- Alumni
- Arts
Arthur joined Millfield at Lower Sixth in 2008 on a scholarship for Modern Pentathlon. Tom joined at the same time on a football scholarship. Arthur was in Holmcroft and Tom, Butleigh. Together they run We Go Again Studios - a creative production studio celebrating its one-year anniversary.
Can you tell us about your time at Millfield School?
Tom: Millfield was incredible, I got to play football every day, live in a house with loads of mates - what’s not to love! But in all seriousness, what I took from Millfield was the exposure (at still a relatively formative age) to so many different cultures, backgrounds and variety of talent that it really opened up how I saw the world. It was inspiring in that sense and an environment that accelerated my maturity.
Arthur: Coming over from Ireland, I was so excited to live and train on this amazing campus to take me to the next level. And it did! Maybe a little too much, as in all honesty I became a bit of a social recluse as I spent most of my time training (pentathlon will do that to you!). But of course, I made some mates for life and look back on those days as such good times.
What were your first impressions of each other at Millfield?
Arthur: Well, this is a strange one. We never actually knew each other; we had a mutual friend that would talk about each of us to the other and that was as much as we knew. However, Tom did present himself to me (and the school) in a rather unforgettable way one year as he performed at the Millfield Talent Showcase with his act officially called Tom Day - ‘Seagull Impersonator’. I’ll let you dig through the archives on that one!
Tom: Squawk!
What have you been up to since leaving Millfield?
Arthur: I gained a sporting scholarship to University College Dublin and went on to compete in both the London 2012 & Rio 2016 Olympics games for Ireland. During my career, I went on to become the European Champion, World Cup Champion and reach a World Ranking of No.2 in the individual rankings. I actually relocated back to Millfield in 2018 to train with Tristan Paris, the fencing coach at the school at the time. It was the most successful season of my life which goes to show the quality of coaching and facilities available at Millfield. I am forever grateful for how everyone welcomed me back as a professional athlete 8 years after leaving as a student.
Unfortunately, my career took a rather abrupt end 1 month prior to the Tokyo Olympic Games after sustaining an unrecoverable injury to my hip. I decided to relocate to London and got accepted into a Master’s at London Film Academy.
Tom: I didn’t go to the Olympics…but I did make a documentary for them! My route since Millfield was graduating from University of York before gaining a scholarship to the National Film & Television School for a masters. Alongside both of these courses I always had set up and ran a small production company with some friends which we went full time with post film school for a couple of years before moving on to become more of an established freelance director in commercials from 2018 onwards. I’ve directed for brands like Nike, Gucci, Adidas, Etihad, Honda to name but a few with my work recognised and awarded. My first feature documentary was released on the Olympic Channel and NBC in 2021.
When did you both reconnect?
Arthur: I had been a long time admirer of Toms directing style online as cinematography was a hobby of mine many years before my sporting retirement. So naturally when I landed in London, I reached out to Tom in the hope to one day hold his coffee on set haha. However, a few months later I had an idea for a project and the next day we both booked flights to Germany and began working together before even meeting in person. Looking back at this moment is the best example of why Tom and I work so well together. We could not have more opposite personalities, but we will always just go for it. The moment we met at 5am in Gatwick airport we became instant friends and have worked with each other ever since.
Tom: We had always followed each other on Instagram and supported from afar and in 2023 Arthur reached out to me with an idea he had for a documentary inspired by his Olympic days. We met up, hit it off right away and got creating together. Truthfully it felt like we’d been mates for all our lives! The documentary didn’t come to anything in the end (as is the way with real people, real stories) but then in Autumn of 2023 we were presented with an amazing opportunity…
Ps. How Arthur went from Olympian to a very very talented cinematographer in the space of two years is absolutely unheard of! Is there anything he can’t do?!
Was this the start of We Go Again?
Tom: Yes. In early September 2023, our production company - We Go Again - was born. Back then it was simply Arthur and I with a vision to take on the big wigs of the documentary world. We managed to secure a contract to produce 5x feature documentaries and 2x short form docs for the coming year - telling the story of the unprecedented sporting history taking place in Saudi Arabia. This journey has given us access to shoot with the biggest names in sport from Cristiano Ronaldo to Novak Djokovic to name but a few, alongside every big name in boxing. Our first film - Battle of the Baddest charted in Netflix’s ‘Top 10 Films’ during its opening week.
Arthur: We Go Again was built upon taking risks and aiming big. It was always destined for us to team up and take on the big players in the industry. Alongside producing documentaries for Netflix, DAZN and other platforms, we’ve also been busy in commercials, with our latest film ‘You Can’t Beat An Original’ for Adidas X Manchester Utd - starring Barry Keoghan - receiving incredible press and reaction! As we approach, We Go Again’s one year anniversary it’s probably the first time we’ve had a moment to stop and take stock of what we’ve achieved together with our team in such a short space of time.
What does the future hold?
Arthur: That’s the exciting part. Our latest documentary ‘Undisputed’ - the all access film into the fight of the century, Tyson Fury Vs Oleksander Uysk comes out this Autumn and we are very very excited for the world to see it. Alongside that, we have a number of commercial projects in the works and also an ambitious development on where we want to take the documentary space.
Tom: I think ultimately Arthur and I are sports people at heart, we love sports stories and getting to tell them is a real buzz and privilege to us. So hopefully more of the same! But we’ve got big plans to grow the business and really build upon this first year momentum to make We Go Again a household name in the sports media space for years to come. Anybody with ideas, brands, stories out there, we’d love to hear from you and hopefully collaborate together!
Arthur & Tom
We Go Again
Instagram: @wegoagain
Website: www.we-go-again.com