River State, Nigeria, April 2017:

Tropical rain bombardes the bonnet of a government issue
jeep. It rests, engine idle, outside the Governor’s office as
its occupants wait for their signal to go in. Sat in the back,
perhaps rather a little out of their depth, is Matt and Tom, aged 19 and 22 respectively. The boys have only just met, having been seperately commissioned to film a project promoting the region, airing on CNN.
“That can’t be good”, Matt gestures for Tom to look out of
the window. Several armed guards, with voices and rifles raised, appear to be arguing with one another in the pouring rain. 
As quickly as the kerfuffle had started, it was all over. A
hand signalled to the driver and just like that the boys were
allowed through for their meeting with the Governor.

Heathrow Airport, 9 days later:

The trip had ultimately been a success. The Governor was
happy and Tom and Matt had both quenched their thirst for
adventure, with all their kit safely back in one piece.
“You know, I’m looking for a house mate in London.”
Tom remarked as their peli cases slowly rode the baggage
belt towards them. “I might take you up on that” replied
Matt, eager to escape his hometown.

Before the summer was up our two young adventurers
found themselves moving into a quaint town house by
Greenwich Park; number 84. Inside the little white house
grand ideas for films and art projects were being concocted late into the night. But such plans would have to wait.
Matt had been offered a job in Kuwait, filming
documentaries.

Halloween night, October 2018, under the Sydney
bridge:

Tom rings Matt with news. After almost a year in Kuwait
Matt then ventured to Australia tackling another
documentary. While itching his mosquito bites, he intently listened to what Tom had to say: “I’m shooting my first feature
film. We need to do this together!” Matt couldn’t have said
yes faster. The documentary game had been an experience,
but a feature film? This was exactly what they had
talked about back at 84.
The boys had a plan. They would take the role of ‘Director
of Photography’ and break it up into two. They would both
handle the visual story telling elements slightly differently,
with Tom concentrating on lighting and Matt concentrating on framing. They knew it was a risk and
pitching the idea to the Director was a real challenge.
Nevertheless, this double DOP strategy allowed the pace of
filming to be increased massively. They shot the entire film
in just 13 days, with the film being nominated for best
cinematography at the Milan international film festival.
Riding high off this success, Tom asked the question, “why
not make this a thing?”. “What,” asked Matt “co-DOP all the time?”. From that point on, the boys pitched
themselves not as individuals, but as a duo. 84 Films was
born.

Where are they now?

Matt and Tom have quickly formed a name for themselves
under the banner of ‘84 Films’, having completed their 5th
feature film in 3 years. During the pandemic they also
moved their attentions towards music videos, having now
DOP’d over 100 music videos and amassing more than 500
million views of their work online.
84 Films has taken the boys to every continent of earth
except Antarctica (yet). They have built an arsenal of
creative film equipment, enough to make Spielberg jealous.
All whilst championing their own, unique formula to
making visual imagery.