I first went to the cinema aged four: Superman II at the ABC Bournemouth on 9 May 1981.

The date is fixed in my memory because Dad missed watching the 100th FA Cup final on TV to take me. I remember the whole experience vividly (Clash of the Titans was one of the trailers) and have been hooked on movies ever since.

Growing up in the 1980s I enjoyed a childhood surrounded by Star Wars toys and VHS tapes. In addition to comics I bought from the local newsagent Starburst magazine fed my imagination about how the films I loved were made. My Dad’s fondness for Westerns and the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies introduced me to classic Hollywood.

As a teenager my first visits to arthouse cinemas and taping Moviedrome off BBC 2 and voracious reading of Empire and Sight & Sound magazines expanded my horizons and I became a legit cinefile, in the days before Letterboxd recording every film I saw in a paper diary.

Today, in addition to leading walks about cinemas, I co-run Tufnell Park Film Club and am part of the team that produces Screenshot for BBC Radio 4.

My walking tours also take in the broader scope of London’s cultural and social history and since 2023 I’ve been a tutor on the Islington Guided Walks tour guiding course. I’ve given talks at events such as Nerd Nite, Salon in the City and the Hackney History Festival.

I’ve spent most of my career working in digital transformation and content development in the media and education sectors and continue this work alongside my explorations of London and cinema history.