James Cleave on SELF+TAPE, Performance, and the Craft of Directing
Stone Dogs speaks with James Cleave about SELF+TAPE and the craft behind his filmmaking.
James Cleave on SELF+TAPE, Performance, and the Craft of Directing - Stone Dogs speaks with James Cleave about SELF+TAPE and the craft behind his filmmaking.
Stone Dogs recently took the opportunity to sit down with James Cleave, a London-based writer-director and Associate Member of Directors UK, to discuss his latest short film SELF+TAPE, his approach to directing, and what continues to drive him forward.
Born in the UK and raised in Limassol, Cyprus from the age of three, James returned at nineteen to study at Bournemouth University as a self-described third-culture kid.
Over the past 15 years, he has built a diverse career across 86 productions within the Assistant Director department, while also producing, writing, or directing close to 100 non-broadcast projects.
His work spans narrative drama, comedy, and sci-fi, as well as maritime training films, suicide awareness dramas, and bespoke animated technical explainers for global clients.A broad foundation that, alongside his multicultural upbringing, informs his work as a director.
Thanks for joining us, James. You’ve had a wide-ranging career leading up to this point. When did directing become your main focus?
Thanks for having me. I have been directing full-time since 2019, when I stepped down from my in-house Producer role at an international maritime training company to develop my debut short film, Sometime Else. SELF+TAPE (2026, comedy-drama) is my third short film as Writer-Director and is currently on its festival run, with its premiere at the BIFA-qualifying Unrestricted View Film Festival. It follows three actors auditioning for the same career-defining lead role in a major British romcom, all from the discomfort of their own homes. My other films, Sometime Else (2021, sci-fi drama, BAFTA Cymru-qualifying) and MAFIA (2024, comedy-drama, BIFA-qualifying), have collectively earned 21 wins, 29 nominations and 30 Official Selections across national and international festivals, which I’m incredibly proud of.
That naturally brings us to SELF+TAPE. Where did the idea come from?
SELF+TAPE was a project born out of numerous discussions I’ve had over the years with actors about the ever-evolving audition process. Whilst self-taping is not new, the increasing pressures to produce compelling, high-quality tapes to secure work (often at short notice) led me to dive deeper into this unique hiring procedure. The discussions around interruptions, housemates or family members (non-actors) reading off-lines (often poorly), as well as lighting, sound and performance choice issues, culminated in the inspiration for this screenplay. There were so many additional stories and scenarios that could have been included, but perhaps they can be explored in future projects.
What separates SELF+TAPE from your previous work, and what were you exploring with it?
I always try to challenge myself creatively and technically for each film, so this project was a very different style and approach. I wanted to restrict myself visually by utilising a one-frame-per-actor rule, intercutting between their respective journeys to tell a cohesive story. The dialogue on the page, the performances on the day, and the editing in post, all needed to sync for the pacing and comedic effects to work. If any of those elements failed, the film would fall flat. Drama has always been my primary writing style, so leading with comedy for the first time was a genuinely new challenge. What is consistent with my previous work, however, is my love of dialogue and performance, and how these elements can carry an audience through the characters’ respective arcs. I didn’t need, nor want lots of traditional coverage to achieve that for this particular film.
“Films have the power to open people up to experiences they’d never otherwise encounter, and it’s the human connection and authenticity of a single moment that can completely shift someone’s worldview.”
James Cleave
That structure of SELF+TAPE naturally puts a lot of weight on performance. How did you approach directing something that’s essentially “performances within performances”?
It’s a good question. Every film I work on requires a deep-dive chat on an actor’s intention for their respective character’s arc. Being an actor’s story and their everyday world, I wanted our cast to bring their own feelings, experiences (and frustrations) to the table. On top of this, they each needed two distinct performance styles that could seamlessly transition between, “off-camera” and “on-camera” delivery.
The off-camera style was to feel effortless in its delivery; an authenticity found only when the real cameras aren’t even rolling. The on-camera style was to feel like a genuine take or performance choice by the character, which, to really sell the difference, often lent itself to intentionally being slightly over-dramatised in places. It’s a testament to Boo Jackson, Pippa Moss and Cheska Hill-Wood that they could not only achieve these two styles effortlessly, but do so while acting as fictional actors. Having incredible supporting cast in Fabrizio Tullio and Amy Whitworth who performed completely off-camera on location, allowed for visceral reactions that might have been lost if I’d opted to record their dialogue at a later date.
I also made a conscious decision for the cast to look either towards the key light, or away from it depending on the comedic or dramatic moment of their on-camera or off-camera performance. The additional shadows of the dramatic side allowed for a subtle shift in tone to the comedic, brighter side; something our DoP James Knight did beautifully. This choice also broke up any potential monotony in the characters only ever looking one way for the duration of the film.
Things rarely go entirely to plan. How was the experience across production?
To be honest, this was one of the rare projects that had a completely achievable schedule, primarily down to having one setup per actor. Our main challenge was set dressing and lighting three different areas of one living room for each of the three actors, requiring careful choreography of the cast, crew…and furniture.
