Face to face with… Tom Tagholm

Earlier this year former Channel 4 creative director Tom Tagholm left the network after 11 years to concentrate on filmmaking fulltime, and here we catch up with the Blink director to talk about life on the other side and what he’s been up to since leaving C4.

What made you decide to take the plunge and say goodbye to C4?

It can be a difficult place to leave. That said, I don’t even feel like I’ve said a proper goodbye as I’m working on a short with Film4 and keep finding myself back in the building. I’m the guy who’s said his goodbyes then doesn’t actually leave the party. And everyone looks at you as if to say: ‘Are you still here, mate?’.

I had a talk with my agent at the beginning of the year and we decided that now would be a good time to commit to the next stage. It was never going to be easy finding a perfect time, and I’m not sure this even is the perfect time. But we knew we wanted to make the move and give some love to the other projects in my life. We shall see…

In any case, I’ve enjoyed an interesting triple life of creative directing at Channel 4, directing at Channel 4 and outside via Blink, and working on my film projects. We have always encouraged this idea of never saying you’re too busy to take on something challenging, and to always mix it up. I am a big fan of multiple creative outlets and always feel as if the different disciplines somehow manage to feed each other – no sooner have you hit a wall on the film than you find yourself working on an incredible commercial and, hey presto, through that process the answer for the film pops into your head.

That’s the ideal anyway. Doesn’t always work but it’s a nice principal. I’m a big admirer of creative people who work in this way.

Having worked on so many great projects at C4, was it difficult to leave?

Not really. It is important to have an exit strategy in mind when you are working at the best place on the planet. Otherwise you stay until you are old and/or insane. It’s about the next challenge and not accepting the comfortable choice.

I only wanted to depart when the creative department at 4Creative was in a very strong place, and I feel like that is the case. I have never met a more talented group of individuals and they will do nothing but huge and impressive things in the future.

I joined as a writer with a desire to direct. The channel is known for taking risks and they took a big risk on me. It is rare that you are given the opportunity both to create and to make mistakes. It is unique in this way, and there is a whole tier of filmmakers coming through who have emerged through this system of learning on the job and grafting and sharing creative thinking. It is unusual, for example, for one director to watch how another director works. We are always keen to blend thinking and expertise in this way and to leave the doors open. Brett (Foraker, former C4 creative director) was always big on this when he was my boss, and I kept this going and largely claimed the thinking as my own.

What skills do you think you bring to directing from your time as a creative director there?

Maybe the most important thing is to be obsessed with work that people will actually talk about, rather than work that will please the industry.

You recently helmed the channel’s promo for the Paralympics (watch above), what was it like to work with such a prestigious and global event?

It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, on all sorts of levels, not just the most immediately obvious. Physically it was hard work; we shot all over the country for an extended time, nearly always in challenging conditions and very often with limited time and access to the athletes, as you would expect.

But broadly, with talent like those athletes it is very difficult not to make something that goes some way towards being impactful.

We knew we wanted grit. We didn’t want polish or any sense of ‘didn’t they do well’. I had a photo on my desk of one blind footballer spitting at another, the spit caught in mid-air. I wanted to get inside some of that aggression and attitude and the killer instinct to win. And equally the devastation of losing.

My DP, Luke Scott, and producer, Gwilym Gwillim, pulled out all the stops to make it what it is, and of course my editor, Tim Hardy, wove his magic and instinct into the final film. The process was very loose in fact, and we always just held onto the mantra that this didn’t have to be a second best to the Olympics and that it could have its own voice and confidence and swagger.

The work really came out of a process that started last year, when all our creative teams worked like crazy to find an angle on this. Some highly conceptual stuff came through, and many ingenious approaches to the brief. Overall, we saw some incredibly strong work, all of which in some way informed the final campaign and made my job as enjoyably challenging as it was over these past few months.

What makes Blink the right fit for you?

The two Jameses, Studholme (founder) and Bland (executive producer) have incredible taste. Plus James Studholme appreciates the sound of a ukulele, which is good.

And are there any particular types of projects you are looking to get under your belt?

I would like to do something about surfing. I realise I may be a bit late on this one.

You’ve shot a couple of short films, are you up to anything new outside the realm of advertising that you can tell us about?

As I say I am finishing a new short, The Parachutist, with Film4. That is all shot and in post at the moment. Plus I am writing new material and seeing scripts.

What have you been reading/watching/listening to recently that you would recommend to shots readers to check out?

I was lucky enough to spend some time recently with one of my heroes, Bent Hamer (Norweigan writer/director),who is always a good source of deadpan wonder. Reading Canada by Richard Forde which is amazing. And listening to magical sound of my son learning new words: Daddy, door, ready. Con-fetti.