As a working-class filmmaker from Wishaw, a small, post-industrial town outside of Glasgow, I’ve spent my life navigating the confined, concrete landscapes that surround me, and I’ve found much of my creative voice within the gritty, often harsh realities of my community. The films I’ve created are deeply rooted in this environment, focusing on the lives of people within my hometown, particularly in Gowkthrapple housing estate—an area notorious for high-levels of depravation and violence—the place I was born and where generations of my family have lived. It’s an environment that has shaped me, and I feel a deep responsibility to capture and define my patch as authentically as possible through my work. The three films I’ve provided as examples of my work were all shot and set in this area.
 

That said, this residency represents an extraordinary opportunity to push beyond the small, constraining world I’ve known. The North Atlantic Islands Residency offers a rare chance to step outside the boundaries of my town and engage with the vast, open spaces of the sea—an environment I’ve long been fascinated by. Growing up, my heroes were Jack London, Joseph Conrad, and Jack Kerouac—three writers whose works were not only defined by adventure but by the vastness of the sea, a theme that reverberates deeply within me. Their affinity for the ocean as a site of challenge, exploration, and self-
discovery has greatly influenced my own approach to storytelling, and this residency would allow me to channel that inspiration into my filmmaking practice.