Tom Gentle

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Writer/Director

AGENT

Christina Pickworth

christina@imaginetalent.co.uk

+44(0)7876 685515

Tom is a Scottish Writer/Director from Glasgow, whose work encompasses fiction, factual and commercial. He is an alumnus of Edinburgh, Reykjavik, Storyfutures and LiM Talent Labs.

His shorts, developed by Screen Scotland, have played at festivals around the world, including RiverRun, Vienna Shorts and Flickerfest. His work has been shortlisted by BFI: NETWORK, the National Film and Television School and Disney. His short film “In the Fall” won Best Scottish Film at Edinburgh Short Film Festival, and was nominated for Best British Film at London Short Film Festival.

Tom is a graduate of the Directors UK Inspire programme, through which he directed 2nd Unit scenes on Amazon Studios’ “The Rig”.

He is currently developing dark comedy feature Double Vision, feature dramas The Tunnel and Present, and TV comedy Reply to All.

IN DEVELOPMENT

PRESENT
(writer/director)
Feature drama. A brother must learn to truly communicate with his autistic sister before he destroys the safety he has built around them.

THE TUNNEL
(writer/director)
Feature drama. A gifted high school footballer’s dream of winning a professional contract and escaping her outdated village is shaken when she meets a local mine worker.

DOUBLE VISION
(writer/director)
Feature comedy. After the trauma of an eye cancer treatment, John begins to see another side of himself. Before he dies, he and himself embark on a road trip around the Scottish Highlands to learn how to really live.

REPLY TO ALL
(writer/director)
TV series. After deliberately calling her boss a C*** but only accidentally sending it to everyone on the staff Zoom, Jess tries in vain to contain the bizarre repercussions as her life falls completely apart.

TELEVISION

THE RIG
(trainee director/2nd unit director)
Amazon Studios TV series. Part of the Directors UK year-long Inspire mentorship programme shadowing Bodyguard/Line of Duty director John Strickland, which led to Tom directing several 2nd Unit scenes.

SHORT FILM

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
(director)
Short film. A yoga teacher must harness her inner turmoil to answer an old acquaintance’s invasive question. Festival run just beginning.

CLOSE
(writer/director)
Short film. When two 30-somethings lock themselves out in the communal stairwell, they’re forced to consider that maybe they aren’t as close as they thought.
Screenings: Glasgow Short Film Festival, Beeston Film Festival, Poppy Jasper Film Festival, Berlin British Shorts, Calgary Underground Film Festival, Aesthetica Film Festival, Dam Short Film Festival, Indy Lincs Film Festival, Mansfield Town Film Festival, Edinburgh Short Film Festival.

PAWSEA (OR: THE MELANCHOLY RUMINATIONS OF A SOLITARY FRENCH BULLDOG
(writer/director)
Short film. Rocky certainly has a lot on his mind – questioning his purpose and attempting to fortify himself against existential angst as he searches for meaning – quite a lot for a French Bulldog to master.
*Official Selection: Flickerfest International Short Film Festival
*Official Selection: Riverrun International Film Festival
*Official Selection: Glasgow Short Film Festival
*Official Selection: Vienna Short Film Festival

IN THE FALL
(writer/director)
A short film based on an original story by the legendary Canadian writer Alistair MacLeod – Faced with the ageing of his faithful workhorse, a man is forced to confront his own mortality and consider a sacrifice to ensure his family’s survival.
*WINNER Best Scottish Film, Edinburgh Short Film Festival
*WINNER Hilton Earl Memorial Prize, Glasgow Short Film Festival
*NOMINATED for Best British Film, London Short Film Festival
*NOMINATED for Golden Egg award, Reykjavik International Film Festival
*Other festival screenings include FIN: Atlantic International Film Festival 2018 (World Premiere), Cromarty Film Festival, Edmonton International Film Festival, Inverness Film Festival.

BLINDSIDED
(writer/director)
Short film. When Will is dumbfounded by (what he thinks is) the worst news imaginable, university friend Rupert is the first person to pick up the phone.
Screened at Glasgow Short Film Festival and Inverness Film Festival.

DOCUMENTARY

UHURU
(director/camera operator)
A 3-month documentary shoot in North-Western Tanzania. Uhuru is not a story; it is a right. A chance for hundreds of thousands of voiceless people in Tanzania to have a platform. Here, a group of people with a variety of impairments reveal the conditions that they experience daily.
Screened at San Francisco International Documentary Film Festival, Zanzibar International Film Festival (World Premiere), Africa in Motion.

COMMERCIALS

BANK OF SCOTLAND
(director)
Series of online commercials for the Bank of Scotland Foundation, advertising the contribution they make to charitable organisations around the country.

BUSINESS GATEWAY
(director)
30 second online commercial, advertising the range of support offered by Business Gateway and their partners.

VOX BLOCK
(director)
30 second online commercial for VOX BLOCK, a zero-screen children’s audiobook reader.

CREDITFIX: VANISHING
(director)
A 30 second dramatic TVC portraying the alientating experience of falling into debt.

STV PLAYER: YOU’RE THE BOSS
(director)
A series of 30 and 20 second comedic adverts for the Scottish broadcaster, promoting the relaunch of their online player.

FAMOUS GROUSE: A WELL DESERVED NIGHTCAP
(director)
60 and 90 second advert for legendary whisky brand.