Collaborating to make important films worth making | Coco Bond
“It’s been a crazy year. It’s a lovely thing to be busy.” We catch filmmaker Coco Bond of Film Kernow between meetings and between filming in all kinds of locations in the South West. Yesterday, he finished some days in Torbay. Today he’s back filming in Cornwall.
“I just want to keep filmmaking in the South West thriving, and a lot of that requires juggling multiple films at once. I think if you focus on one project at a time, your output slows down and you miss out on opportunities to learn and meet new creative collaborators.”
He was in Torbay shooting a music video for a Devon-based band – filming out of cars and in garages. The day after, he directed a documentary for A Band of Brothers, a national charity that mentors young people in challenging situations. Mentees could be facing prison time, addiction, grief, suicidal thoughts, abuse, homelessness or any kind of personal crises. He and his crew (Gabe Hawker, Kian Radford, Steve Walsh and Dutch Loveridge) were interviewing volunteers of the charity about their experiences, which was quite emotional and difficult at times. That same evening, Coco shot a short film by his friend Toni Fifield called Numina, which he also produced and edited for her.
And that creativity has a responsibility.
“All the films that I produce, whether they’re narrative or documentary, usually have a sociological side to them, because if a film can’t reach people emotionally, then what is the point?” he says. “We want our films to also be fun, engaging and escapist, but that human element is what really matters.”
That creative track record has bolstered a confidence in doing, growing and learning.
Keeping the ball rolling
“People often tell me that I’m doing too much, but we’re not rushing anything at Film Kernow. My brain just prefers to film one project in the morning, edit another in the afternoon, and get the ball rolling on a third that evening. I’ve always worked that way. Whether that’s planning films of my own or helping other South West creatives to make their films, some projects just take longer to produce than others.”
“Like with Wetsuits, Amber Rose George wrote that script in May, 2025 before she asked me to direct it. We’ve been planning it since then and we’ll be producing it together this June over a year later. Compare that to Numina – Toni and I met for the first time two weeks ago, I sent out a casting call the same day and now that film has been shot and edited.”
Since this interview, Wetsuits has been shot in Plymouth and Numina has screened at Morvala Festival in Mount Edgcumbe and has been selected by Cornwall Film Festival for Quick Cut.
“Last month, I met Ben Fullman (Kernowfornia Film Company) for a coffee and two weeks later, I filmed and produced a short thriller for him which we shot on 16mm film.
“Next month, I’m cinematographer and producer for Alice Ladbury on her film Persephone, which we’ve been planning since February because that’s quite an ambitious project. Next to that, the documentary I’m directing for A Band of Brothers was in development before Christmas. We shot in St Austell and Truro this month and we’ll be filming at St Michael’s Mount next week, but that took half a year of planning as we’re covering quite sensitive subjects and had to problem solve how to safely interview vulnerable young people.”
Supportive
Coco reflects on the success he’s seen expressed through the charity.
“It’s a beautiful, supportive non-profit that has a really positive impact on the local community, so we didn’t want to rush making a documentary about them,” he says.
Particularly as the work of the charity is so relevant to him, he’s in the demographic they support, and he’s lost both friends and family to suicide.
“It’s really important to address these serious, difficult subjects in any medium, but particularly through documentary filmmaking, where you expect an honest reality, and you can empathise with speakers. And hopefully our film will signpost people to go to this organisation – not only young men needing help, but also new mentors.”
Short films do have that power to focus on an issue. “It’s a little snippet of a situation, but because shorts are condensed, you often feel the weight of emotions a bit heavier,” says Coco. But he’d rather spend time with a character in a feature.
Rewarding
“Features are time-consuming and exhausting to organise, but they’re so much more rewarding to make,” he says. “I’ve learned way more producing features than I have directing shorts. You have to invest so much more time into preparing them, so every moment has to really count. Also, working with an actor who isn’t just in character for a day, but much longer, they get to properly explore and understand their character.”
That said, getting into a good rhythm of making with shorts is key.
