Lights, camera, action! Director from Wolverhampton opens up about life and working with Ed Sheeran, Burna Boy and KSI

Originally from Pendeford, Wolverhampton, 27-year-old Troy found himself reflecting on life and not knowing what his calling was in life, but after by chance picking up a camera with his friend in 2017, he found his passion in life and from that moment on, he never looked back.

After attending Priory Green Primary School, Troy went onto Aldersley High School and from there onto Codsall football academy where his dream was to become a professional footballer. However, after injuring his ankle at around 17 when playing for Lichfield City, he had to stop playing.

From that moment on, he decided to go to university and make his parents proud - he studied marketing, advertising and PR at Worcester University. But after graduating, like many graduates, he struggled to get into the marketing industry and then found himself taking on different kinds of jobs that eventually moved him to London where he worked in sales.

After working in London for a while, he eventually got his breakthrough in marketing but once getting his foot in the door, he soon realised that he didn't enjoy it at all and even became depressed and was looking for something else to do in life.

It wasn't until 2017 where he and a friend decided to pick up a camera, go out and take some shots and when editing those shots, Troy realised he had now stumbled on his calling for life and wanted to make film his life.

Troy said: "I was always that kid at school that was going to make it as a professional footballer and anything I did, was always playing football up to the age of around 16/17.

"Then I went to Codsall football academy where I started doing really well and began playing for Lichfield City but then I got an injury.

"It's that typical story of 'could have been a professional footballer, but I got injured'.

"I did marketing, advertising and PR at Worcester University. Got my degree, left there and then I was like cool, I might as well try use it. But I couldn't get a job in marketing, it was the whole thing of people wanting someone with experience but no one was willing to give the experience.

"I was struggling for ages, trying different things out. Then I got a job in sales, moved to London. Did a load of random finding myself kind of things, then I finally got a job in marketing and realised, 'oh, I don't even like this'. I was depressed. Genuinely depressed and everyday I would think, I hate this.

"But I have always had a creative side to me, even in relation to football, my creativity would be on show and I was a player with a lot of flair. I was very sociable and the captain in the teams that I played in, and so I was at the point of 'how can I display all these abilities that I have in my career?'

"My friend basically got a camera and he was like 'let's go out and take pictures' and so I did that, and whilst out there we said let's try the video setting, got a few random clips of him walking in trees.

"Then when we went back to his place and began editing, I was like 'wow, I am obsessed with this editing process'. It's like I can film something out of nothing and create something that I can show people. It woke something up inside of me. The passion that I had in that moment, I felt the same as I did for football.

"And I had been searching for this for so long. This was in late 2017. I had sat there for around eight hours straight without eating, just editing away, and I was like 'from this moment on, I am going to aim to be the best in the world at doing this'. So from there, I set out on a journey, watching YouTube videos on how to edit, how to create different types of videos.

"And it's just been a journey from there, I've been filming since. I then began doing fashion videos and doing club night videos and began working with music artists, doing their videos."

Troy then joined the same management group as social media superstar, KSI, with manager Mams Taylor taking him on, and from there there he made the transition from a videographer into a director.

Speaking about making the transition into a director, Troy added: "I met KSI's manager and met KSI, then he took me aside and wanted me to do his music video as a director and that was my 'in', and from there it has been a whirlwind. That was in 2020, so since lockdown, it has been crazy.

"Lockdown was crazy and really humbling as it took us back to our roots of not doing anything but it was a beautiful thing for me as that was when I started pushing myself to do things that I had never done before, and it's crazy to think this is my career now.

"So yeah, I grew up in Pendeford, Wolverhampton is a crazy place because the industry that I am in now, no one is from there. The only reason people really know about Wolverhampton is because of the football team. When people ask where I'm from, I say Wolves and then they know by the football team.

"In front of the camera you have some big people from Wolverhampton, but behind the camera there aren't many people.

"This is why I am trying to push more, that anyone from Wolverhampton, we can do it. We can make it.

"I never had that growing up but I would like to do it for youngsters here.

"It is difficult because you walk into some rooms and you stand out straight away with the accent. It is a special ability to have though as in an industry where everyone is the same, you can walk in and start a conversation and people will be like whoa, where are you from? And it's a really special thing to have, and when I first started, people would always mimic me for my accent and I would get annoyed, but now I find it funny and find it flattering. Like yeah, I sound different to you people and I am different but it's cool now.

"I had a friend named Daniel and he was doing videography at the time and doing really well with it. I used to watch his videos and feel like I could do that. But I never really did anything with that feeling, until I had that experience with the camera with another friend and we said let's just try it.

"And it came out of a sort of desperation for wanting to be great and be better and it wasn't until I tried it, that I knew."

Troy says he wants to get the word out to people and from using his own experience, tell people to go out of their comfort zone, try something new and you may find you are amazing at something you never considered or were afraid to try because it is not the 'norm'.

He added: "That is why I tell people now, you have to try things to find your thing.