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The Gentleman Burglar

When Harry bumps into his childhood sweetheart he knows he has to do 2 things. Ask her out and rob her. But not necessarily in that order.

  • Tommy Rowson
    Writer
    Arrowman Sam
  • Tommy Rowson
    Director
    Arrowman Sam, Dane,
  • Rebecca Hill
    Producer
  • Mike Bubbins
    Key Cast
  • Tommy Rowson
    Key Cast
  • Ceri Ashe
    Key Cast
  • Simon Gill
    Sound Mixer
  • Ann Rowson
    Art Derpartment
  • Raoul Liggett
    Composer
  • Max Williams
    Cinematography
  • Margarida Correia
    Associate Producer
    Downtown Abbey, Utopia
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 4 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 26, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    ARRI ALEXA
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Tommy Rowson

Tommy started performing stand up late in 2010. Six months later he was a finalist in the 2011 Laughing Horse New Act competition and he won So You Think You’re Funny later that year. In 2012 he performed as part of the AAA late night show at the Edinburgh Fringe and was a finalist in BBC Radio 2’s New Comedy Award. In August 2013, Tommy performed at the Edinburgh Festival as part of The Comedy Zone, the Fringe’s longest running and most prestigious new talent showcase. In 2013, he was part of the Yahoo Edinburgh Comedy Gala. He took his debut solo show to the Fringe in 2014. Tommy wrote, directed and acted in the award-winning short film Arrowman Sam, for which he was Cinemagic’s Young Filmmaker of the Year and was shortlisted for Broadcast Young Talent’s Young Writer of the Year award. Since then he has written for Baby Cow Productions, World Productions, and BBC Comedy. He also won the BAFTA Rocliffe Comedy Showcase 2014.

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Director Statement

The idea for this film came from my Grandad. When his garage was broken into he found that he could claim insurance back for not only the things that were stolen but also for things he never owned. This wasn’t strictly legal, or even unstrictly legal, but it did work. (Until he went to prison for insurance fraud. Four times)

I coupled that together with a story my friend told me about a burglar who downloaded all of someone’s photos on to a memory stick before he stole their laptop. This story really stuck with me – it reminded me of some of the people I know from home in rural Wales, people who are down on their luck but who are not depressed, just trying to do something about it by not breaking the rules, just bending them. And then if that doesn’t work, breaking them but in a nice a way as possible. We rarely see these parts of Wales or this way of life in cinema and this plot was a good way for me to explore some of that.

The relationship between the two main characters is key. I wanted a proactive but easily led lead character, Harry, getting terrible advice - someone doing something generally considered bad but in the nicest possible way. Like Huckleberry Finn, he’s up to no good but his vulnerability makes you warm to him.

When confronted with danger the female character, Katherine, doesn’t turn to anyone else for help but meets it head on and takes over. Like Tom Sawyer at the end of Huckleberry Finn, she escalates a simple plan that works into a much more complicated one that doesn’t.

We’re very used to seeing cool London Gangster films and although this is a story based around a crime its references are more based in the old Powell and Pressburger films, full of spirit and colour. There are people who aren’t pathetic, just not particularly good at what they are doing – something we can all relate to at times.