Engineering Flavour

Project: Short form interview documentary
Role: Director of photography
Producer/Director: Ryan Stott
Commissioners: White Peak Distillery
Format: Online
Camera: Arri Alexa Mini + Zeiss Super Speeds
Lighting: x1 Spark - Aputure 600Ds + Diffusion

This short-form interview profiles Max Vaughan, founder of White Peak Distillery, filmed in the atmospheric Wire Works—the historic home of this Derbyshire-based craft distillery. The piece formed part of a pilot project for a proposed whisky series, exploring stories and craftsmanship behind independent British distilleries.

Behind the Scenes

The idea for this piece was sparked by Ryan Stott, my go-to whisky guru and long-time collaborator. As a fan of all things whisky, the opportunity to finally shoot in and around a working distillery was a dream project. When Ryan reached out in late 2022 to explore a pilot concept, I signed on without hesitation.

White Peak is a small-batch distillery known for its use of local ingredients, commitment to sustainability, and its passion for authenticity—values we aimed to reflect in both the story and the visual language. Inspired by the organic, hands-on approach of the White Peak team, we leaned into vintage lenses, low-contrast filters, and a textured grade to give the piece a warm, lived-in feel.

With limited time on-site and a compact crew, our lighting setup was deliberately minimal—focused mainly on the interview with Max and select product shots. Natural light played a central role in shaping the visuals, aligning with the raw, unpolished spirit of the distillery and its setting in the old Wire Works.