ABOUT
BIO
Chris Brake is an award-winning writer / director, BFI NETWORK alumni, and a graduate (with distinction) from the London Film School. With a body of work that mixes puppetry, practical effects and live-action, his films frequently focus on stories of outsiders who are pushed to the fringe of their own lives, and their struggles to develop meaningful connections.
His first short film using puppetry, Scraps, premiered exclusively on VERO where it was named ‘Editor’s Pick’, before going on screen at the BIFA qualifying ‘The Shortest Nights’ Film Festival. His follow-up short, Cactus Boy, starring Colin Ford (We Bought a Zoo, Under the Dome) and Georgie Flores (Prison Break) also screened there and went on to win several awards in multiple festivals, as well as becoming a Finalist at the Oscar® qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, and premiering online as part of VERO’s ‘Screening Room’ series. He followe this up with the award-winning Canned Laughter, supported by BFI NETWORK and the National Lottery, which was selected for several BIFA-qualifying festivals.
His most recent film, Finding Calm ,marks Chris’s first collaboration with BAFTA nominated Toby-Alexander Smith, who wrote and produced the film.
“Awesome. So good.”
Zack Snyder
/
Director (Justice League, Watchmen)
“Very accomplished! I can see some tendrils sprouting from my own work.”
Joe Dante
/
Director (Gremlins, The Burbs)
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
The night my Dad came home with our first family camcorder was a revelation.
I barely remember it being brought out for special occasions or holidays, but what I do remember is how often I commandeered it to shoot something with my friends or my toys.
Fast-forward a couple of decades and I haven’t really grown up…
Throughout most of my films I’ve explored an interest in puppetry and practical effects to support my stories of fringe figures and outsiders who project their neuroses onto inanimate objects. Their internal lives become writ large upon the things that matter to them most.
So here I am; still telling stories and still shooting things with my friends (albeit with slightly bigger toys). But if you follow the thread through all of my films, they all lead back to a boy in the suburbs, running around with a handycam.
Thanks Dad.