Director Mike Christie’s plan for the finale to Concrete Circus was to bring all of the athletes together at one location. One of my first tasks as Researcher on the programme was to start coming up with ideas and investigating the possibilities. The brief from Mike was at first fairly loose as the idea was in its infancy: one location, somewhere in the UK, great for parkour/urban trials/skateboarding/bmx, must look stunning. And then Mike suggested that a theatre might work for what he envisioned. Now we were onto something.

I visited 4 or 5 possibilities around the UK, all of which fulfilled some but not all of the criteria. And then, having made a few phone calls and sent a few emails, my appointment to visit The Barbican and propose our idea came up. It ticked every single box.

Approaching such organisations can be tricky; you want to inspire but not scare, intrigue but not appear reckless. The Barbican is a very well established and widely regarded institution, has a schedule packed with countless events and features distinctive and historically significant architecture. Having worked on Jump Britain I was accustomed to being turned down because our plans didn’t fit with the plans, principles and persona of a particular building and its owners. I knew that The Barbican could easily say no and I could completely understand if they’d had reservations.

I let myself get excited when the initial response was positive. More visits. More recce photographs. A more detailed proposal document drawn up. More meetings, this time with Mike and our line producer Rachel Naughton leading discussions. Suddenly dates were pencilled.

Mike’s plan was ambitious. We were to film 20 short action sequences in one day and all on an incredibly tight budget. Canon 5D was the weapon of choice. I coordinated the second of two units, assisting director Ramy Elgamal (2nd unit director) and working primarily with Keelan and Kilian, moving from spot to spot and dodging the rain showers.

Towards the end of the afternoon, the two units converged on The Barbican’s main stage, bringing all of the athletes together. For the first time I had chance to grab a few snaps on my G12 and inevitably I wish that I’d been able to take more photographs over the course of the day.

My involvement with the filming at The Barbican is possibly my proudest contribution to this amazing documentary. It is with great pride that I express my thanks to all of my colleagues at Renegade Pictures, to Mike Christie, and of course to The Barbican for giving us the opportunity to create something truly special.

Edit: The final piece -