New Talent: Good Boy Wolf

Directing duo Good Boy Wolf label themselves as brave, gritty, powerful and eyebrow-raising. And when you watch their work it’s tough to disagree. Having recently signed to London-based Bigballs Films, the pair have released a self-generated, poignant and potentially controversial film on the conflict in Gaza that adds to a reel of short films, documentaries and music videos that are as intense and personal as eye contact. LBB’s Laura Swinton found out more. 

LBB> Who are Good Boy Wolf?

GBW> Good Boy Wolf are a brave, young, award-winning directing duo that strike chords worldwide with their work. Focusing a lot on gritty hard-hitting concepts with a mix of commercial content, Good Boy Wolf will raise eyebrows. 

LBB> How did you meet and why do you work together? 

GBW> We met professionally four years ago. Nick started as an editor and Chris commissioned him to do an edit. From day one we had a laugh. We took work seriously but made sure it was a pleasure, not a chore. 

We became very close friends and that’s one of the reasons we decided to form Good Boy Wolf. With both us having skills aside from directing - Nick as an editor and Chris a photographer - everything just clicked and made sense. As a directing duo, using our outside skills makes us different and unique in style and content.

LBB> How would you label your style?

GBW> Our style is powerful. Whether it be a gritty, hard-hitting short film/documentary, or a smooth filmic commercial. From KID to SILK.

LBB> What was the moment that made you think 'we need to make a film about Gaza'?

GBW> As directors absorb everything around us constantly and will always react to something that is potentially hard-hitting. 

Seeing what was happening in Gaza, we wanted to use our skills as directors to do as much as we could. We knew we had to shoot quickly and get the message out of the door the next day. To stand out against all the other stuff we see on a daily basis it had to be controversial, but contain a powerful message. 

The issue in Gaza is an absolute disgrace and it makes us realise how easy our life is here, and how hard life can be for others.

LBB> Were you at all nervous about making a film about such an emotive subject and using such potentially controversial imagery?

GBW> Because of the type of directors we are and the messages we want to shout about, we rarely worry about consequences as long as we are united in why we are doing this.

For something as important as an anti war message it needed to be controversial, it needed to raise eyebrows and it needed to have a love-hate feel about it. We want people to share #gazastrip to highlight the troubles but also to showcase how controversial you have to go to get a message out there. 

LBB> How did you cast the actress?

GBW> We quite simply held a casting for it, just like we would with a commercial. The one difference was that the cast person purely wanted to do it to raise awareness of the war, and not for a portfolio gain. The girl we cast actually has friends who live in Palestine, so she knows how real this all is. 

LBB> Where did you shoot and what were the main production challenges you faced?

GBW> We shot this under the North Circular, funnily enough. Nowhere near as destructive as Gaza, but for the quick turnaround and the backdrop it worked as well as we could achieve. 

We shot very early on Sunday morning to avoid any people walking by and to make the actress as comfortable as one can be, naked under a very busy road in London. 

Timings had to be quick. Very quick. So we shot, edited and mastered within six hours so we could get this out of the door and the message spread as quick as possible.