When the St Leger commission came up, I applied for it. Then I got it. And somewhere between those two things it dawned on me that I didn’t know the first thing about horse racing.

I’ve lived in and around Doncaster most of my life. I knew the St Leger was on, the way you know the weather’s on. Oldest Classic in the world, run on the Town Moor since 1776, the town fills up for a week every September. Beyond that, nothing.

Nearly 20 years in, and I’m still figuring out how this industry works. That’s not a complaint. It’s just the reality of being independent — there’s no HR department, no clear career ladder, no one tapping you on the shoulder telling you what comes next. You work it out as you go.

I work across feature documentaries, narrative features, short films, and videography. Some days I’m developing a six-month commission around a community story. Other days I’m shooting corporate content or an event. The camera changes. The crew size shifts. The budget breathes differently. But the question that keeps coming up—usually from potential clients or people curious about what I actually do—is this: am I a filmmaker or a videographer?