Born in London 1994, raised in Newcastle by his French Italian mum and Nigerian step dad, (Pierre’s biological father is from the Bahamas), Pierre-Mitchell has two step brother and sisters.
Pierre-Mitchell first picked up a camera at the age of 7. It was a Christmas present from his mother.
Stephan trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (BA) 2015 and studied his Masters Degree at Drama Centre London (MA Screen) finishing in 2019. He attributes his desire to study to his strong African influence from his step father, who instilled the need for education from an early age.
It was at this point, that Pierre-Mitchell planned on producing his directorial debut documentary short film, but needed to find an interesting subject.
We sat down with him to ask him a few questions about his multi-awarded documentary DELETED and his journey so far as a Black British filmmaker.
PM. Your step father is Nigerian, what is one of the most important values and morals he shared with you?
SP-M: My stepdad thought me about the value of respect for my elders, listening and keep striving to be better than yesterday. He also reminded to always put God in everything that I do and no matter how far I go I should always stay humble and stretch out and share your blessings to others .
PM. You graduated from Central School for acting and went straight into do an MA in Screen. Do you feel creative industries require degrees, since some might say “It’s who you know!”
SP-M: I don’t think Drama school is the answer it does help but for me I think it technically adjusted me and helped bring out the talent that one has . Of course you go to drama school then one has to put in the work to be seen to learn and gain experience. I still say it like this: you either have it or you don’t . The rest is technical ability. For filmmakers you don’t need film school but one thing is for sure keep watching films and more films and you learn .
PM: Since graduating your debut documentary short film has wowed people because of its serious nature – the tragic story of a man on the brink of homelessness. Why did you choose to share this story?
SP-M: I’m very passionate about certain issues in our community and homelessness is one of those. There is a big pandemic of high rate of mortality within the homeless community . No one seems to talk about it, in a country like UK – the 6th wealthiest nation in the world and we can’t look after our most vulnerable people – it is devastating.
PM: What is your creative style? Who do you draw influence from and why?
SP-M: I draw my creativity from events I come across. It could be a conversation or something I watch on the news or even listening to music . My influence is very much from European directors like Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky , Leos Carax ( France ) or the works of Agnes Varda ( France ) . I also see my films like a Chicken Soup: The Chicken being the actors, all the vegetables are all those directors or filmmakers I admire but the way I mix them all makes it creates the practice of Stephan Pierre Mitchell.
PM: If you had unlimited funds, what would be a dream film to make?
SP-M: Oh this so hard because I have so many ideas erm I think I will take it to Africa a story two kingdoms a love story between and Igbo girl and Yoruba boy telling their tribal struggles and difficulties coming together but culture and traditions stands their way . Celebrating African culture to its highest form, from costumes to food and remind us all that love has no boundaries if two people go against all odds to find that perfect happiness.
Stephan Pierre-Mitchell’s next project RESHAPED is currently in post-production, produced by Tom Bramwell and Nicole Sewlyn. The sci-fi rom come will premiere at festivals later this year.
Image credits: Bertie Watson.