Meet Disback Productions CEO

colinrussell is the driving force behind DisBack Productions.

Shot on iPhone 12 pro

"I'm an audio/visual expressionist who constantly generates ideas. From those sparks I analyse, expand and set about completing a fully formed piece that can be presented to others. Conceptualising, writing, seeing a project to fruition is what I live for."

Roots - Passions that formed: colinrussell tell us his creative evolution.

I'm a fun loving creative. At 7yrs old I told other children I was created by aliens and dropped off by a spaceship. The fantasies didn't stop as I grew; due to my circumstances, I was insulated and reclusive but my imagination let me escape into a different reality. Doodling, daydreaming: then writing lyrics for imaginary songs, constructing sentences detailing concepts which turned into poems/songs; some elaborated on to become stories and into scripts. Eventually turning many into films.

How I came to make any films is a remarkable story in itself.
Due to being abandoned at birth into a children’s home until 4 yrs old - I didn’t instantly have connections with other children or adults (an affliction that has hindered my life greatly). Once reunited with my neglectful mother, I spoke my first words at 6yrs old and lived in dilapidated squats with The Hells Angels: at one point I was going to be kidnapped and murdered by a rival gang. My uncle, my main father figure, probably didn't help my cause, as around this time he was imprisoned for bomb making as he attempted to blow up some miscreants. I had three different surnames and started my 6th and last school by 8yrs old. A ‘state boarding school’ for disadvantaged children. It was abusively authoritarian and has had many news articles printed about it with my house father convicted in 2016 for historical offences, now serving 17 years in prison. I was one of the lucky ones who only had to contend with the psychological abuse whilst living for years under their sick authoritarian regime - some of my housemates suffered serious sexual abuse against them. It's disturbing!

Concurrently with that nightmare school and what followed, was years on one of London's most notorious sink estates. I was on the lowest rung of the social ladder. I could never find work or be accepted in society.

All this crazy upbringing gave me a profound creative advantage - but it also came with a massive lack of opportunity.

With everything I could muster, I worked intermittently with low pay and lost myself time and time again into a fantasy existence that kept me sane, if not somewhat deluded. None of this worked well in the conventions of ‘civilised’ society.

I didn’t fit in, nothing worked, again and again my life kept falling apart. By 27 I had had two major relationships which produced four children but both had dramatically imploded and I was homeless.

Friends and acquaintances were dying around me on a regular basis. My ex-partners vehemently denied me access to my children which compounded the tragedy - everyone prepared for my inevitable demise but it didn’t happen.

That stubborn, powerful imagination of mine kept creating a bonkers illusion - I wasn’t destitute and alone, I was surrounded by fairies, magical folk, the true and righteous people. Future Kings and Queens. The enlightened, demigods, the spiritual; but lurking in the dark recesses were demons and dragons! (That could take your life in a second.) I wasn’t falling into despair! I was on a quest!

I pulled myself out of the gutter again, found love again and this time I was going to stay true to my quest. I’ve lived in the darkness, I’ve been pushed into the void, swam across its endless sorrow and hauled myself onto the shores of a salvation; one of my own making.

My quest is to tell my truth as I’ve experienced it. Tell it with vigour and verve, kindness and compassion. Present that truth in ways that make sense to me. In ways only I can convey, communicate. My honourable quest!

If I was to develop my concepts and see my stories made into films I’d have to learn, Learn, LEARN! So with the pennies I could save, I bought cameras, computers, software and taught myself how to use these tools to get results; create, Create, CREATE!

I've completed a huge slate of short films and have written six FEATURE film scripts!

One script is a ‘Rock-Opera’ film told through 20 songs. Do I have the ability to make it?
I've already self funded, published & commercially released an hour long Audio-Visual project named “The Truth Is Plain 2c” by SIBENSIS.

Yes, things are difficult when self-funding films on an intermittent, limited income but I’m used to extreme hardship, and that continual sacrifice allows me to stay on my quest. The last ten years, I’ve been an extra on film sets, it has forged an even stronger resolve to continue making new films.
I do what I can with what I can muster. Self taught.

My quest is to create something in my life where before there was just a void. Being creative is the only thing that makes sense to me. Be kind. Be happy. Be & do.
Regards
colinrussell

colinrussell's IMDb page https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7273679/

Shot on iPhone X

Shot on Canon 600D

To see more of colinrussell's photographic work visit his instagram page here

All photographs by DisBack's Creative Director colinrussell