Lucy Konadu - Ondene

Nothing will deter Lucy from succeeding in basketball. After proving her skills on-court she managed to persuade London’s top all-male basketball team, East London Royals, to take her on. Lucy comments, ‘when playing on the street there was a lot of sexist comments, lots of trash talk because I am a girl. You have to earn your respect and luckily I silenced them with my game.’

Lucy is currently studying Politics and Economics at Goldmiths and understands the importance of education and how class divides have become increasingly blurred: ‘I have friends who have gone to Oxford, but I also have friends with serious drug problems and are either sitting around doing nothing or have two kids at the age of 20, and they come from the same area. I think the difference is in the individuals grounding and also family values – it is not about race or class anymore. I come from a very humble family in East London but then I sit next to Princess Beatrice at my university library. This is what Freestyle is about – the blending of class and race.’

Lucy on Ondene
Ondene is 17 and at the start of the film you’ll see that she’s really shy and follows what her mum says. She’s studious and at a private school, where she does gymnastics and athletics but as the film goes on, she just comes into her own. The film is her journey from being someone she’s not really comfortable with to being someone who is totally comfortable with herself.

Arinze Kene - Leon

Rising star Arinze, landed a leading role in the hit musical Daddy Cool which he subsequently travelled with on its year long European tour. He went on the play the lead role of Simba in the Disney production, The Lion King in the West End. Freestyle will be his first feature film.

Arinze on Leon
Leon is fighting to succeed in life and he needs to win this competition to pay his way through university and that is his drive. Ondene’s mum Hyacinth believes that because Leon is on the basketball courts outside playing ball, because he lives on an estate and because he’s black, he must be a thug but she turns out to be wrong and she finds out later that he’s sitting the same exams as her daughter.

Suzann McLean - Hyacinth

Suzann McLean is a recognised face on British screens with a varied career in film, television and theatre which has most recently included the TMA award-wining theatre production of Looking For JJ. Her television credits include Doctor Who, Casualty, Coupling, Grange Hill and the BAFTA-nominated comedy series Little Miss Jocelyn.

Suzann on Hyacinth
Hyacinth is the mother of Ondene and she’s going through what a lot of mums are going through with their kids. Hyacinth’s desperately trying to guide Ondene into a good education so that she can have a good future for herself. Hyacinth’s own background is similar to Leon’s. She had a hard time [growing up] and had to work really hard to get to where she’s got to today and she wants Ondene to have an easier job of it, so she wants to give Ondene those tools. Ondene, like any teenager, doesn’t want do that right now, she wants to do her own thing so it’s kind of a clash of personalities throughout the film.

Alfie Allen - Gez

Popular young actor and from a leading showbiz family including his famous father Keith, oscar nominated film producer mother Alison, and star singer sister Lily, Alfie has numerous television credits which have most recently included Casualty 1907 as well as the upcoming Freefall for BBC Two. His feature credits have included Atonement directed by Joe Wright, and Flashbacks Of A Fool by Baillie Walsh. Upcoming features include Boogie Woogie, Souled Out and The Kid.

Alfie on Gez
I play Gez who is a bit of a dark character. He’s mates with Dwaine and they’re kind of the bad boys in the film. They get up to no good. He’s one of Leon’s acquaintances. He goes to a house party with Ondene and ends up trying something that’s not on. That’s the kind of person that Gez is.

James Hamilton - Dwaine

James has most recently featured in ITV1’s The Commander as well as playing a supporting role in Noel Clarke’s Adulthood. His theatre credits include Who Asked U? at the Arcola theatre and Hackney Town Hall. He has recently been cast in the leading role for for the pilot See How They Run by Park Village.

James on Dwaine
I play Leon’s older brother and I wouldn’t say he’s the main bad guy but he’s not the nicest of guys. He’s on Leon’s shoulder sometimes, telling him what he’s doing is not correct and that he needs to be more of a man which is Dwaine’s way of saying what his brother is doing is wrong.

