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About

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As a writer / director of drama, promo & documentary films, I've directed work for brands & organisations such as the V&A, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Collusion Cambridge, King's College London, Desigual & Socialbakers, Finchittida, CFL & Oxfam, University of Cambridge, Kingston Hospital, Clinique, Liberty London, Macmillan Cancer Support, Virgin Active, ARK & The Co-operative Group. This has accompanied a number of self penned short drama films, selected & screened internationally in established film festivals and various ongoing documentaries. I've also collaborated with artist & musician Cosey Fanni Tutti on various film art projects

 

In 1995 I graduated with a 2:1 from a 3 year BA (Hons) degree in Film (FVPA) from University of Westminster. Prior to purely directing in 2008 I cut my teeth on sets of feature films / commercials as a VFX supervisor / compositor credited on over 37 features. Ads & promo work include Glazer's 'Guinness Surfer’ & UNKLE 'Rabbit in your Headlights'.  With a love of music / film soundtracks, I played in live experimental noise bands since 1992 and in 2001-08 I released 3 solo albums as vessel & scored a range of TV  / films before focusing more exclusively on my film writing & directing.

Awards

2009-2011 Official Selection Rushes Soho Shorts - ‘Drop’ & ‘Media Trust Stories’ (as Director/Producer)

2010-2011 Wins 2 IVCA Clarion awards (Advertising & Promotion) - ‘Media Trust Stories’ & ‘We Are ARK...’ (as Director/Producer)

2012 IVCA Clarion Highly Commended (Advertising & Promotion) - ‘The Momentum Journey’ (as Director/Producer)

2000 D&AD Gold & Silver pencils - 'Guinness Surfer' (as VFX Artist)

Contact

Testimonials

'Gavin came to us to make a short film about a complicated group of people working together in this museum.

From the outset, we were impressed by his sensitivity to the different needs and requirements of working within

a museum environment, and his understanding of the intricacies of our coffins research, which he was able to

translate into a series of incredibly high calibre films. He is an absolute pleasure to work with - professional,

reliable and genuinely interested in the subject matter he is filming and we are looking for opportunities to work

further with him in the future. We have no hesitation in recommending him unreservedly.'. (March 2019)

Helen Strudwick
Associate Curator (Egyptian Antiquities)

& Co-Acting Head of Antiquities, The Fitzwilliam Museum

Gavin is a sensitive, creative, amiable but quietly determined film-maker who somehow manages to do everything

single-handedly with grace and great competence. He did excellent work on several films for the Fitzwilliam Museum

when I was executive producer and Gavin did - everything else! I highly recommend him. (March 2019)

Patricia Wheatley, Executive Producer, 2df Arts + Media

‘Our collaboration with Gavin was a harmonious and inspiring journey that not only resulted in a a piece of work

far beyond our expectations, but actually helped us to spear head who we are as a fashion brand, what we want

to achieve and where we are going next! ... His execution was nothing short of impeccable. It is rare to find someone

who embraces a task with such creative ingenuity and flair, we feel privileged that we were able to work with such

a talent... A stunning and beautifully shot fashion campaign, that portrayed our brand in exactly the right light.

We are very much looking forward to future collaborations!’.

Tida & Lisa Finch, Finchittida

'We have recently commissioned Gavin to work on directing three patient centred videos for our Hospital trust.

The films are of a sensitive nature as our patients are going through an emotional cancer journey. Gavin was very

kind, caring and unobtrusive with his filming. He has captured every detail and worked to all the brief that he was set.

Each scene is perfect and the accompanying background music works harmoniously with each topic filmed.

We are extremely pleased with the final productions and are using them not only for advertising our services but also

to help staff to view Cancer care and support in a holistic way. Gavin you are phenomenal- thank you. I would not

think twice about contacting you again for further work.

Archana Sood, Macmillan Information and Support Manager, Kingston Hospital

‘I’ve employed Gavin as a Producer / Director on 7 productions to date. They include short dramas, promos and a

campaigning Ad. Gavin is a joy to work with. He is creative and calm and brings out the best in both the team and

the contributors. I look forward to working with him on future productions.’

Jane Stephenson, Senior Executive Producer, Media Trust Productions

'It has been a complete joy working with Gavin Toomey  who has embraced the culture of the children's fund,

nurturing our beneficiaries, keeping us informed of every step. The result has been everything we could hope for.

The trustees join me in thanking Gavin for producing such professional, moving films to showcase our

work and at a very competitive price.'

Monique Bateman MBE, Director, Royal Navy & Royal Marines Children's Fund 

 

‘The Director, Gavin Toomey, was incredibly professional & working with A-Lister Patrick Stewart did not faze him.

The impact of the film has been phenomenal. In just over 3 weeks we hit 100K+ views, 19K+ unique visitors to the

campaign page & 3K signed the petition. These figures have completely surpassed targets & impressed us all’

Kajal Odedra, Campaigns Officer, Macmillan Cancer Support

Gavin has Directed and Produced a number of films working with us. He has an amazing ability to take a simple

brief and produce something that both connects with the audience on a emotional level and tells the story in

an innovative way. Gavin approaches his work with a huge amount of creativity and produces high quality and

high impact films. We hope we will be working with Gavin for a long time to come!

Katie Lloyd, Creative Media Director & Deputy Chief Executive, Media Trust

 

Advocates for International Development are delighted with the film created on its behalf by Gavin Toomey.

It was produced from start to finish with dedication, flexibility, attention to detail and excellent professionalism.

We have had nothing but compliments from audiences inspired by the film'

Katie Hutt, Executive Officer, A4ID

 

'Momentum were thrilled to work with Gavin Toomey on our most recent fundraising film. He came to us with an

idea which seemed ambitious for our tight budget, but delivered an end result which surpassed our expectations

by far!  Momentum supports children and their families who have cancer and life-limiting conditions and our film

involved several inexperienced interviewees. Gavin dealt with each of them with kindness and sensitivity and

managed to achieve great results. He captured the message of our charity perfectly and we felt that in six minutes

he managed to tell ‘the Momentum story’ perfectly. Not only that, but the film was also creative and clever. 

We screened the new film at our most recent fundraising event and it undoubtedly encouraged supporters to dig

deep with their contributions.  To see a room of several hundred people watching the film in complete silence is a

moving experience in itself. We found Gavin a pleasure to work with and were fully aware that he put many hours

into the film at his own expense.  We couldn’t recommend him more highly.'

Natalie Harvey, Fundraising Team, Momentum

 

'TLC Education Group are delighted with the result not only of the film, which is exactly what we wanted,

but Gavin kept to budget and to a very tight timeline. We can highly recommend Gavin Toomey and we shall

certainly be using him again in the future'

Simon Barnes, CEO, TLC Education Group

 

 

 

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