Award-Winning Journalist & Filmmaker

I’m a documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist with a track record in bold, character-driven storytelling from some of the world’s toughest environments. From ganglands in Cape Town to post-earthquake Nepal and Isis-controlled Iraq, I’ve spent over 15 years filming on the frontlines — shaping stories with visual depth, editorial rigour, and human connection. I cut my teeth at Granada TV and went on to produce for BBC Newsnight and BBC HARDtalk, securing exclusive interviews with figures like Hugo Chávez, Henry Kissinger, Christine Lagarde and Ingrid Betancourt, her first UK TV interview after six years in captivity.

I’m a confident self-shooter (FX6/FX9, prime lenses) with a cinematic visual style rooted in observational documentary and current affairs. I’m trusted to lead high-risk deployments, secure sensitive access, and manage complex duty of care, legal, and compliance issues — all while filming and directing under pressure.

My films have been broadcast on BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, and major international platforms. Mexico’s Deadly Coca-Cola Addiction has reached over 17 million viewers on YouTube. My recent award-winning work includes Gaza: Daring to Dream, which won the Foreign Press Association Award for Arts & Culture and was praised for its storytelling and cinematography.

Based in London, available globally.

HEFAT certified until June 2027.

Awards

Gaza: Daring to Dream praised for its effective storytelling and beautiful cinematography.

Winner, Foreign Press Association Award Arts & Culture (2023)

Reviews

“A distressing but equally bold and important documentary."

The Times on Hurricane Hell, November 2019

“The inspirational teacher struggling to rescue students from unpromising circumstances is a well-worn trope of feelgood fiction, which makes Ade Adepitan and Nick Blakemore’s dispatch from Honduras all the more powerful."

Andrew Mueller, The Guardian on Unreported World, November 2019

“A welcome return for the excellent foreign-affairs series, beginning with a characteristically distressing, but equally bold and important documentary exploring the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. The reporter Seyi Rhodes and director Nick Blakemore, arriving a month after the hurricane made landfall, uncover disturbing evidence of the forcible deportation of Haitian migrants — originally brought in as cheap labour — after their homes were destroyed. This official facilitation of long-simmering prejudice on the islands has left migrants subsisting in shanty towns, while charities prop up a populace in desperate need of an effective, empathetic government response.”

Original review of Hurricane Hell, The Times, 2019 by Gabriel Tate

Testimonials

“Nick is a dream director/producer - he shoots beautifully and is a sensitive journalist who can easily manage a range of difficult situations whether a hostile environment or people in distress. He has all the right instincts when making programmes - he sees the big picture but also pays attention to all the detail & legals - and is very experienced and self-sufficient. His films are always very moving. He is an all-rounder in the sense that he can produce, shoot & direct a film alone or direct a programme with a reporter or presenter. They love working with him as do editors, commissioners and production staff. A great talent who I highly recommend.”

Nevine Mabro, Channel 4 Commissioner

“Nick is hugely talented and versatile filmmaker as comfortable working on a gritty observational film about poverty in the north of England as chronicling the impact of IS in Iraq. He can bring the best out of a reporter or work effectively alone. Nick has a real touch for getting subjects to talk naturally and writes economically and elegantly. He is a great all-round talent.”

Ian Katz, Chief Content Officer at Channel 4

“Nick is an incredibly committed, tenacious and hardworking journalist, producer and filmmaker. His naturally curious and persistent nature has meant he constantly wants to get to the heart of an issue in the most empathetic work. He is calm in stressful environments and always determined to seek the truth and give the audience an insight into what life is truly like in some of the world’s most difficult and remote places.”

Yalda Hakim, TV Presenter

“Nick was the ideal producer to work with - creative, constructive, energetic, utterly competent and completely unflappable in stressful circumstances. He combines broad horizons with focussed commitment. Working with him was a delight and the end product far better than it would have been with a lesser producer involved. I am a (considerable) fan.”

Michael Buerk, Broadcaster