As part of the acclaimed Fresh Cuts Strand for Black History Month 2024, Moses Ssebandeke makes his directorial debut for ITV, with his profile series Alter Egos.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself?
I started my filmmaking journey in 2007 at 15, and my self-written, self-directed comedy sketches have garnered over 100 million views online.
After graduating from the National Film and Television School, I’ve been involved in various comedy projects, short films, and TV dramas. Most of these have screened on the BBC. My work has been recognised with awards and screenings at prestigious festivals for example BFI short film of the month.
In recent years, I’ve focused on feature films, writing and directing “Drapetomania” and “Double Booked.” I’m also a co-founder of the Lionstooth film collective, where we produce innovative shorts and content.
Did you always want to work in TV? How did you land your first role?
For as long as I can remember! One of my first roles was back in 2015 directing an interactive documentary starring Stormzy for a platform called “BBC taster”. The technology we used on the documentary went on to be used by Netflix for their first interactive film Bandersnatch which is part of the Black Mirror Series.
Why did you apply for Fresh Cuts this year?
I had an idea that centred on my friend called Paloma Aka Ronnie Knocks. Where we made a short doc about her wrestling journey. I had pitched the idea at various different places for 2 years and nearly gave up, but thought fresh cuts would be the perfect place for it, and by some miracle I got on the scheme.
What is your series about?
My series is called Alter Egos, where we follow ordinary individuals who have extraordinary alter egos!
What has been your biggest challenge producing this series?
I would say the casting process. I did come on the production with one contributor already (Paloma) but finding two more in a short space of time proved hard, but I had a great team that was able to help me find the perfect contributors!
What was your favourite part about making it?
I would say going around the country with the team filming the contributors. I was able to meet different people and get immersed into worlds that I wouldn’t have known existed.
What would your advice be for someone stepping up into a PD role?
I would say the word “EARLY” is your best friend. Everything from Getting in “early” and working on your edit “early” You might think you have all the time in the world, but that isn’t usually the case. So if there is anything you can do right away, do not wait and do it!
And lastly, what are your favourite TV shows of all time and what are you watching at the moment?
I would say probably, The Simpsons or The Boondocks. I can’t get my head around how they are able to pack so much story and jokes in what is basically 22 minutes. I’m really liking “Made in Korea” at the moment, I’m not a huge K-pop fan, but I’m invested!
You can watch Alter Egos on ITVX from the 1st October.
