In 2017, Derek directed his first film.

Nadja’s Song is a one-woman opera written by Lucy Armstrong (Music) and David Spittle (Words). It is based on the 1928 novel Nadja by André Breton.

Commissioned by Bergen National Opera and written specifically for singer Ingvild Schultze-Florey, the opera had been performed on stage in Norway and the UK. Derek was approached to direct a film version of the piece, with the intention of creating a piece for camera that still gave a strong flavour of the live experience. You can see the end result here:

Later in 2017, Derek wrote his first screenplay. Pretty was directed by Chris Green and starred Lucinda Sinclair (who also produced) and Mairi Barclay.

The film has won two Oniros awards for August 2017 (Best LGBT Film and Best Actress for Lucinda Sinclair) and an L.A. Shorts award for September 2017 (Best Film).

After a preview in Manchester, Pretty was officially premiered on 24th November 2017 as part of the Birmingham Film Festival.