Inspired to create his story after hearing a news story that conker-fighting was being banned in school playgrounds, director Pete King decided to take this outlawing of a once beloved childhood game and make a mockumentary where the pastime was taken underground – to the streets! Powerfully-performed with a pitch-perfect tone, 12-minute comedy Crack follows Jay and his gang, B.H.S. (Brixton Hit Squad), as they deal product, refine their ‘cook’ and go head-to-head with rival gangs.

“Not everything has to be dour and depressing”

With the streets of London often depicted as a dog-eat-dog world on film, one of the main motivations behind King creating his council-estate comedy was to paint a more positive perspective on these environments.

“I am sick of seeing films, especially short films, that are about gangs, hate and domestic violence”, the director explains. “They give such a one dimensional approach to these subjects and don’t truly reflect the personalities and nature of these areas. I wanted to do something different, something positive…Although the film is still gangs and crime, it’s satirising it in a way which hopefully makes an audience think differently. Not everything has to be dour and depressing. Also I want to create a conker fighting renaissance #legaliseconkers”.

With the mockumentary formatting taking a bit of a beating in recent years, it’s good to see a director get it so right in terms of balance. King decided to adopt this particular approach for his narrative as it allowed him to play the short straight and the director and his cast pitch Crack perfectly, with the film feeling believable and ridiculous in equal measure.

“The realism gives it an added level of humour and allows it to sustain the duration of the film better”, says King. “I think the novelty would have worn off quite quickly if it hadn’t been shot this way. Also I am a big fan of the genre, and had wanted to make a mockumentary for a while. This is Spinal Tap, Christopher Guest films, The Office – they’re all big influences”.

“It is connected to a bigger idea that I’m developing for a feature”

Screened at Raindance and BFI London Film Festivals and nominated for ‘Best British Short’ at the British Independent Film Awards, with his work on Crack finished, King is already working on a new short he plans to shoot in Spring 2017. “This one isn’t a comedy, it’s a dystopian, coming-of-age political thriller”, the director reveals. “I’m really excited about this one, it’s heavily influenced by the current social climate and it is set in the North East, where I am originally from. It is connected to a bigger idea that I’m developing for a feature. No marbles related sequel unfortunately!”.