TURN UP THE BASS, a short documentary about the remarkable story of a renowned deaf DJ Troi Lee, is one of five films released by Netflix as part of its Documentary Talent Fund.
The Netflix Documentary Talent Fund was created in 2020 to break down barriers to access for emerging filmmakers. The initiative also provides filmmakers with a foundation of knowledge and hands-on training to allow them to flourish in their careers.
The filmmakers from across the UK and Ireland, received £30,000 to create a documentary short film on the theme of “connection.” The films were showcased at a premiere event at London’s Ham Yard Hotel last night and are now available to watch via Netflix’s YouTube Channel Still Watching, which has 6.3 million subscribers.
Back in June 2023, we spoke to Troi Lee and filmmaker Caroline Williamson just after they were awarded the funding by Netflix to create TURN UP THE BASS. Seven months on, we got the opportunity to speak to them again to find out how the production of the film went and whether the film met their expectations.
TURN UP THE BASS synopsis
This is the inspirational story of Troi Lee, aka DJ Chinaman, who pioneered the UK’s deaf rave scene. From his early days organising house parties and getting rejected by music venues to performing for thousands of deaf and hearing people alike at major music festivals including Glastonbury.
Troi has dedicated the last 20 years to breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for deaf artists and performers, struggling against prejudice to show that deaf people can also enjoy, experience and make music.
In the film, we join Troi as he puts on his 20th-anniversary show in London – showcasing deaf and disabled dancers, MCs, rappers and sign singers. Through heavy bass and deep vibrations, he connects audiences through the universal language of music.
Speaking to us ahead of the film release, Troi Lee said:
“I’m a man of all flavours. I think that comes down to my roots and I’m very lucky that it came from my roots and especially my upbringing in Hackney. Hackney was a very multi-diverse community when I was growing up and to this day, so it’s obvious that I’ve learnt so much from my upbringing in Hackney to produce the work that I do
“It’s a great advantage – Hackney’s famous for music! I like electronic dance music, Black music, all kinds of music and all these different genres really rubbed onto me. I’m outgoing and I like to engage with all kinds of people.
“So it defines me as who I am and not only that, I get that experience of what I’ve learnt from and then introduce it to the deaf community because I’m kind of like the bridge in between both worlds – if you want to put it that way.”
Pre-production and finding the right diverse film crew
Throughout the year, the teams took part in Netflix-hosted workshops covering all aspects of production including legal, creative, HR, production and finance. They were supported by a mentorship programme that gave each team a strong network of industry figures to guide them throughout the filmmaking process.
Caroline Williamson, the Executive Producer of TURN UP THE BASS, told us about the support Netflix gave them to produce this film:
“The first job was to find the right director for the project. We were really lucky to find Ted Evans who went to school with Troi and knows him from back in the day, as they grew up in Hackney together, so they already had this great relationship.
“It was really important it was somebody from the deaf or disabled community. Ideally, someone from the deaf community who understood Troi’s story and maybe had some personal experience and going to these deaf events over the years.”
Caroline continued: “In terms of the workshops, they weren’t really workshops but some online training and courses. We were given a mentor, a guy called Ed Lovelace, who has also made a film about a deaf contributor called Name Me Lawand. So that was really great to have his insight into the filmmaking process.”
As well as Ted Evans, who came on board through word of mouth and was also the director of the BBC documentary Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs for Change, a majority of the crew for TURN UP THE BASS were from the deaf and disabled community. This included their assistant director Sam Arnold who also worked on Name Me Lawand.
Caroline explained a bit about how they got the team together:
“Firstly, we started putting shoutouts on social media. Places like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook have lots of groups for deaf and disabled filmmakers, freelancers and creatives, so that was our first port of call and we reached out to the right organisations and made sure we advertised the roles as widely as we could.”
Troi added his thoughts on having a crew of deaf and disabled people work on this project:
“It was such a pleasure to have Galore Productions and Caroline herself to do this kind of documentary because it’s really unique in some ways.
“Overall everyone loved being involved in the project. Especially as it was, how do I say it, deaf led. Not very often that we get that kind of people leading or deaf community leading this kind of project in some ways. So yeah, it was cool and we thoroughly enjoyed it.”
