Adam Deacon Paints the Town Pink with Premiere of Sumotherhood

It’s October 10th 2023, it’s an abnormally warm October evening in Leicester square, London. Standing on the red carpet leading into a hot pink covered Cineworld for the premiere of ‘Sumotherhood’, it’s hard to explain the fulfilling and exciting road of getting here. But let’s give it a go!

The journey to this moment began almost two years ago when Theodore received a script and a few cues from Adam Deacon and producer Finn Bruce. Arnold Hattingh was the music supervisor on Adam’s first directorial debut ‘Anuvahood’, 

What was presented was an independent production with very challenging budget overall, but the monetary factor did not matter. Not only did we get hooked by the plot, but also very quickly blown away by Adam’s own story and his route to finishing this script. 

Adam's story and the overall passion for this project helped with our discussion with the rights holders. Clearing ‘It Ain’t Safe’ by Skepta was a huge milestone which helped pave the way for future negotiations with the remaining cues. 

This track was at the very top of the ‘wish list’ of cues requested by Adam and co-writer and actor Jazzie Zonzolo. 

As well as slowly getting the approvals rolling in from the wish list we had a very collaborative experience with Adam & Jazzie. 

Not only did we help bouncing ideas for some scenes where the guys struggled to find a suitable cue, we also had to be ready for the event where clearance could not take place (enter the budget restrictions).

Here, Theodore utilised its broad experience in music supervision and built playlists with established and emerging artists for these cues as well as big hitters, and after feedback we had locked in some great options.

A favourite placement, a big scene which is a collage of our main characters finally stepping into do some work for local gang leader 'Shotti'. 

We always knew we needed something truly badass here to reflect the sense of accomplishment felt by Riko and Kane in this cue. 

I remember looking at the scene and money changing hands and it reminded me of Stefflon Don's absolute hit 'Move'. We really thought that Stefflon Don added an interesting layer to the scene. 

A lot of similar songs by male vocalists could've made the song choice feel very expected. The song oozes self-confidence and attitude, exactly what was needed for the scene.

We also have the big fight scene, this was a tricky one as it called for something very fast and raw. The original placement track was a classic Motorhead ripper, but it felt very alienated from the general tone we wanted to achieve with the soundtrack. 

David Bass put forward PENGHUi, based on their unique blend of UK rap and punk metal they're making waves underground.  The energy they bring with the impeccable production on ‘Lights Out’ from Pete Cannon really brings this scene to life.  Vulgatron (Foreign Beggars) also brings his unique vocal style and flow to this collaboration.

Looking back to where it started and how it was finalised, we couldn’t be more honoured to have been let in by Adam, Jazzie, Finn, Barry and the full production team to work on this. That they trusted us so well with our knowledge and input. 

We are also very proud of what an incredible soundtrack we ended up with. With everything that’s happening around the world this film is the perfect 1.5 hour escape with room for laughter and culture. There is such impeccable talent, both established and upcoming which really shows what an awesome time we are experiencing within the UK music scene. 

Thanks again to everyone involved. 

Ottilia, Music Supervisor @ Theodore / Wake The Town.