David Valentine

Hello there. I'm a writer and artist-filmmaker with a long background in the arts and media. I cut my teeth writing copy for advertisers and designers before moving into magazine journalism and then video production – achieving international recognition in surveillance art. I'm also one of the founding members of MediaShed, an arts collective and the first Free-Media space to open in the east of England. Through creative education projects in schools and with hard-to-reach young people I like to share everything I've learned  – in my own small way helping the next generation along.

You'll find out more as you scroll through below.

Welcome to my work!

Video-sniffing is a method of hacking into wireless CCTV networks to record and see what the budget cams can pick up. What started out as a game for some tech-experimenters became a methodology for artists looking to take back control of their urban environment. I was one.

Above: Homeless children and school students in Southend, Essex demonstrate the Free-Media cause in local shops and businesses. Below: Immigrant children in Kokkola, Finland protest in the local government buildings they see as making decisions about their future.

Video-sniffing is often used as a blanket description for all surveillance filmmaking and art. For my free-running dance short The Duellists I moved beyond the limitations of fixed wireless cameras by turning the 160 cameras of the Manchester Arndale into an environmental TV studio. One of the best known CCTV movies ever made!! Screened around the globe and shortlisted for several awards, winning Audience 3rd Prize at the sidewalkCINEMA Festival in Vienna!

'Sousveillance' kit like wearable-cams, mobile phones and pocket digital cameras are also all available for repurposing by the no-budget surveillance filmmaker. I've tried them all. Shooting my chatroom dance short Computer Love (inspired by the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet) entirely on webcam! It received a Special Mention from the jury at the VideoDansa Barcelona International Competition, IDN Festival.

Media coverage from: the Guardian, Newsweek, Arena magazine, the New York Times, Reuters, the Manchester Evening News, BBC NW, More4 News, BBC Radio 5, National Danish Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Taking my experimental approaches to filmmaking into the school, college or university learning environment gives me a chance to not only share technical skills but help free young minds to think creatively outside the box – a useful way to tackle any work or problems in life! 

Making video projects with hard-to-reach groups – such as newly arrived immigrant children, youth offenders, the homeless, and those that have fallen out of the education system – provides valuable soft skills, with the option to embed curriculum subjects that can even lead to recognised qualifications! Screenings at the Co-operative Young Filmmakers Festival are a fantastic boost to the confidence of all involved!!

Despite my reputation as a tech-experimenter, I have solid grounding in video production honed on the many short films, music vids and mini-docs I have made over the years. Exploring the fundamentals of screen-writing, camera work, sound, directing and editing can start young minds thinking about never-before-considered career paths! Who knows where the next Spielberg will come from!

Clients include: Royal Opera House Education, Creative Partnerships, YMCA, Aspirational Arts, the Nordic Art School, The Architecture Foundation, Tate Modern, VISU, Theatre Resource, East 15, Momentum Arts, Connexions Youth Service, and Southend Borough Council.

Copywriting against tight deadlines for London and Essex-based design and ad companies taught me how to communicate efficiently and effectively across a variety of media platforms. As a journalist I've written for several successful magazine titles including both the European and US editions of film industry bi-monthly Showreel – thanks to my editor Steve W. Parker for the banner quote! – UK music press nationals Notion and Klub Knowledge, and regional arts and lifestyle quarterly The Map.

As a storyteller – whatever the platform – writing will always be at the core of my work. A film can't exist without the blueprint of a screenplay. Even video-sniffing has a message to communicate!

My first novel. I've been working on an evolutionary science-based story about a frustrated new-media artist who quits his tech-driven life in London to become a modern urban-caveman in New York. Hey this sounds autobiographical! Set in 2013, at the height of the Paleo-diet craze, and based on some of my own experiences as an artist, modern-caveman, and frustrated tech-citizen of the 21st century, this weird fiction novel explores the trending human obsession with 'getting back to nature' and the underlying biased belief systems we construct for ourselves to justify our actions, often using flawed data. Watch out for it coming your way in the not too distant future!

You have been warned!!