My practice sits at the intersection of social justice and the arts. My work takes various forms, most often for stage or screen - from large-scale ensemble movement pieces, to intimate character-driven films, documentaries and performative direct action. I am deeply invested in co-creation processes that integrate activism with the arts and finding new models for allyship in art-making.
These are a few examples of some of my more recent work.
Writer-Director
Tommy’s work as a writer and director operates in the intersection of art and activism. As a queer, non-binary Jewish person, Tommy’s writing often centres intersectional LGBTQ+ voices, striving to embody a more just world.
Tommy was part of BBC Voices 2024 for up-and-coming screenwriters in TV Drama and their pilot was selected for a further six months of development with a script developer. In 2023 they were selected for the Hot House Development Incubator with BFI, FILM London and BBC Writers for TV and Film that explores the climate crisis. From this, they developed the TV series ‘SWEAT’ with Joana Nastari which was in development with Climate Spring.
Their latest short, ‘Rubinstein’s’ exploring Jewish-Black solidarity through a queer lens is currently post-production with a cast that includes Allan Corduner, Anton Lesser & Rachel Adedeji.
In 2020, ‘We The People’ (commissioned by the Museum of London) about intergenerational activism in Brixton won the Film Future Award at Little Wing Festival which Tommy produced and associate directed alongside Virginia Nimarkho and Fan Sissoko.
In 2023, Tommy was accepted into BAFTA Connect and they are an active member of Trans On Screen. Their practice has received grants from S-H-E-D, Aziz Foundation and they are a multiple recipient of ACE funding including a DYCP grant.
Tommy is an award-winning playwright and theatre director with their plays performed at theatres across the UK including The Bush, Park Theatre, BAC, Paines Plough & Southbank Centre. They have also developed work with The Royal Court, Shoreditch Town Hall and the Young Vic. They received two IdeasTap awards during their time as Artistic Director of theatre company Populace and are an associate director of National Youth Theatre.
Most recently they wrote and directed ‘My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar’ (MUINPE), co-written with Valentina Andrade, Elizabeth Alvarado and Lucy Wray, which had a three week run at Brixton House in 2023 and is published by Bloomsbury. MUINPE was shortlisted for Best Production at OFFIES 2024 and received a One Off Special Award for its impact.
Tommy is also a community organiser and in 2017, Tommy was named one of “the young activists changing politics” (Guardian). For Six Years they were the Creative Director of The Advocacy Academy, where they developed a huge number of film projects, culminating in an online archive for LIFT Festival 2022, focussing on creative activism and allyship. They have written and talked about these issues in various settings including as a regular contributor to Huffington Post, a frequent panellist at film festivals and on BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Moral Maze’.