Why direct Minus 1?

Minus 1 is the story of Vicky, a 16 year old girl living in the slums of the inner city, and her struggle with drug abuse at the hands of her abusive mother and her manipulative drug dealer. Forced into a life of prostitution and crime to satisfy an addiction brought upon her by her mother's own selfish needs, Vicky must try to overcome the need for her Fix before it is too late. But will it work?

When Conor first submitted the script to me in its original format, I saw beyond the rhymes of its dialogue to a more important and sinister issue at hand. I knew that many a film had previously tried to tackle the issue of teenage drug abuse and domestic violence but that none of the ones I’d seen had endeavoured to put it in such dark, controversial light that had potential to be artistic as well as informative.

The use of animation in trying to get Minus I’s message across, as well as the use of complicated audio postproduction, is a nod to the work of several artists and directors who have had an influence on my work, notably artist Holly Warburton, photographer Anton Corbijn, and director Stanley Kubrick, particularly the latter’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I hope to be able to shed both light and tears upon the subject of teenage drug abuse and domestic violence for the sake of our society’s future heirs.