Colin Salmon - Joel Carter

Colin is one of Britain’s most renowned actors. He made his feature debut as Sgt. Robert Oswald in the British mega-hit mini-series Prime Suspect 2 in 1992. He went on to play the recurring role of Charles Robinson, M’s Chief of Staff, in the James Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Recent feature credits include Blood: The Last Vampire, Punisher: War Zone, Clubbed and The Bank Job. His television credits include the mini-series Dinotopia, Party Animals, Bad Girls, Hex, and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

Colin on Joel Carter
Joel Carter comes up with the whole project of Freestyle. He’s an ex NBA player. He’s seen what it’s done for the youth of America. When they put on these freestyle competitions, it brings a lot of focus. He’s a good man – we need men like this around to do more things for young people.

Danny John-Jules - Collis

Danny is perhaps best know for his role of The Cat in Red Dwarf, and has taken part in other television shows such as Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, and The Story Makers. Danny’s career has also spanned through film, his first being the 1980s fantasy, Labyrinth, the 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Blade II.

Danny on Collis Collis is a hardworking father. He’s working all hours of the day as a security guard to put food on the table for his kids. He’s really under the thumb, bailiffs are knocking on the door. He’s trying to keep Leon on the straight and narrow studying. He has another son who he sees as a bit of a waste of space, who’s given up and just wants to run around. Collis is just a good upstanding hard working typical West Indian.

Kolton Lee - Director
Kolton is an established Director and Writer. He represented the UK as an international basketball player before turning to sports journalism. He worked for The Voice, and became editor within a year, before becoming news editor for The News on Sunday.

Kolton worked for the BBC before being accepted for The National Film And Television School where he was signed up by a film agent the moment he graduated. He worked on several TV series, including Eastenders before taking on directing projects in New York. Whilst there, he made the acclaimed short film, American Mod, and his play, An Evening with Michael Jordan. Kolton wrote and directed the low budget feature film Cherps for which he won an Independent Spirit Award. Cherps has played in festivals across the world and was recently bought by the BBC to be broadcast as part of their British film season. Kolton’s most recent film Blood was also recently sold to MTV in North America.

Lincia Daniel – Producer
Lincia is developing a dynamic slate of fiction and documentary films. She is currently packaging the drama, Games Men Play which is based on a novel published by The X Press. Written by Michael Maynard, Games Men Play has been developed with the assistance of Screen West Midlands, MEDIA, Moonstone Screenwriters’ Lab, East and the Film Passport programme. It was the first British project to be selected for New York’s Tribeca All Access programme in 2008, and the director is John Akomfrah OBE. Lincia’s Romantic Comedy, Lover’s Rock has been developed with the assistance of PAL Screenwriters’ Lab and she is also developing the environmental documentary Fort McMurray with the Iranian Director, Martin Fazeli.

After gaining a degree in chemistry from London University, Lincia joined the industry as a producer’s assistant working for the independent production company Dawkins Associates . She went on to join the BBC as a researcher and worked her way up to producing and directing for a range of departments including Multicultural Programmes, Schools, and Documentaries. In addition to the BBC, Lincia has produced and directed factual programmes and videos for a range of clients including, Channel Four, Discovery, ITV and IMG/ TWI.

Michael Maynard - Screenwriter
Michael is a talented writer, producer, director, and freelance journalist. His debut novel, Games Men Play was published by the X Press in 1996 . He adapted it into a screenplay and it was subsequently selected for the Moonstone Screenwriters’ Lab. His second screenplay, Lover’s Rock was selected for development at the PAL Screenwriter’s Lab. Michael’s first commissioned, feature-length, radio play. Shades of Black was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the Saturday Playhouse strand. In 1999, he was awarded a Focus on Talentdevelopment prize for his thriller Honour Amongst Thieves. Michael has a love, and detailed knowledge of sport, and enjoys freelancing as a sports producer for television.

Following his success in the “25 Words or Less Competition” in 2004, Michael was selected to develop a screenplay entitled Freestyle for the UK Film Council.