Making Your Mark: Frankie Beirne Talks Skepta, Spies and Sound

Sine Audio, and sound engineer Frankie Beirne, are celebrating the release of its latest short film ‘Tribal Mark’. 

Directed by Hector Dockrill, and co-directed by Skepta and Dwight Okechukwu, the 24-minute film follows the life of Young Mark. An immigrant trying to find his feet, the story follows him while he navigates a new life in London after moving from Nigeria with his mother. As the film progresses, he eventually evolves into ‘Tribal Mark’, played by Skepta himself.

Skepta’s debut film has a ninety percent minority ethnic cast and production team, with a clear mission of tackling issues of racism in front and behind the camera. It’s also the first glimpse of a Tribal Mark universe, complete with a Black Secret Service, that Skepta and Okechukwu have been building since the summer of 2021.

With sound a crucial element, Sine was heavily involved across the film. Working hand-in-hand with the Tribal Mark team, Sound Designer Frankie Beirne aided in constructing the sound design and mix. Frankie also helped in selecting the soundtrack being played on the radio and car stereo throughout the short, selecting tunes from Skepta’s back catalogue to best inform the film. 

Frankie says, “It’s been amazing to be a part of this project. Skepta was one of the soundtracks to my teens, so to be working alongside him to help create this project is something I’m incredibly proud of.” He continues: “The team put a lot of trust in me to help guide this project. It’s an incredibly personal tale and I didn’t underestimate the responsibility we had in helping to tell an authentic story. To work as closely as we did across everything from the sound design to recording the Oja flute played by Ogechukwu D. Azikiwe for Skepta’s composition, was an amazing experience, and really helped me to immerse myself in the experience of the characters. 

“It’s one of those rare projects where the cause is so much more important than the credentials. Everyone involved brought something unique, and to have licence to use my own creativity to shape the audio was a real privilege. It’s amazing to see the film be received so well, and I’m so excited to see where it will go in this next chapter.”

Julian Marshall, managing director at Sine, said, “Getting to work with the team to create an audio landscape that helped to tell the story, was a wonderful experience. There are some brilliant performances, especially from the lead Jude Carmichael, who was receiving his first acting credit. There’s such importance in continuing to tell stories of underrepresented communities, helping those who don’t have the platform to tell their own.” 

After a sold-out Everyman Cinema national tour, ‘Tribal Mark’ appeared at SXSW festival in Austin, Texas which was followed by a Q&A with Skepta himself. This is part of a wider Festival run, with the film appearing in competitions globally this year.