tower block dreams ep1 - spittin’ and shottin’

Thanks for taking such an interest in TBD, a series I produced and directed eighteen years ago. Interest has grown significantly of late, so here’s a brief summary of how it was made: A friend and I started Raw TV in ’01 and we were looking for ideas. I was held up at gunpoint for my motorcycle, which sparked an interest in the lives of young people growing up in touching distance, but with a very different set of values and culture. You can’t gain access to that world through the front door, so agreed that musical ambition was the better route. There was a Garage and emerging Grime scene bubbling away in London. The BBC commissioned a pilot. I filmed some young promoters putting on a Heartless Crew gig. Heartless turned up three hours late and the crowd nearly lynched the promoters. It was strong stuff. We got the green light for a three hour series. I directed two of the episodes and the lovely and talented Adam Smith made the middle film, which did indeed inspire ‘people just do not