Seeking out the stories
embedded within all of us.
Hi, I’m Jonny, a Cumbrian freelance filmmaker and community arts practitioner. My creative practice aims to sensitively reflect the authentic stories of people and places. Much of my work is rooted in facilitating and documenting community arts projects and celebrating ordinary lives. I’m a self-taught filmmaker who shoots and edits short documentaries, promotional trailers, animations, music videos and moving image installations. I also deliver participatory workshops in filmmaking, stop-motion animation, theatre and improvisation.
One of my core convictions is a belief in the value of creative play and how participatory arts can offer a platform of expression for voices to be heard. I’m fascinated by the stories that we tell ourselves, personally and culturally, and how those narratives shape our individual and collective identities.
Also, I collaborate with the Dark Mountain Project as a film editor: curating screening events and facilitating conversations about how the medium of film can respond to the ecological, political and cultural crises of our turbulent times. You can read more about my work with Dark Mountain here.
I’m also a member of the Climate Cultures collective: a global network of artists, curators and researchers offering creative conversations for the Anthropocene.
I love making new connections with people and organisations and then cultivating those relationships as we explore new creative paths together.
Some of my recent projects have been with BBC Arts, BarrowFull, and the poet Em Strang.
Take a look around my website and get in touch if you have a project that you’re interested in collaborating on!
Here are some kind things people have said about me:
“I have had the pleasure of collaborating with Jonny regularly over the last 10 years. Beyond his exceptional technical skills and visual flair, Jonny's professional integrity is beyond compare. Jonny brings a gentle energy to film shoots which makes even the most camera-shy comfortable. When producing documentation of creative projects or documentaries, this results in highly engaging films which always provoke fascinating conversations.”
— Leo Burtin, Making Room Artist
“Jonny was a delight to work with in all aspects, from reliability, quality of presentation skills, insightful on the issue of my Project and, of course, brilliant film work. We will certainly keep in touch and engage him again in our work with no hesitation.”
— Jack Ellerby, Dark Skies Cumbria Project Officer, Friends of the Lake District
“One of the great things about working with Jonny is his wonderful atunement to movement: he is sensitive to the dynamics of the performance yet is able to capture the choreography on film in such a way that gives it a very different life to the live work. In addition, he collaborates wonderfully with the team on site - the dancers, sound designers, choreographers - to help create a film that is an artwork in itself. Having Jonny as part of the team always makes for a joyful, explorative and calm experience: the North-West are lucky to count him as their own.”
— Ellen Jeffrey, Independent Dance Artist
“I've been lucky enough to work with Jonny on a broad range of arts, heritage and culture projects and the experience was never less than wholly successful, rewarding and, just as importantly, highly enjoyable.
Jonny is a thorough professional at whatever he turns his hand to - film, documentary, community arts, editing, participation, creative facilitation - and his across the board expertise is exceptional. Great ideas man, great listener and great collaborator.”
— George Harris, Producer at Mirador Arts
“I’ve experienced Jonny’s work both as a film maker and a facilitator and his creativity, compassion and sensitivity shine through in everything he does. Jonny sees, captures and conveys things beautifully. He is also an utterly lovely person to work with”.
— Jenny Natusch, Escape2Make
“Jonny has worked with us at Manchester Jewish Museum on our food related projects over the past year and was an invaluable member of the team. He guided our community participants through the film shoots in their homes with humour and reassurance. They all completely warmed to him, and wanted to tell him their personal histories and relationships to particular dishes that were meaningful to their identities. Of course they wanted to feed him too! The resulting films were sensitive, moving and placed the community centre stage. We really look forward to continuing our relationship with him.”
— Dr Laura Seddon, Creative Producer (Adults), Manchester Jewish Museum
“I choose to work with Jonny for a wide range of films, he is a fantastic film maker who is equally as skilled in documentary style work and artistic films. His work always exceeds the targets of any brief and he is a great communicator whilst editing and working collaboratively. I feel Jonny invests not only in the filming and editing process but also in the content of the work, through continuous discussion, which leads to highly impactful films often with a powerful message.”
— Jenny Reeves, AboutTime Dance Company
“We've worked with Jonny over a number of years on a diverse range of projects. We have consistently been impressed by the quality of his work and enjoy collaborating together on artistic commissions. He is a talented filmmaker who is exceptionally skilled at capturing the impact of community arts projects whilst also bringing an artistically rich experience that is expertly crafted for the audience.”
— Helen Gould, LPM Dance Director