Punk, writer, director, producer

Richard Jobson first made his name as the singer with Scottish punk band The Skids, scoring a series of hit singles and albums during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. He left the band to concentrate on writing, publishing a series of books which included A Man For All Seasons and 16 Years of Alcohol. His varied TV career included a ten year stint with Sky as their principle film critic. He moved into film production as a producer on Tube Tales for Sky and and as a writer/producer on Heartlands for Miramax.

His directorial debut was an adaptation of his own book 16 years of Alcohol for Tartan Films which picked up best director award at the BIFA’S. He wrote and directed The Purifiers as well as A Woman in Winter before completing his Edinburgh thriller New Town Killers. He worked with Emma Thompson on the sex trafficking docu-drama The Journey which embraces a multi-platform approach. His films Wayland’s Song and The Somnambulists where both filmed in Bedford.

Richard joins TEDxBedford to ask ‘Why Make a film for £50 Million when you can make a better one for £50K?’

The film industry assumes that the bigger the budget the better the film, but his experience shows him that the opposite is true. Micro budgeting requires the director to work hard to find creative solutions to problems, to dig down and uncover existing resources in the location and to discard anything unnecessary for the telling of the story. Micro budget films require the strongest of stories, stories about which the director is passionate about, as when a film is pared back to basics there is nowhere to hide.

In his search for authenticity Richard has found that working with a micro budget, even when big budgets are within reach, is a creative choice that allows him to tell stories that he is passionate about. The technology exists to allow quality films to be made on a shoestring that punch well above their weight and this has implications for others who want to make film.