Chis John Brooke
Chris'
Story
Chris John Brooke is a filmmaker and academic based in northern England.
After several years in his early twenties freelancing as a camera operator, Chris became involved in political activism resulting the feature documentary From York to Palestine (2006). During the making of the film he discovered a passion for documentary filmmaking, and editing in particular. "I loved building with Lego when I was a kid. I had all these building blocks and countless possibilities to create something unique. In editing From York to Palestine, I had this ongoing, evolving story where the frames I was shooting became the blocks, and I could assemble them in ways that were only limited by my imagination and ability as a storyteller. For the first time I began to understand the power of documentary, and that the edit is really where a film is made. I was playing with Lego again."
Chris contributed camera work to a number of independent films and TV documentaries, including Conquest (History Channel) for L.A. based Greystone Productions, and expanded his freelance work into post-production working for various clients. During this time he continued his own documentary work with two more features, Ales Angels (2005) and Spoke on the Water (2007); nominated for Best Documentary and Best Original Music Score at the 2008 International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema.
In 2010 he incorporated Rolling Snowballs as a production company specialising in documentary filming and post-production services, contracting other creative professionals on a project by project basis. The diverse portfolio of work includes exhibitions for major national museums and galleries, art installations, charities and NGOs as well as a substantial body of work produced for the video games sector.
From 2010-2013 he coordinated the Northern TV Network connecting regional factual production companies with the commissioning editors of major network broadcasters including the BBC, Ch4, ITV, UKTV, Sky and Discovery.
Between 2011 and 2014 he worked with Aesthetica Magazine to establish and coordinate the exhibition strategy for the now BAFTA accredited ASFF Film Festival.
Chris has a long relationship with video games company Revolution Software, developers of the hugely successful Broken Sword series and cult classic Beneath A Steel Sky. He was instrumental in Revolution's Kickstarter campaign for Broken Sword 5: The Serpents Curse, directing video materials for the main campaign, subsequent global marketing campaign and un-lockable content for platforms such as the Nintendo Switch. The Kickstarter was the second most successful ever at the time, raising $800,000.
In 2016 he produced the documentary series Revolution 25, commissioned by Koch Media, as part of a package celebrating Revolution Software's 25th anniversary. The six episodes provide an in-depth journey through a turbulent and changing industry and was initially distributed throughout Europe as part of a collector's edition box-set. The series is currently available as VOD through Steam.
In 2018 Chris was approached by Revolution once again to help produce prototype videos aimed at securing funding for a sequel to their cult classic Beneath A Steel Sky. The prototype was pitched at top-tier financiers and found success with Apple agreeing to fund the game as an exclusive title for the launch of Apple Arcade.
Beyond A Steel Sky, was released in 2020 through Apple Arcade, and 2021 on PC, Mac and all major consoles. As well as advising on some of the cutscene sequences in the game, Chris was subsequently contracted by publishers Microids to provide video materials for the console launch of the game, including official trailers and behind the scenes content to support their global marketing campaign.
Most recently, Chris completed the award winning feature documentary Hiroshima: City of Water, a film telling the stories of four survivors of the atomic bomb.
Chris is a Senior Lecturer in Film Production and Post Production at The Northern Film School, Leeds School of Arts, Leeds Beckett University.
He has been seen both with, and without, a beard.
Let’s Work Together
Chris is always eager to talk about collaborations. To contact him please use the form on this page. He knows people don't like forms but it really does help keep the spam out of his inbox.