Tommy

Tommy is a short film set within the world of Steve Bracknall and the Royal Oak Sunday League football team. Woven into the wider narrative of the Game's Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast, the film follows club captain, Tommy as his friend and assistant manager, Steve takes him to a men's support group at a local community centre. As Tommy begins to open up about his struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide, the film cuts between his story and the seemingly ordinary lives of his friends and teammates — revealing that, while they care about him, they are largely unaware of what he is going through and are each dealing with their own problems. Gambling addiction, work, relationships, family and drinking are all explored through the characters, while the reconciliation of former teammates Kirk and Wynney provides a quieter reminder of the importance of friendship and connection. The film builds to Tommy's emotional admission, "If I can't play football, what's the f*****g point?", before cutting to a stark message about male suicide and a suicide prevention helpline. Originally released through Steve Bracknall's Instagram channel in May 2026, the film went on to generate more than 700k views, and received over 800 comments of praise and support for the film. It was then reposted in September as part of suicide awareness month, where to date, it has received a further 700k views and over 500 comments.

I co-directed the film with Chris McClure, working to balance the established comedic world of Game's Gone with the more serious and emotionally grounded subject matter of the story. I shot the film on a Sony FX3, using a DJI Ronin 3 gimbal for the moving shots and controlled camera movement. I also edited and colour graded the finished film in Adobe Premiere Pro, shaping the intercutting between Tommy's support group conversation and the parallel stories of his teammates to build the film towards its final emotional beat.