The project was conceived, written, directed and edited by David. Initially with a micro crew, just David, his DOP and a runner, then once lockdown started just David by himself.

Here’s the full story in his own words.

I had just finished editing my feature doc, Yoghurt Utopia, about a successful yoghurt brand and social enterprise in Spain that works with the mentally ill, when I read an article in The Guardian, profiling the Beyond Food Foundation and its Michelin-starred chef founder, Simon Boyle.

Beyond Food is also a social enterprise. It uses food and the hospitality industry to provide a route back into employment for people with a history of homelessness. Ranging from beginner courses in nutrition, healthy eating and basic kitchen skills to full-time apprenticeships in Brigade, their Tooley Street restaurant, Beyond Food works with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in society.

Naturally, I wanted to make a film about them - the reflex response of any director faced with a good story - so I reached out to Simon and he invited me over to see their set-up and meet some of the apprentices.

From there, we settled upon a series of short films, each telling the story of the apprentice’s journey, showing the hard graft and the rewards to be gained from signing up. They were to inspire applicants and encourage people more fortunate to dip their hands in their pockets and donate.

I wrote the scripts and we started shooting soon after - days here and there, in the kitchen and out and about. We were chipping away at it.

Then came the Covid-19 crisis and the Lockdown. And everything stopped.

Beyond Food, Brigade Bar & Kitchen, the courses, the apprenticeships, the entire hospitality industry. It. All. Stopped.

Simon thought he might have to shutter the business. It was touch and go right up until the furlough scheme was announced and bought him some time. Time to make like a virus - and mutate.

Then he brought me up to speed. They had to close the restaurant and the office but he wasn’t going to abandon the apprentices and the other beneficiaries. He was going to set up a crisis helpline and a remote network of volunteer counselors, therapists, debt specialists, and housing and benefits advisors, available via Zoom or over the phone. And he was going to devise a new programme for people in the hospitality industry laid off or furloughed who may need to re-skill and re-train.

And he needed the films finished because he had to get the word out - and funds in - fast.

And so, the production had to mutate too. Sequences were dropped, others were added - I was now shooting as a socially distant one-man band and recording the apprentices’ voiceovers in radio mic-ed, masked sessions near their places of residence. All the equipment had to fit in one rucksack and the crew had to fit on one bicycle.

No matter. I’m extremely proud of the films and the good that they’ll do. The hospitality industry is one of the very few left where you can start at the bottom washing dishes and rise to the top, with your name and Michelin star above the door. As such, it’s been a much-needed second chance for many. Covid-19 is a disaster for the industry and we all have to do whatever we can to ensure there’s somewhere left to go and get drunk when this is all over.

DB

Beyond Food Foundation - Beyond Covid

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