fake violence. Since graduating, I've gone on to fight direct numerous projects, lead my own combat workshops, and assist multiple BADC teachers at drama schools and universities.
As a trained actor, I have a shared language with other performers. This means I can direct and coach them in physical sequences more accessibly and efficiently, and aid them with their character development and their vocal and physical skills to ensure they can perform the violence believably and repeatedly.
Training
East 15 Drama School | 1st Class Honours | BA Acting & Stage Combat (2019-2022)
WEAPONS:
Rapier and dagger, long sword, quarter staff, sword and shield, case of rapiers, rapier and buckler, knife, 18th century small sword, spear, axes, axe and shield, military sabre, theatrical firearms (air-soft and blanks), found weapons, unarmed
Also trained in Tae kwon Do, Kali and Aikido
Enhanced DBS Certified | Equity Member | UK Driving License
RECENT WORK
The intimacy coordinator
THIMBLE FILMS
Kate is an intimacy coordinator with a secret she can no longer keep buried. Behind her calm professionalism and careful boundary setting lies a growing compulsion that threatens to unravel everything she’s built. As her world starts to crumble, Kate must face the truth about herself before her secret destroys both her career and her relationships. Though she attends recovery meetings and tries to stay in control, her private struggles are intensifying
Exploring how unaddressed inner turmoil can quietly consume a life and those it touches
Features an attack with a brick, I worked closely with the make up team so that the special effects could happen in camera to create a haunting end to this film
DROWNING
CUT & ROLL FILMS
When your past just won't let you breathe...
Written and starring Rebecca Baker. Based on her personal experiences, Baker plays nurse Elle who battles her unravelling mind as she fights for her patients in a broken system. When tragedy and systematic failure collide, her grip on reality fractures, forcing her to confront her past
Made in partnership with the charity PTSD UK to demonstrate the constant struggle survivors endure to stay afloat amid the stresses of everyday life
Features a hallucination cutting between a father drowning his young daughter and another character called Mia. I worked closely with the young actresses to ensure that they were comfortable with the actions of the scene, and building parameters for the struggling, so there was space to play with it whilst keeping the safety signals clear
TAKE THE FALL
BLACK PRINT PRODUCTIONS
Jason is on the run after going against the rules of the special forces. Sam, his prodigy must track him down and confront him... Only to discover that there is more to play that the HQ let on
Multiple fight scenes featuring unarmed combat, knife, and theatrical firearms- including a large shoot out sequence.
As well as the main cast we also had a group
of SPACT performers.
Environment floor plans and pre-vis recordings
were crucial to the smooth running of
this production
THE INTERPRETER
BASTET PRODUCTIONS
Based on the true experiences of Yasmine Alice, this film follows Belma (played by Alice), a Turkish interpreter who starts a job in the NHS. On her first day, she's thrown into the deep end when she works in a psychiatric hospital. There she interprets for a patient with schizophrenia and has to tell a man his wife is dying of Alzheimer's
Features nurses restraining a patient (Eda Catalcam, pictured below)
This film has been selected at many British festivals, including BIFA and at multiple American Festivals too
SCRUB ME DADDY
A SUPER 8 FILM | Created by Robyn Faye
Selected as one of the Top 25 in Straight 8's 25th anniversary film festival, it was screened at the BFI IMAX in London
One chance, one take, with no play back and no editing allowed. With this in mind, meticulous rehearsals were required to best prepare the actors and crew. Each shot had a strict duration time that we had to meet
This film follows an obsessed fan, a 'Scrub Daddy' sponge, and a puppet show, all resulting in a fight scene... on a narrow boat
Features a knife attack
As well as winning many awards Scrub also screened across the world, in Paris, Lisbon and New York
THE COURTYARD
THE JUNGLE BOOK | YOUTH THEATRE PERFORMANCE
The production used two casts, the choreography had to be similar enough to coincide with the composed music whilst allowing for cast adaptations
The show featured a large group fight scene as well as a duel featuring knife and spear. The stage was an elaborate jungle gym with hanging vines which provided a lot to play with
The cast were aged 7-14, and 18 of them were used in the group fight. The fight needed to be simple but affective, and allow for their animalistic characterisation to shine through
ANIMAL FARM | SENIOR YOUTH THEATRE PERFORMANCE
The cast were aged 16-21 and didn't want to hold back on the violence for this production. There were two main group fights- a 14 vs 1 scene with all animals vs Mr Jones, and then a 14 vs 3 scene of 3 armed farmers vs the animals
We played with different paces to highlight the important beats, and explored ways to perform stage combat when being animals
As the cast are mature, I gave them some creative freedom with the moves and then we worked collaboratively to shape it into the final choreography
STAGE COMBAT WORKSHOPS
LOGISTICS:
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Length: 2 hours minimum
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Number of participants: 20 maximum
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Cost: £40 an hour + travel expenses
(Note that a 1 hour workshop will be charged as 2 hours, as that is my minimum workshop length)
need inspiration?
I can do workshops in:
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Unarmed or armed combat (would incur additional weapon hire costs), or ‘found weapons’ fighting (pans, books, cushions...)
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Have a show coming up? I can do show specific fight scenes, character and dialogue work, general physicality work.
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Shakespeare specific: from recreating fights scenes using the original scripts, and styles of the time periods, as well as aiding in the understanding and performing of dialogue.
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We can experiment with scrappy fights or clean, martial fights. Comedic or dark, fantasy or realistic.
In short, I can adapt and work around whatever you need or would like to cover
other ventures:
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Stage Combat instructor and Fight Director at Camden Girls School
