Thomas Stogdon did not know it at the time, but the day he walked into the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in north London would prove to be a sliding doors moment.
A graduate with a degree in film and TV from Brunel University and living in Tottenham, he had faced rejection after rejection while trying to pitch his ideas or find work in the UK film and television industry. One employer asked him, “Have you thought about taking elocution lessons?” Others told him his film ideas – which explored diversity in innovative ways - were “a bit niche”.
“I was 28 and at the end of my tether,” he recalled. “I was working a minimum wage job in a call centre, my life on hold, trying to break into TV. But the industry felt very Oxbridge and very white — dominated by people with cut-glass BBC accents.
I was so close to folding up my dreams
“I had applied for dozens of roles, but aside from a couple of short-term, dead-end jobs, I never progressed. The stories I wanted to tell — they just weren’t interested. My mum had died of cancer when I was 25 and I had always taken pride in my resilience to push through and get things done, but I felt desperate and lost.”
He paused to give his words emphasis, adding quietly: “I was so close to folding up my dreams.”
Today, just over a decade later, Thomas is co-owner of Big Deal Films, a BAFTA-winning and EMMY-nominated production company known for bold storytelling that puts minority and underrepresented voices front and centre. The company has sold more than 100 films – from five-minute shorts for The One Show on BBC One to documentaries and sitcoms – and is best known for their critically acclaimed BBC Three hit comedy series Dreaming Whilst Black.
The turning point came when he came across a business course at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre whilst browsing online. It was run by The Prince’s Trust, now The King’s Trust, our partner in the Destination Unknown campaign — and it proved life-changing.
Destination Unknown in a nutshell
With one in six young Londoners unemployed, the Standard has joined forces with The King’s Trust to support unemployed young people into work or business. So far, £500,000 has been pledged by the Standard’s Dispossessed Fund — with half going to King’s Trust programmes in London and the other half to four grassroots youth charities across the capital. We are calling on corporations, foundations, philanthropists — and our readers — to donate. All funds raised will go to King’s Trust programmes in London
So why did one course make such a difference?
Sitting in the Farringdon office of Big Deal Films — which he co-founded with his friend and former agent, Dhanny Joshi —surrounded by awards and posters of their shows, Thomas, now 40, reflected: “The first thing that stood out was how non-judgmental it was. There were young people from all sorts of backgrounds and it didn’t matter if you didn’t have all the answers. I remember thinking, ‘No one here is going to talk to me about elocution.’
“They taught us the basics of launching a business, how to present ourselves in a pitch, and helped us unpack in simple, tangible terms what we wanted to do. It was life advice as well as business advice. But as I was listening to other people’s business ideas, I had a light bulb moment: what if I followed three or four of these young budding entrepreneurs around and made a documentary about their journeys?”
They included entrepreneurs starting a clothing brand, a coffee outlet, a hair salon, and a gardening business. Thomas pitched the idea to the newly launched London Live — then the Standard’s sister company — and they gave him and Dhanny around £10,000 to make a one-hour documentary, which aired in the summer of 2014.
“That was our first big breakthrough,” said Thomas. “I was buzzing. I thought, ‘we’re rich!’”
More commissions followed, including from Channel 4 for their highly creative five-episode series called Disabled Fight Club — variously profiling a wheelchair boxer, a one-armed cage fighter, and a jiu-jitsu fighter with cerebral palsy.
“That was the point Dhanny and I both quit our jobs in call centres and we launched our own production company. The King’s Trust kept mentoring us and provided incredibly useful ongoing support. And instead of dropping the diversity angle when film bosses called it ‘too niche’, we leaned in. We doubled down.”
To think it all started in the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham
Big Deal Films has since grown from a £10,000-a-year start-up to a company generating millions in revenue — taking Thomas and Dhanny to awards ceremonies in London, Los Angeles, and New York. They even had the thrill of seeing their own show lit up on a giant billboard in Times Square.
“To think it all started in the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham,” said Thomas, shaking his head.
His advice to unemployed young people facing an uncertain future with their own ‘destination unknown’? “Get yourself on a King’s Trust course. Give it a chance. You won’t believe how they can help you. If not for that intervention, I would have left the industry. It came at the right time for me and changed my life — and it can benefit you too.”
Dreaming Whilst Black Season 2 will be available on iPlayer in October
How your money can help
£10 could help a young Londoner travel to a job interview
£20 could fund an hour of support from a trained youth worker
£50 could provide appropriate interview clothing
£90 could supply starter equipment, such as hairdressing kit for a salon apprenticeship
£150 could provide training and support through a King’s Trust course
£250 could enable a young person to attend a King’s Trust “Get Hired” event
Visit kingstrust.org.uk/destination-unknown for more information or to donate
The King’s Trust has contributed £80,000 to help the Standard cover the costs of this appeal. This funding has been used to raise awareness of The Trust’s charitable work, helping it to transform young lives. The King’s Trust is a registered charity incorporated by Royal Charter in England and Wales (1079675) and Scotland (SC041198).
