Robbie mullen brings down national action

minI doc - PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/SOUND AND CAMERA

A few moments ago a trial finished at the Old Bailey. Now that the trial is over, we’re able to finally tell the full story of how HOPE Not hate smashed the banned terror group National Action and foiled a murder plot. pic.twitter.com/cttixMTixb
— HOPE not hate (@hopenothate) April 2, 2019

STRATEGY

CONCEPT

Robbie Mullen had no idea if he was going to be sent to prison at this point, and was hiding out under an Osman warning from the police. I arranged a safe house and a shoot with Robbie and Matthew Collins’, his handler as a mole inside National Action.

Mullen had discovered that one of his colleagues in the Neo-nazi cell was plotting to murder the MP Rosie Cooper, he had already decided he wanted out, but this was the big moment when he broke from the group definitively.

PROdUCTION

This documentary testimonial was put together very quickly, given the short time frame that we had, and the duress that the subjects were all under at that time. I had to balance the shoot with safety, production values, and capture the magnitude of the story.

To that end, I chose a straight to camera shoot, with lighting that brought out the feel of the safe house.

outcome

I believe that this film, more than other interviews at that time, helped shape the sense of this story to the public. There was considerable concern that Robbie would be put under pressure, and scapegoated rather than celebrated for his role in bringing down the terror plot.

The reach of the film on Twitter was high, and was often shared as the start of a conversation about this story.

MINIDOC: INSIDE NATIONAL ACTION (Copy)