I work for TrueTube, which is a free online platform making short films for schools about moral, social and religious issues. Alastair was originally employed as a Marketing and Outreach ambassador, which involved writing publicity materials and press releases. He took to his responsibilities with considerable energy and enthusiasm, and I was immediately impressed by his “can-do” attitude. His work in publicising our short drama 'Like Me' helped it to achieve our highest viewing figures ever, and propelled it on to win the Children’s BAFTA for Drama in 2017. His energy and commitment to teamwork helped TrueTube to become the first ever online-only platform to win the Children’s BAFTA for Channel of the Year in 2017. Recognising his creative talent, he was given the opportunity to write and direct a short film, called 'Me, Myselfie and I' for TrueTube in 2018.

When I suggested at a team meeting that we should make a short film about social media addiction for the 13-16 age group, Alastair immediately seized on the idea of a modern re-telling of the Narcissus myth. It was such a strong idea that we were all immediately jealous, and began making our own suggestions; but right from the start, Alastair had a very clear vision of how the story should be brought to life. He took inspiration from shows like 'Black Mirror' and 'Inside No.9' to write a high-concept comedy-horror script with a sting in the tail (or tale…): A young man gets so obsessed with maintaining his online image, he ends up literally trapped inside his phone, held hostage by an evil doppelganger.

'Me, Myselfie and I' premiered on TrueTube in January 2019, and Alastair even took the lead in getting publicity for the film: he followed up contacts he had made while promoting previous TrueTube films, and managed to get a journalist at the Evening Standard interested in writing an article. They also hosted the film on their site. Alastair was invited to appear on Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC show a couple of days later to help discuss the dangers of social media, and was interviewed on BBC World the same day.

'Me, Myselfie and I' has been warmly received by TrueTube’s subscribers, who are mainly teachers looking for content to help them discuss important issues in the classroom.

Beyond TrueTube, Alastair has also written for commissions accepted by TrueTube’s parent company CTVC. He is currently working on an animation project for BBC Teach, who wanted new takes on old Bible stories for primary school children. Alastair showed huge imagination in devising ideas for six stories, taking a pop culture reference for each one. He wrote three of the scripts: Moses was re-invented as a YouTube vlogger describing Top Ten Tips (the Ten Commandments); the story of Esther became an episode of a 'The Only Way is Essex'-style structured reality show; and the events of Pentecost became a found-footage, one-shot film shot on a mobile phone.

Alastair also devised a series of teen-horror shorts called 'FOMO' which received an encouragingly enthusiastic response from E4 commissioners. Each standalone episode of 'FOMO' takes a thorny issue, and twists it into a darkly comic fable to help young people think about their concerns in a new way. A girl with poor self-image paints an ugly self-portrait that comes alive; a boy’s “study drugs” turn his exam anxiety into an actual inner monster trying to break out; A girl’s giant labia (you read that correctly) threaten to overwhelm her because they don’t look like the neat ones she’s seen online…

Alastair clearly has a talent for visual storytelling. As well as his work for TrueTube and CTVC, he has written and shot numerous self-funded short films which exhibit his quirky humour, fearless ambition and skill.

Because Alastair is a filmmaker, his writing shows a keen understanding of the filmmaking process and how his words will translate from script to screen.

Alastair believes in himself. He has a passion for writing and the determination needed to be an enormous success.

Alastair works hard. He doesn’t take any of his talents or his opportunities for granted, but puts in the effort to carefully plan and skilfully craft everything he does. And he is a prolific writer - he doesn’t wait for commissions or competitions - he writes because he loves it, and because he wants to continue getting better.

Bob Ayres