The worst thing to happen on this particular job was placing too much trust in a well-established company (that shall not be named) to deliver a healthy lunch on time for cast and crew, forcing me to break away from directing and liaise with our Production Manager to order a back-up. One thing I have learned in all my years on the job is to always ensure the crew are well fed and watered. Thankfully the huge breakfast and extensive snack selections were a hit while we waited!
And how did that carry through into post-production?
One of the biggest challenges going into post-production was producing a colour grade that could work across a multitude of screens. The lack of consistency across devices, television, web and theatrical means that the end user won’t necessarily see the beautiful work as seen on a perfectly calibrated grade monitor. Upon completion of the fantastic grade by colourist Mark Meadows, Stone Dogs co-founder Dave Kiddie and I conducted tests across our respective laptops and devices to find the “Goldilocks” balance that would hopefully be a one-size-fits-all solution for this particular project. On a fully funded production, you’d typically have a separate deliverable for every delivery format. However, that’s not a luxury available on a no-budget film, so finding that middle ground was key. Regardless, we were both very happy with how it turned out in the end.
Once it’s finished and out there, what does success look like to you, and what keeps you motivated to keep going?
Success is very hard to measure in the un-monetised world of shorts, and people are always going to love or loathe your work, regardless of how well known, admired, (or talented) you are. Industry recognition is always a confidence booster though, especially when the most sought-after festivals accept you into their prestigious circles. There’s an element of this acceptance that battles your imposter syndrome head-on. It forces you to believe in yourself a little harder, and to recognise that the initial praise you received wasn’t just friends and family being nice to your face (while secretly worrying about your career choices).
Awards are just the icing on the cake in my opinion, but they are a genuine metric that have tangible benefits to those who are awarded; especially when talking Oscars, BAFTAs and BIFAs. Personally, the biggest compliment to me is someone reaching out to me either online or in person, having watched my film and wanting to chat about it. A little secret I’ll share here, is that I always try to hide story clues and through-lines that mainly become apparent on a second watch, so when a viewer spots them the first time around, that’s always my version of ‘a win.’
The thing that drives me most as a director is performance. Films have the power to open people up to experiences they’d never otherwise encounter, and it’s the human connection and authenticity of a single moment that can completely shift someone’s worldview. I’m always striving to seek the truth of each moment, and if someone experiences a new thought or feeling as a result of my work, that’s everything to me as a filmmaker.
From your experience, what’s the biggest misconception about directing?
One of the biggest misconceptions is that directing can be “all on the day.” The old adage “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” always rings true, and whilst there are some incredibly talented individuals who can turn up on set, figure out the shotlist on the spot, and still complete the day, this is unlikely to come without either years of experience, or serious preparation behind the scenes making it appear effortless. Both can be true, but thanks to my Assistant Director experience (and having seen this approach fail more than once), preparation is the single most important thing I will do as a director. I’d much rather have a detailed shotlist or storyboard in place that I can pivot from when time is running thin. There will always be unforeseen circumstances, so it’s far better to have a plan and abandon it for a better one, than to have no plan at all.
On a lighter note, what’s one question you wish people asked you more often?
“Who do we need to call to get you your next directing gig?” Ha. But on a more serious note, the question I genuinely wish I was asked more is about what drives me forward. If I were to answer that, I’d say it’s an unwillingness to be outworked, blind determination, and reckless optimism in the face of insurmountable odds. That and the applause. Always the applause.
With SELF+TAPE soon to be on its festival run, what’s next for you James?
I’m currently working towards my debut feature film, on which I’ll release more information when the time is right. I’ve also written two more short films that are ready to be shot at any time. One is a single-take 12-minute drama set in a West End musical theatre with a working-class actor, and the other is a 4-minute London-based character horror with a female lead in a tube station. I’d be delighted to chat with anyone interested in producing any (or all) of them with me.
Before we wrap up, any closing thoughts for our readers?
Anyone in this industry knows how hard it can be, so any sane freelancer must always be thankful for those who support our respective, chaotic journeys, especially spouses (shout out to my wife!), family, friends and, of course, our colleagues. I’m indebted to everyone who donated their time, love, energy (and kit) to bring this no-budget film to life, especially my long-term collaborator and editor Chris Dean, who donated months of his time to this film. A huge thank you also goes to ARRI for their generous support with the camera package. On top of these wonderful people and organisations, to have established names in the industry willing to help out emerging creatives such as myself is a very lucky position to be in. Support like that made a real difference on this project. Stone Dogs supported it when it was still just an idea on the page, long before anything had been shot. Following through on their promise of post-production assistance once I’d finished editing is something I’m incredibly grateful for. Dave Kiddie, Brian Carbin, Richard Hawkins, Jon Kerby and the team, alongside the beautiful colour grading undertaken by Mark Meadows over two sessions, brought a level of polish to this film that lifts it beyond what I could have imagined. It also helps that they’re all genuinely lovely people to work with! I look forward to continuing this personal and professional relationship with them as my career grows, and highly recommend them to anyone needing bespoke post-production work by people who care. I genuinely mean that. Thank you.
No, thank you, James, for taking the time to chat with us (and the kind words). We’re all excited for the premiere of SELF+TAPE and can’t wait to see what you do next. You can follow James on Instagram @jamescleavedirector or visit jamescleavefilms.com to explore more.