ADNAN
DOROTHY’S THEORY
DIRECTOR
I work in a directing partnership with my good bud Mark Arrigo and together we are the imaginatively titled duo ‘Arrigo Chatterton’.
The great benefit of having a directing partner is it allows us to focus on our strengths which derive from our differing backgrounds: my experience of narrative and acting means I can work closely with the actors while Mark is a strong visual storyteller with a background in cinematography and photography.
Together, we’re up for filmmaking with purpose. Making films for social good that will benefit everyone watching and everyone taking part. I’m very proud of what Mark & I achieved with our short film ‘Adnan’ which has not only raised awareness and money (£28K and counting) for awesome charity ‘CHOOSE LOVE’ but it also engaged a wonderful little boy and his family in a welcoming, creative project just a few years after they had to flee their home in war-torn Syria.
(On set of ‘Adnan’)
I consider myself very much ‘an actor’s director’ having earned my chops working as a stand-in on some major Hollywood movies.
I got my first whiff as Sacha Baron-Cohen’s stand-in on Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’ which allowed me to experience first hand how the legendary director worked with actors. My next big project was working on Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and the contrast between these two directors was a remarkable education for me. I didn’t even realise it at the time but it was an on-the-job directing school happening before my eyes… and I was getting paid.
Weaving a story through the emotional vessel of actors is an arcane alchemy and still something I intuitively feel more than I conceptually understand. One thing is for sure - I never stop learning, and I never will. I’ve gained incredible insight from esteemed acting coaches Miranda Harcourt and Barry Primus to name but a few and I love applying those learnings in the work I do with the other big teachers in my life - every actor I work with.
Mark and I are now working on our first feature film which is of course going to take the world by storm.