Meet the core team, the collaborators we regularly work with, and the people behind Red Boots Productions.
Jake oversees the day-to-day business strategy of Red Boots, including finances, scheduling, task management and client outreach. On productions he works primarily as a producer and assistant director, managing crew, contributors, locations, transport and the practical requirements needed to keep a shoot moving.
Felix oversees project quality, scope, deadlines and client communication. On set he works primarily in directing and interviewing, taking responsibility for the overall creative vision of a project while working closely with the camera department on lighting, equipment and visual consistency. He also works as a second camera operator when required.
Matthew develops the creative approach behind Red Boots projects, from finding stories and potential clients through to deciding the scope and visual direction of a production. On set he works primarily as a camera operator and cinematographer, shaping the look and feel of each project and carrying that visual approach through post-production and colour.
Cian manages Red Boots' outreach, social media, website and distribution planning, working with clients and collaborators to develop how finished projects are presented and released. On productions he works primarily in sound, overseeing location recording and carrying audio through into post-production and sound design.
Red Boots Productions is an independent British production company founded by Jake Whitehead, Felix Massouras, Matthew Lythgoe and Cian Thompson. We began as a creative collective in April 2024 and officially registered as a company in April 2026. Based across Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, our work spans documentary, commercial film, event coverage and original narrative projects.
Our approach is documentary-led: find the real story, build around authentic people and use cinematic visuals and sound to make work that feels considered rather than staged. Alongside commissioned work, we are developing our own documentaries and short films as we continue to grow within independent British film.
The four founders form the core Red Boots team, but we regularly work with trusted freelance collaborators who become part of the crew across documentary, narrative and client productions.
Ewan is a writer and location sound recordist with a particular interest in character-led storytelling and social realism. His writing focuses heavily on dialogue and character worldviews, while his sound work centres on capturing clean, isolated location audio across a range of shooting environments.
As a regular Red Boots collaborator, Ewan works closely with Cian Thompson as part of the Red Boots sound crew, with the pair regularly covering location sound across documentary and narrative productions. His Red Boots credits include The Scary Guy as Sound Mixer, On The Right Tracks as Interview Sound Mixer, and Mrs and Mr as Boom Operator and BTS Photographer.
Alongside sound recording, Ewan develops his own narrative work, including Birthday Boy, and is building his freelance practice around bringing a professional location-sound workflow to independent and micro-budget productions.
Guillermo is a Spanish director interested in telling naturalistic stories through film. His work explores ordinary people facing life-changing situations and the effect those moments can have on relationships, family dynamics and decision-making.
He is drawn to directing because it brings together almost every form of art — music, writing, performance, costume design and more — into a single form of storytelling. Influenced by filmmakers including Pedro Almodóvar, Noah Baumbach, Carla Simón and Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo aims to balance entertainment with artistic expression while continuing to explore new approaches to storytelling.
Guillermo is a regular Red Boots collaborator, working with the team both as a director and as crew across a number of productions. He directed After Francis and continues to work with Red Boots across other shoots when additional crew support is required.
Ryan is an aspiring filmmaker with a passion for sound, both on set and in post-production. He takes pride in creating expressive soundscapes that bring stories and their worlds to life.
Alongside his sound work, Ryan is skilled in stop-motion animation, bringing stories to life frame by frame through careful, hands-on visual storytelling.
Brandon is a Watford-based cinematographer who grew up in London, where he studied film. His approach combines naturalistic visuals with a heightened sense of reality, always looking for inventive ways to bring stories to the screen.
His work spans commercials, short films and music promos, bringing a thoughtful and distinctive visual style to each production.
Henry is a cinematographer and videographer based in Staffordshire and a regular Red Boots collaborator. His distinctive visual approach has helped shape some of our most powerful documentaries.
Working closely with artists and people with stories to tell, Henry creates documentary portraits that feel like extensions of their subjects’ own expression rather than conventional corporate profiles.
Joe is a documentary filmmaker and multidisciplinary practitioner drawn to people with a genuine passion for their craft. He believes documentaries should intrigue, inform and inspire while giving contributors the space to express themselves in their own words.
His approach values authenticity over manipulation, with considered pacing that reflects each subject’s personality and allows an audience to connect with the person behind the story.
Tatum is a filmmaker and frequent Red Boots Productions collaborator based in Somerset, specialising in photography, makeup FX, art direction and design for our fiction projects.
Across productions, Tatum helps shape the look of characters and scenes, bringing creative detail and practical craft to the visual storytelling.
We are always interested in meeting filmmakers and crew who may be a good fit for future Red Boots productions. Tell us what you do, where your experience sits and the kind of work you are interested in.
info@redbootsproductions.co.uk ↗