The filmmaking process for TURN UP THE BASS
Once the production plans were in place and the crew members confirmed, the filming began. Caroline told us more about what the filmmaking process was like:
“It was good and I was exec producing so I had a bit more of a hands-off role but the filming went really well. It was all filmed around Troi’s stomping ground around Hackney. So all the locations were places that he grew up in and knew really well.
“We got permission to film in a record shop. We did a beautiful master interview with Troi but the main focus of the filming was on his 20th anniversary event, which was held in Hackney at the Rich Mix. That was a big thing for us to film – this celebration of Troi’s journey over the last 20 years.
“But also the project was a combination of footage that we originally shot and archives. We had a huge wealth of archive footage to sift through – old VHS tapes and old camera tapes from back in the day. Troi just gave us a box of all these tapes, and we went through them to find these gems from back in the day – before the days of iPhones. So that was a big job, finding the right archive footage to tell the story.
“It was really fun as well, being able to look back on the last 20 years of Troi’s journey from putting on house parties in East London to performing at Glastonbury and going to Number 10 Downing Street. He’s had this incredible career and it was really cool trying to pick the right footage and photos to tell that story.”
Celebrating Troi Lee’s 20 years in music
In the documentary, we follow Troi as he puts on his 20th-anniversary show in Rich Mix, East London, celebrating 20 years of ‘deaf rave’ and showcasing his protégées of deaf and disabled breakdancers, MCs and sign rappers. Many of these performers also featured in the film, including Sign Kid and MC Geezer.
Troi explained a bit more about the variety and diverse range of people who took part in the 20th-anniversary show:
“The last festival event that we did back in October was my 20th anniversary show. So I wanted to do something really special and that included hiring somebody from America – the number one, I would say, the goat of a deaf hip-hop artist and bring him over to inspire our audience.
“But in terms of different variety of performances, of all different ethnics, it’s such a cool thing to do because I only want to encourage and Inspire the future deaf generation and to see all these wonderful performers as role models – that’s my job.”
Troi also shared some of the events and projects he has lined up in 2024:
“We’re doing a lot of different stuff this year. For example, I’ve started to get into the education system for the schools. We’ve now got a program for a deaf unit in a mainstream school, offering an eight-week DJ course. It’s the first ever in history, in mankind, on this planet that we’re doing this kind of stuff. Nobody’s doing what we’re doing – not for deaf children anyway. So again, it’s another barrier broken down.
“We also have a whole bunch of festival bookings coming down the road in the summer. Big ones Love Save The Day, Baltar, and I’m trying to work on Glastonbury.”
Troi added: “We’re slowly getting into other different sectors such as theatre with something completely different, which is my Woojer vibration backpack.”
The benefits of the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund
We concluded the interview by asking both Caroline and Troi if they would recommend the Netflix Documentary Talent Fund to other aspiring disabled filmmakers and artists.
Caroline said: “Definitely. I think it’s a unique fund and a unique kind of process. I think there should be more funds in place like this to champion ideas that might not necessarily be commissioned as a mainstream feature-length film, but work really well as a short-form documentary.
“I would absolutely encourage other people to take part in the process and apply. I think the stories that Netflix go for, it gives them the opportunity for them to take risks, to go for unusual stories to champion underdogs. I think with the stories that it has gone for, they’ve been quite bold and brave and gone for a really exciting kind of under-the-radar ideas. I definitely think there is more scope to make more stories like this and to do the fund again.
“It’s also special and unique because it gives directors and crew opportunities that might not necessarily come about without the funds.”
Troi said: “Of course, we were breaking down barriers. We’re trying to open more doors for the deaf and disabled. So if I can do it, they’re going to be the next lot doing it. We want to inform the world that there are many different characters within the communities and their story needs to be told.”
He added: “I’m very grateful that Caroline pitched it and made it work and Netflix gave us the opportunity to show that deaf and disabled people in a documentary is valid, viable and accessible and to inform the mainstream that deaf people like music, so we can break down the myth that we do like music. Everyone should know on this planet. We get this question all the time – ‘How do deaf people hear music?’ – Man, we feel it, simple as that!”
You can watch TURN UP THE BASS via Netflix’s YouTube Channel Still Watching.
You can follow Troi Lee on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can find out more about Caroline Williamson by visiting her website Galore Productions and following her on Instagram.