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Nigel grew up on the East Coast and soon found he had a passion for music. Like many young music lovers he fell in to the music industry by accident, his older brother played drums in a band.

Nigel Ward playing at the Cavern Club

"The singer left town, my brother decided he wanted to be the singer, but that would leave them without a drummer and I got the gig. I played at the Cavern Club when I was 15, that was right in the middle of the Liverpool beat. I got caught up in the whole scene and never did knuckle down into a career."

Nigel went on to play in various bands throughout the 70s, but soon became interested in the technology of music making and started work as a recording engineer. His love of music progressed as he began to arrange and compose orchestral music and he soon found himself working as a composer in Europe.

"I was composing music for TV. It wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds, because most of it was jingles for pots and pans. Very occasionally something exciting came up, like a small art film soundtrack."

In 2001 Nigel was suffering with health problems and as his parents were very elderly, he made the decision to move back to the UK. All this took its toll and he fell into depression.

In 2004 however, things were about to change when a young man called Adrian knocked on Nigel's door looking for his help.

"I tried to discourage him, as I was in deep depression. He insisted he needed help because he wanted to make a short film. Here we were in Whitby, not the kind of place you find people with studio experience, and if I didn’t help him, no-one would."

Images from Small World

Nigel, Adrian and Helga (Nigel's partner) made a seven-minute short film called 'Nab', shot on the seafront in Whitby. On the strength of the success of that film they produced two more, 'The Language of Flowers' and 'Freyja’s Gift'.

Their latest film, 'Small World' is unusual, as Nigel explains: "We improvised, there’s no script. We acquired a cast by word of mouth, we didn’t hold any auditions. We just kept picking up people who were willing to help and lend things."

With little to no budget 'Small World' took two years to make and Nigel puts the success of the film in the hands of the local community.

"Look at the credits next time you watch a movie and you see a list of hundreds of very well trained and experienced people. Behind all that is a phenomenal amount of money. We’ve made a film, I’m not suggesting it competes in terms of production standards. What’s made it possible is 150 people chipping in with something. Whether it be a vase or a waterfall on their grounds. All these things that have made the film really magical, and a bit surreal, is the culmination of people’s good will."

Nigel has entered 'Small World' into the Bradford International Film Festival and hopes to begin shooting another film in spring 2010.

"It’s nice to get a little bit of recognition for the guys in the cast because some of them have ambitions. If 'Small World' helps them with that, that’s wonderful."