Described as “Boyhood meets Billy Elliot” the film, Step By Step, is an inspiring and powerfully positive story of London’s black and ethnic community living in the heart of the Portobello Road in North Kensington. 

For the past fourteen years, award-winning filmmaker Ciarin Scott has been developing an in-depth feature length documentary focussing on the work of unsung hero Mark Elie and his dance school, Portobello Dance, in Notting Hill and the ever changing face of the neighbourhood. 

Mark has devoted his life to black British dance,  inspiring generation after generation to become role models. The film chronicles the work of Mark with his students, notably three unforgettable students, all of whom have gone on to have professional dance careers notably with Ballet Rambert and West End musical Dream Girls.

Kym - Ballet Rambert 

Step By Step is an inspiring film about the work of British dance hero Mark Elie and his London dance school Portobello Dance. A story of hope and dreams coming true, a story of rising against the odds life can cruelly throw at us.

Step by Step is a powerful, positive & warmly human film.
The kind of film that we are trying to make - non-exploitative, positive and humane - is not generally in favour in mainstream television at the moment, and we don't want to water down the story or to create fake ‘conflict’ in the cheap pursuit of ratings.  So we are crowd-funding so that we can make this film for theatrical and festival release and get it to the audience that wants to see positive and powerful stories of human decency.

We are crowdfunding to complete this hugely inspiring film for both national and international theatrical and festival release in order to reach audiences that want - and very much need- to see positive and powerful stories of hope and dreams manifesting. 

Mark Elie in class at Portobello Dance

Why We Need Your Support
Your funding will help us bring this film to a reality – it will pay for the digitisation of a staggering fourteen years worth of footage shot by Ciarin Scott & her team, a labour of love, and it will also pay for the editing of that footage by an award-winning editor into a powerful feature documentary spanning years of hard work, to bring Step by Step to an international audience. 

Only you can help us ultimately give this film a chance to make positive changes in this world. 

The film has already been partly funded by the Irish Film Board – but without further finance, we cannot complete this moving story of hope and triumph without you. 

The Step by Step launch was originally due to take place earlier this year, but was postponed as a mark of respect to the victims, survivors, and families of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the North Kensington community who continue to be deeply affected by the tragically painful and unimaginable events which took place in June. 

Atlantic Film Alliance

L to R Paul Duane, Tony Cranstoun A.C.E.  (Editor), Ciarin Scott, Steve O.Reilly D.O.P. (Director of Photography)
The Atlantic Film Alliance is a multi-award winning independent film company based in Dublin which produces innovative documentaries. We make films about subjects that would otherwise not get made, ones that bring a unique perspective to a subject, be it a person, place or idea. We seek out unsung heroes, inspirational humans who operate under the mainstream radar, and we empower our viewers to form their own opinions. Ultimately we pride ourselves on films about those who do extraordinary things – often against all odds. 

Ciarin Scott - Director and Producer

Ciarín ScottCiarin 
Atlantic Film Alliance is led by Ciarín Scott, an award-winning writer, director, and producer, whose career has encompassed arts and entertainment documentaries, commercials and features. She has directed many feature documentaries, including 'In A House That Ceased To Be', which won the 2015 Irish Film and Television George Morrison Best Feature Documentary Award. Ciarín is a member of The Irish Film and Television Academy, The Screen Directors’ Guild of Ireland, and The Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild. 
Earlier in her career, she directed over 50 award-winning commercials for Irish TV, with clients that includedUnilever, ICI, and Guinness, before taking a sabbatical to write and develop her own screenplays. 

Paul Duane: Executive Producer

Paul Duane has been making films, both drama, and documentary, for over twenty years. In January 2014 he was the only director with two films on Variety's infamous and always accurate annual 10 Directors To Watch list. He produced the 2015 IFTA-award-winning feature documentary In A House That Ceased To Be, and his Grierson & IFTA nominated feature documentary Barbaric Genius was called “enthralling – four stars” by the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw. His documentary on rockabilly bank robber Jerry McGill, Very Extremely Dangerous, was described as “a riveting ride to the wrong side of the tracks” by the Sunday Times. 

Paul’s film, Natan, screened at some of the world's most prestigious and acclaimed film festivals including Edinburgh, Telluride, Lumiére & Pordenone in 2013. Called "an extraordinary, largely forgotten story... a superb documentary,” Natan was nominated for an IFTA in 2014. He co-created & co-produced the IFTA-winning RTE drama series Amber, which achieved record breaking ratings on its Irish broadcast in January 2014, and was sold to US, Australian, Canadian and Scandinavian broadcasters, as well as to BBC4.  

He was also a co-creator of the international hit TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl. He previously directed many of the UK's most internationally successful TV series, including Ballykissangel and Footballers' Wives. 

Catherine Lyons - Producer

Catherine Lyons - Producer

Producer Catherine Lyons is a Dublin-based producer with a background in publishing in London. She is a graduate of Dublin City University and IADT. She established Camel Productions with John Doherty in 1998 and has since produced award-winning documentaries, dance films and drama for the Irish Film Board and Irish television (TG4 & RTÉ) as well as for international screens in festivals in the USas well as European TV (Sky Arts, ARTE etc…) and Arts TV in New Zealand.

Back a Winner 
Ciarín Scott is the winner of multiple prestigious awards.
Documentary Films
In A House That Ceased To Be
Winner: George Morrison Feature Documentary Award, Irish Film & Television Awards 2015
Winner: Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary, Irish Film Institute Documentary Festival 2014
Michael Scott - A Changing Man
Winner: Best Editing Award, Milano Doc Fest 2007 (editor Lawrence Barraclough), Milan, Italy
Runner Up: Arts Documentary Award, Celtic Media Festival 2007
ROSC – a poetry of vision
Winner: Special Gold Jury Prize at the Houston Festival, USA
Winner: Silver Medal at the New York Film and TV Festival, USA
Winner: Jury Award at the International Festival of Art Films, Paris, France
Winner: Jury Award at the Centre National de la Cinematographie, Paris, France
John and The Magic Music Man
Winner: Grand Prix, Besancon Festival, France
Winner: Silver Medal, New York Film and Television Festival, USA
Ciarín Scott is the winner of multiple prestigious awards for her commercials including five Premier Gold Awards at the Kinsale International Advertising Festival (now Shark Awards)

We know not everyone can afford to financially back us but you still might want to help -  by sharing this campaign and posting this to your social media page  or even going old school and telling a friend you will be part of the team that makes this happen.