About Open The Closed
Our Mission
At Open The Closed, we bridge the gap between storytellers and those with extraordinary stories to tell.
We connect producers, directors and writers of documentary and fiction films and television programmes to insiders from diverse and hitherto closed fields, including elite military, police and national security, to provide you with ide
At Open The Closed, we bridge the gap between storytellers and those with extraordinary stories to tell.
We connect producers, directors and writers of documentary and fiction films and television programmes to insiders from diverse and hitherto closed fields, including elite military, police and national security, to provide you with ideas, anecdotes, credibility and expert review.
And once you've got the story right, we can help you with the practical help and advice to get it made in difficult and dangerous places.
Our Services
For documentary and fiction film and television makers
We can connect you to experts and insiders who have REALLY been to hard-to-reach places:
- The most remote places on earth
- The most elite military and civilian units
- The most extreme human experiences
They can help you get your stories right, and they can help you film safely and efficiently in the world's most difficult places.
They won’t tell you any official secrets, but they will tell you their stories and some of their jokes, and they’ll make sure that what you’re doing rings true.
For those of you with intriguing stories to tell
We can connect you to fiction and documentary film and television makers who we trust, who won’t rip you off, and who will treat you with respect. We can help you shape your pitch and agree your terms. We don’t want your secrets, just your experience, your judgement, your tales, your jokes, your anecdotes, your campfire wisdom. Come and spin us some dits.
We're not flogging secrets
We respect the letter and spirit of UK official secrets legislation and its equivalents among allies worldwide. We're loyal former government servants who want to get good stories out to a wider audience, without compromising national security or the safety of our comrades.
Why us
We only work with people we trust, on both sides of the equation. Nobody’s going to rip anyone off or betray any confidences. We know who’s who in the zoo, who was really on that balcony, who’s a good bloke (of any gender).
We really know what what we're talking about.
How it works
Come to us with your project and we’ll work out whether we can help. If so, we’ll connect you to one or more of the precise people you need to help you make progress. You can chat to each other for an hour, or a day, or over the entire course of a project.
We’ll ensure everyone gets treated fairly, and everyone gets a fair share of proceeds from a project.
We’re flexible on how we get paid – it might be an hourly or daily fee, an introduction fee, a share of profits, or the opportunity to participate in development and production. We'll work it out in consultation with you, depending on your needs, stage of development, and budget.
Contact us for a free, no-commitment, confidential discussion at opensesame@opentheclosed.com
Our people bridge multiple worlds
Our founders Justin Pollard and Rebecca Redding are brilliantly placed to bridge the worlds of storytelling and insider knowledge.
Justin Pollard has worked in television and film, both documentary and drama, for 33 years. His credits include Elizabeth, The Four Feathers, Atonement, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mary Poppins Returns and Mulan. On TV he was Assistant producer on Time Team, historical consultant on all four seasons of The Tudors and Associate Producer on all seasons of Vikings. He also consulted on Peaky Blinders and has written on 20 season of QI for the BBC. He is currently Co-Executive Producer of the new season of MGMs Vikings drama Bloodaxe.
Justin is the author of 11 books including the Amazon bestseller ‘Alfred the Great – the Man Who made England’ and is a regular columnist for History Today and E&T. He was the British Society of Magazine Editors Columnist of the Year 2014 and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Geographical Society.
Rebecca Redding spent 12 years in The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office specialising in national security and has an extensive network of colleagues in defence, intelligence and security. Rebecca has been working to support Ukraine since the full scale invasion in 2022 and has established networks of volunteers and experts to fundraise and deliver essential supplies and equipment. She is an advisor to The World Extreme Medicine Fund and supports its work in Ukraine and its mission to respond to crisis globally.
Rebecca is on the senior management team at Critical Care International an organisation working in austere, remote and resource poor environments to deliver first rate healthcare. She is co-founder of Network a registered charity and social inclusion initiative providing work placement opportunities and mentoring schemes to young people. Rebecca was a co-organiser and proud driver and support team member for the recent Special Forces Club Trek retracing T.E Lawrence’s and the Arab leaders' epic 1917 expedition from Al Wajh in Saudi Arabia across the Nefud Desert and the Hijaz mountains to take Aqaba. This extraordinary challenge has not been done since 1917 and the Trek raised much needed funds for the Special Forces Club Benevolent Fund.
Example biographies
These are examples of just a few of the people we can connect you to. We know them well, we trust them, and they'll do a good job for you.
We'll listen carefully to your plans and connect you to exactly the right person to help shape and deliver your story.
- T recently served in an elite British Special Forces Unit.
- L is an experienced hostage negotiator.
- P is a former diplomat and conflict advisor who has worked in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sierra Leone.
- M is a former senior police officer specialising in counter-terrorism.
- J is an ethical hacker and cyber operations expert.
- H is an expedition photographer and videographer with experience in extreme and hostile environments.
- G is a trauma medic who specialises in conflict zones.