Meet the Leeds couple creating documentaries from the loft of their home

From a loft in their home in Leeds, a husband-and-wife team are making big plans. The space is currently the hub from where they produce documentaries shining light on creative individuals in Yorkshire. But their ambition is to make feature-length factual films from a studio of their own.
By Tom Coates
Published 13th Jan 2023, 11:50 BST

James and Vicky Wall, both 36, make up the team behind Creative Stories. The company, which is still in its infancy, currently operates from their house in Woodlesford. “Currently, we're working from home. We have a loft space which is like our creative hub and we just do it from there really,” James says. “We'd love to have our own studio, that would be the absolute dream. We get extremely jealous when we visit these creatives. We just think 'one day'.”

Vicky is a mental health practitioner within the NHS, whilst James has a background in filmmaking. Vicky explains: “It works really well, I think. I work for the NHS and work with children and young people as a mental health practitioner. I've used this set of skills when we're interviewing. James has taught me about filming so I get really excited when I see some of my shots in the film, because that's obviously not my background. We love it, it just works and we've learnt a lot from each other.”

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One of the pair’s documentaries tells the story of Siobhan Murphy, star of BBC’s Interior Design Masters. In the documentary, Siobhan gives a tour of her 1930s Art Deco home and discusses her journey. James says: “Vicky naturally chats to people and they feel really comfortable talking to her. Whether we're at a wedding or sitting round a table or with friends, people like to chat to her. She's a very creative person but doesn't really have an outlet like I do professionally. We thought we'd do one [film] and see what it was like. I do the technical side of it and Vicky sits in the hot seat.

James and Vicky Wall, both 36, make up the team behind Creative Stories. Image: Steve RidingJames and Vicky Wall, both 36, make up the team behind Creative Stories. Image: Steve Riding
James and Vicky Wall, both 36, make up the team behind Creative Stories. Image: Steve Riding

"We both ask questions but my brain works more of a story. While we're asking questions, I'm thinking about how we can make this a full story that follows an arc. Vicky knows when they are ready to open up about something. She just seems to know when to ask the next questions, she's got the intuition.”

The documentaries were initially being released under James’ name, but he admits this felt unfair. James says: “It was all under my name because I had a bit of an audience online with some subscribers on YouTube. We were making them under by name but it didn't really feel fair because it wasn't really me, it was the pair of us making them in equal parts... Creative Stories has been going for about six months but we've been making these documentaries for about three years now.”

He adds: “We've got a lot of people lined up to interview. We want to continue bringing a voice to local creators but we're open to going a bit outside of Yorkshire as well. We really like meeting people. We want to keep doing this, making more documentaries. We are thinking of bringing in hired work and we'd really like to make a feature-length documentary. That's the overall aim.”

Related topics:Siobhan MurphyLeedsYorkshireNHSBBC