I was born in….
Fazakerly, Liverpool and was once asked by a US immigration official at JFK whether that was in Iran.
I now live in…
Homerton, East London. On the doorstep of the glorious Hackney Marshes.
But if I could live anywhere, it would be…
By the sea, doesn't matter what the weather is like, as long as there is a horizon and waves.
Right now, I’m binge-watching…
The Queen's Gambit, it's electrifying, especially Anna Taylor Joy's performance.
The last track I listened to was…
Miles Davis, so much Miles Davis in lockdown.
I dream about…
Waking up on the other side of all of this, and realising what is truly important.
The app I couldn’t survive without is…
Instagram. Sadly. Not the right answer but I still find so many pathways to different worlds.
Social media is…
going through a reckoning right now and I've been re-evaluating my relationship with it. It's disturbing how much of a bubble I have come to live in. Someone recently told me we needed 'anti-cookies', a way of breaking the algorithm. I've started checking Fox News in the morning to offset my addiction to the Guardian and the New Yorker.
When we can travel again, I’ll be heading to…
Arles in France for the Photo Festival. My wife and I haven't missed it in years. It's always so intoxicating and inspiring, set in the fierce heat of a Provencal summer.
The most important lesson I’ve learned in 2020…
Count your blessings. This has been a brutally uneven pandemic and recession and people are struggling everywhere.
The best/worst thing about lockdown was…
The best thing was spending time at home, finding inspiration in your own environment and reconnecting and rediscovering the miles of footpaths that run through the Marshes all the way up to Hertfordshire, the worst thing was missing the birth of my brother's daughter Esther in Vancouver. She is 5 months old now and we are yet to meet, which hurts my heart.
What the film industry needs is…
New voices, new points of view, new worlds. Film and commercials have been a mono-culture for too long and do not represent the world we live in. I don't think anyone would claim that has benefitted us creatively.
What I wish I’d known when I was starting my career…
You don't need to worry about the things you are bad at, you need to double down on the things you are already good at. The rest will take care of itself.
The best advice I’ve ever been given…
Every decision is the right decision, if you were free to make it yourself.
The film I wish I’d made…
Three Colours Blue. I will never get over that as a piece of filmmaking.
My biggest inspiration is…
My mother. Stage four bowel cancer survivor, living in pain with a smile on her face. She is the biggest source of strength for me, my brother and sisters.
The person I would canonise is…
would have to be Marcus Rashford this week. He is making a difference to thousands of futures.
If I wasn’t working in advertising,... I’d happily be…
a photo-journalist and disappear into a story for six months. There is something so appealing about the singularity of that.
My last meal would be…
I don't eat meat anymore, but it would be every main course at Bocca di Lupo on Archer Street.
My life philosophy in three words…
You are here.
