TABLETOP was created by two brothers and their spouses who, after a decade on different continents, have teamed up in London to make striking films on their own terms.

The film began as a question: What's left of the real me?

In our careers in advertising, commercial photography, and hospitality we’ve made our livings eliminating flaws, polishing images, and delivering the brief to the letter, just like The Photographer in our film. We’re very good at what we do. But after decades of meticulous service to others, we made this film as a warning to ourselves: Never lose touch with your inner light.

In making Tabletop, we were determined to elevate our craft to create a striking and honest human story. This is a character study told without dialogue, shot entirely in-camera without use of digital effects or AI, built wholly on the natural interplay of sound and light.

The piece was produced in our own real, working photography studio. We designed bespoke in-camera optical effects using vintage lenses and hand-built modifiers, capturing every optical artefact practically. What’s on screen is what was really there. The approach mirrored the film's central theme: Embrace the beauty in the flaws.

But what our courageous actor Ania Marson communicates, entirely through her presence and physical expression, is the thing we're most proud of.

The Photographer's struggle to eliminate a prismatic flaw becomes a painful journey into self-discovery and liberation. For our audience, it could represent any repressed aspect of identity, including creative passion, spirituality, gender or sexuality.

By eliminating dialogue to focus on the visual narrative, we hope to tell a universally human story about recognising beauty in imperfection, in nature and in ourselves.

Adam/Jason/Lucy/Joe