Working a day job in commercial production I've found that despite it being a keen discussion point, there is still very little proactive engagement to develop diverse talent. Not just supporting existing filmmakers, but more importantly looking to create projects and routes into film for people that don't have an initial in. The people that don't even realise it’s a possibility. This film was born out of a frustration that there is too much lip service, and not enough action. I am a volunteer mentor for a UK organisation called ‘Creative Mentor Network.’ It looks to support people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and find them routes into the business. But, as much as I love working with my mentee, I still felt like I could be doing more to create my own opportunities to get him and others practical work experience. I created this project and then reached out to my local community centres. We had 10 young people on set that had never been on a film shoot before, but wanted to get into the industry. All of them were partnered up with an experienced crew member that was lending us their time. The film was self-financed, and all of the young people were paid full rates. I've also invited them onto paid commercial shoots afterwards too. One of them recently won a mentor scholarship with John Boyega’s Converse campaign to find the next crop of young diverse filmmakers. So, if nothing else, it's worth it for that. The idea with the film was to create a pastiche of heist films. To lean somewhat into stereotype and genre conventions, but cleverly subvert the audiences expectations with an ending they hopefully don't see coming. One that is uplifting and positive. We wanted to keep the cinematography slick and polished in the heist section, before hard cutting to a more handheld, looser and more relatable coverage with a brighter colour palette when we switch to the ‘real world.’ Working with excellent actors was key to building subtle character traits and hints as their relationships with one another. Fleshing out those details in two mins is hard, so having these small beats really helped to give it something extra. We tried to be smart with the writing, so that all of the dialogue would have a double meaning. And, should you watch it again, you'd pick up more of the hints to their real ‘heist’ destination on a second viewing. We had to make it clear enough for the football references to land a second time around to anyone not into football, but not so obvious as to telegraph them on first viewing to those that are. So, that definitely felt like a balancing act. Overall, I am really proud of what we achieved, and so happy to be working with exciting and creative young people.

Neil Linpow is an award winning writer, director and actor. In 2020, he wrote, directed, produced and starred in his first short film, ‘Time.’ The film premiered at the BAFTA qualifying 39th Cambridge Film Festival and was an Official selection at the OSCAR qualifying LA Shorts Film Festival. It also received Kinsale Shark nominations for Best film and best acting performance, and won best film at the Discover Film Festival as well as awards across a number of other festivals. In 2021, Neil released his follow up short film ‘Lesson 7.’ It was selected at multiple BAFTA and Oscar-qualifying film festivals, including Aesthetica Film festival and Rhode Island Flickers Film Festival, as well as making the 1.4 long list for short film. Again, Neil directed, co-wrote, produced and starred. In February 2022, Neil's first feature screenplay was produced by Warner Bros and Tea Shop films. It was directed by Matthias Hoene (Cockneys vs Zombies, Warriors Gate) and stars Joely Richardson (Nip Tuck, Colour out of Space, Event Horizon), and Linpow himself. Neil’s passion for filmmaking at all levels has led him to working across a number of youth organisations to introduce filmmaking opportunities to local communities. He is also a mentor for the Creative Mentor Network, an organisation that strives to make the creative world more inclusive.