JOEY KNOX IN LONDON

Making the call the move to London.

In Melbourne, I reached a point where I think I thought “this is the dream”. Forever, I wanted to do a TV ad and that was my goal. Then I started getting them,  and doing more and more of them. Then the budgets get bigger and you’re like, “cool, now I’ve got a grip on –  I’ve never had a grip before.” Then you’re like, “wow, I’m doing dolly shots.” I was so grateful for every part of it and I honestly was at a place that I thought this would be the best part. Kind of like, “this is it, I’ve done it.”

But then I think I’ve reached a point maybe last year, or the year before, where a lot of the stuff I was making, I didn’t feel like it was really me. I was spending most of the year working on ads, which was awesome. I was making money and I had all the toys out and it was comfortable. I could rock up and have a big team and pull all the big lights out. But then I think honestly I kind of started missing the gorilla stuff and missing the stuff where I had a bit more freedom.

I think going through the process of making ads a lot, you sort of realise that there’s a lot of other people that have their say on them, and you kind of go through the process of hearing this brief that comes in and thinking “it’s going to be amazing”. But then sometimes it gets clawed away so much and at the end it’s this whole other thing. I realised I hadn’t done anything that I loved in a year or something and then I’m thinking,”fuck, I wonder what else is outside of this world. I wonder what else is out there.”

Maybe I could just make music videos and survive off that, or make stuff that I love, even if it’s a tiny budget?  That’s exciting for me. So I started looking at other parts of the world and how that would be.

Definitely lifestyle was a big aspect of the move that I was also interested in. Just knowing that I’ve lived somewhere else and have a kind of perspective that comes from living away from Australia.

Bigger intersection of creative and commercial. 

Just having the Europe landscape is a big, exciting part of living over here. You hear about it with people you speak to. Most people actually don’t even work that much in London. They always just go out and shoot Eastern Europe and all these places around there, and I’m like, “damn, that is my dream.” Shooting around all these places like Poland or different parts of Europe that look insane. The locations, the buildings and the characters you can film there, instead of just the same Melbourne share house that everyone has used. That was a big selling point. I’m just so curious about it. It was just like, “wow, what is that part of the world?”

Leaving a foothold behind. 

I think there’s so much that I love about the Australian industry. You almost do know everyone. It is such a beast and there is really amazing stuff coming out of Australia. It was a bit scary, because there’s so many other people that do amazing work too, and I was thinking “damn, am I just going to get replaced? Am I going to be forgotten, or something?” That felt a bit sad. I do miss Australia and having that family aspect of the crew and directors that you’ve worked with for so long.

In London, being  the new kid in the block, no one’s heard of me. No one knows me. I’m just this random Aussie. Back home I’ve done years and years of grinding it out on little music videos and there’s cool directors doing amazing stuff and we’ve got all these adventures and life stories and the shorthand is there. Whereas being here, I’m getting coffees with people being like, “Hey, I’m new in town, love to do something.” People are probably like, “Cool. I’ve got 10 years of doing stuff with all these other people. Why would I choose you? You’re just a Aussie.”  So it’s a bit of a challenge and I’m working through it.

The first 6 months. 

It’s been pretty hilarious. I’ve got a good mixed bag of things going on. My first shoot, the gaffer was 90 minutes late and his truck was falling apart. Apparently the truck was open when he rocked up and lights were falling out of it. We shot in this nightclub and it there was just shit everywhere.

But at least it’s not some corporate thing. At least it had the feeling that we could have fun with it. Shooting in some London nightclub. I was like, “Fuck yeah, let’s go. Let’s make some weird shit.”

I’ve probably done about seven or eight shoots. It comes in waves. But a lot of it’s been super tiny. But it’s still really nice and it’s refreshing. It feels like I’ve almost pressed reset. I being like, “all right, it’s just me. I’ve got one AC, we’ve got 200 pound for a lenses, we’ve got no money.”

It’s been a really humbling reset and I’m enjoying the challenge of. I’m just enjoying the whole experience feeling like “all right, cool, I’ve got to make do with this and got to find my crew, got to find my people”. I’m rocking up to the places that I’m so excited to be in, and so excited about the people here. Everyone’s energy – it’s really inspiring for me at the moment. I’m still on that high.

I’ve done a fashion thing in Spain in the desert and that was really fun. I mean, it was a nightmare for the camera – sand everywhere. But those little experiences where you fly over and just do these tiny little things is exciting. To compare that with being in Australia, to fly to Spain for a little fashion thing –  it’s just so hard to get those jobs in Australia. So even having that experience to go there and travel and film and then go home, it’s really cool. I’m really enjoying it.

Honestly, I was really optimistic and I thought I’m going to come in and be pretty busy. I’ve got this camera, I’m ready to work, I’m hungry. But you come here and then you realise there’s so many really, really talented DPs. A lot of people I’ve met are so lovely and I’m like, “fuck, these people are so talented and lovely.” It just feels like a bigger fish tank.

My credibility as a DOP is probably there. I’ve gone to so many coffees and had drinks with so many people and it’s been really nice. I’ve got to wait for the opportunity where their usual person can’t do it and they might throw me something. I think it’s just going to take time to build these relationships.

It feels like a bit more of a beast here – like an actual industry that’s no joke. People are making some really legit shit here.

Pushing yourself. 

That was another reason I wanted to come here. It feels like the work coming out of the UK and  Europe, everyone in Australia is always referencing it. These things that feel rare or like they haven’t been done before. That’s how I see it. People kind of pioneer these really cool edgy styles, or long lenses, or something we haven’t really seen before.

Over here everyone’s making weird shit and and being like, “You like it or you don’t like it, it’s my style”. People are taking more risks and more down to make fucked up shit that might not always be liked. In Australia it’s always trickier. Over here people would just be like, “it’s my way or the highway”, or just back themselves more and everyone’s like, “yeah, cool, that’s really dark and fucked, but I love it.”  It trickles down and the world adapts, and so maybe there’s more scope to be more creative on a commercial project.

“The Stench of Eternal Bog” – Directed by David Tse + Rory Pippen.

Having both of those directors, Rory and David, both having this childhood there, and Rory still living there, that is such an inside scoop. Then having David coming back and having these refreshing ideas and Rory sitting on these locations – that is a powerhouse kind of directing duo ability to tap into Adelaide life again. I’m really keen for that to come out.

I enjoyed working with all these different characters that were so Adelaide. I think Adelaide’s kind of always gets ragged on for being a bit of a shit hole, but also it has this kind of forgotten beauty and these people that are so just comfortable with the camera, they forget it’s there and they’ve got this ability to get inside their head almost.

And I think when you can make something that feels so raw and human and also it can also have this edge, I don’t know. It is just interesting and exciting. I definitely lean towards the darker side of things. If it has an edge or is gritty. The kind of projects and films where it’s so raw and gritty and in your face with people who are just unapologetically themselves.