“Last month, I directed my first short film in the Cornish language with my friend Bryher Mitchell for Cornwall Council, called Ple’ma Morwenna?, which we produced together with the organisation Speak Cornish. It was a great experience filming in a language I don’t yet speak with the support of translators Emma Jenkin and Pol Hodge. The cast enjoyed the challenge of performing in Kernewek and I loved directing and storytelling in Cornish. We shot the 10-minute film on a Cornish farm over two days and even had the surprise of witnessing a lamb being born together which was maybe the most surreal moment I’ve ever had on set.”
Travel is an issue for South West filmmakers. “Particularly in summer, when there’s tourists everywhere, it’s just so hard to get anywhere,” he says. But the landscape and the language and the culture is well worth showcasing and a great environment to make films. There’s also a lot of unseen acting talent here.
Connected
“I co-founded the South West Actors Database with filmmaker Dutch Loveridge earlier this year as a free opportunity for actors to have easier access to projects searching for cast in Devon and Cornwall. Acting work here tends to be fairly limited and seasonal, a problem that Dutch and I wanted to fix. We felt that this would be the easiest solution for getting South West actors more connected to local filmmakers. Through the database, filmmakers are encouraged to spread their casting net wider and actors can be a part of exciting projects without having to travel far from home.”
Travel isn’t the only barrier to a working-class filmmaker. Coco has been part of the BFI’s Working-Class Producers’ Forum which focused on accessibility, and how hard it is to break into this industry in any field as a working-class filmmaker, but particularly producing.
Inspired
“When I began studying film, I had no interest in being a producer, but now it’s one of my passions and is the job I spend most of my time doing. Producing means that I get to be inspired by working with local directors, seeing how they approach communicating the stories they’re telling. I get to be a part of other creative’s great films shooting in Devon and Cornwall, plus it’s a great way to meet other filmmakers and support the South West screen community. I also enjoy someone approaching me with an idea and then finding ways to involve talent that I know, to meet new friends, to find new locations, but directing is my real passion.”
Getting films seen is another issue. Coco mentioned the launch of a music video he directed for Zahra Deljoui, which took place in London earlier this month. “Zahra and I couldn’t go to that. We were buzzing to watch our film in London together, but it’s too costly to get up there.”
Coco’s coming-of-age drama The End of Everything had a charity performance at the Lighthouse Cinema, Newquay, raising money for UNICEF and hosted by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Edward Rowe (Kernow King). “It’s probably one of the best nights of my life,” says Coco. “We sold out, grown men were crying and our audience were very responsive.“ Not only did they screen the film and raise over £900 for children in crises, but people were still discussing the themes of the film hours after it played. Another screening of the film is being organised at the Plaza cinema later this summer, to be hosted by Laura Giles, managing director of Screen Cornwall.
As ever, funding for the next project is always an issue. But the plan is to show just how good they are, while building their skills and audience. As if to prove how good a job he does, Coco picked up a cinematography award at the D&CFilm sponsored Cornwall Monologue Competition for My Name is Jane, written by Tim Seyfert and starring Jill Greenacre.
“I believe it’s better to make a good film than to make good money,” says Coco, who keeps up momentum and skills while still holding down a full-time job away from the creative industry.
And he’s leaning in to supporting other filmmakers. “I find it really rewarding helping other people out with their projects. It’s exciting to be part of such a lovely, thriving community of creatives across Devon and Cornwall, collaborating to make important films worth making,” he says.
He’s well on his way for his plan to produce about 30 films across the South West in 2026, from shorts to documentaries to music videos and features, he aims to continue his work on a bigger platform championing filmmakers across the South West.
Follow Coco Bond on the Film Kernow instagram
top image: On the set of the drama Wetsuits (2026) in Plymouth, Devon, (left to right) George
Hayden, Gabriel Parker-Ellwood, Jay Greaves, Anna Coles, Meg Colburn, Chantelle De Vernon, Gracie Carter, Dutch Loveridge, Coco Bond, Amber Rose George, Steve Walsh, Madeline Rose Pedrick. A Film Kernow production. Wetsuits, written by Amber Rose George and directed by Coco Bond. Photograph by Aiden Dunne.
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