COMPULSORY Signs Writer and Director Mitch Kalisa

COMPULSORY champions the new signing of Mitch Kalisa and welcomes him to the roster after a period of incubation and developing his debut short film 'Play It Safe'. Proving their dedication to narrative storytelling whilst continuing to break new voices in entertainment.

Mitch is a fresh talent in narrative storytelling, using his own experiences to shape rich, diverse and often complex stories. His work is character and performance driven, and he himself highlights otherwise unheard voices.

'Play It Safe', written and directed by Mitch, is a parable on race, focusing on the micro-aggressions experienced by Jonathan, a student attending an affluent London drama school. The lead, played by one of the stars of BBC’s ‘Noughts & Crosses’ and DC’s ‘Wonder Woman 1984’, Jonathan Ajayi, is faced with the all too familiar decision of challenging prejudice placed against him by his peers or staying silent.

Produced and executively produced by COMPULSORY’s Chris Toumazou and Kadri Mahmoud respectively. Completed just before the BLM protests of the summer took hold internationally, the film’s issues became even closer to the global social consciousness, making this release now even more poignant. 'Play It Safe' will make its premiere at world-renowned Austin film festival SXSW this March - a festival COMPULSORY has premiered numerous short films and music videos since its origin.

Mitch’s experience also spans creative consultancy in branded work, helping to shape creative voice’s for bespoke and large brands such as Hackett, Links of London and Beats by Dre. Mitch has brought his authentic style of storytelling to brands with documentary projects and narrative film.

His music video ‘So Real’ for Dirty Danger caught the attention of COMPULSORY founding partner, Chris, in 2018 and created a partnership focused on producing a slate of film projects for Mitch going forward. Chris said of the signing: “From the moment I read his writing it was clear that he was the voice of a new generation. He has a gift of underlining great stories with confident filmmaking, and this is only the start."

Mitch added: “I am beyond excited to be joining the compulsory team, their output speaks for itself - they are amazing people with great taste, crafting some of the best work in the country. I was a fan before I met them and I'm an even bigger fan today having seen how they work.”