With full access to Dave Tomkins, Dogs of War (1 x 90 min) explores how this former safe blower with an addiction to adventure, ended up on the battlefields of Angola as a mercenary fighting communist-backed guerrillas. Wounded by a landmine, Dave returned home and entered the murky world of espionage, setting up mercenary operations, assassinations and huge arms deals. His exploits became legendary as he accumulated great wealth and lived a lavish jet-setting lifestyle, until a highly dangerous mission in America led to his dramatic downfall. Commissioned by Lucie Kon, Commissioning Editor at Storyville, the film is supported by Screen Scotland and will be distributed internationally by Sphere Abacus.
Alan Clements, Managing Director and Executive Producer, Two Rivers Media, says: “Dave Tomkins’ epic rise and fall is astonishing. Bringing stories like this alive forms a big part of our work and we want to thank Dave, his associates and the men who finally caught him, for allowing Two Rivers to bring Dave’s story to the screen for the first time. This is the type of visceral story-telling we love.”
David Whitney, Director, comments: “However dangerous the opportunity, Dave took it; a mission to kill the President of Togo, secret work for US intelligence, attacking Colombian drug cartels and many more. Who would have thought that this working class safe blower from London would operate at the heart of this deadly trade for over 30 years? I’m thrilled to be able to tell this story.”
Mark Thomas of Screen Scotland adds: “Screen Scotland are delighted to be supporting Two Rivers with their second Storyville commission Dogs of War and congratulate David Whitney on his follow-up to Killing Escobar. Two Rivers continue to deliver quality feature documentaries for network broadcast, firmly rooted in Scotland.”
Jonathan Ford, Managing Director, Sphere Abacus, says: “Dogs of War gives a snapshot into the world of modern mercenaries and illicit arms trafficking through the story of one man. It’s very rare to get a glimpse into such a covert and dangerous world so we jumped at the chance to be involved with this fantastic project.”
This commission follows the recent announcement of Two Rivers’ feature documentary commission The Last Musician of Auschwitz for BBC Arts. Keeping It Up, the RTS award-winning feature-length documentary on the story of Viagra, was broadcast by BBC Two’s Storyville in December. Two Rivers’ portfolio of access documentaries also includes Cassius X: Becoming Ali for Smithsonian, Marine A for Channel 4 and The Ice Cream Wars for BBC Scotland and BBC One.
Dogs of War is Executive Produced by Alan Clements for Two Rivers Media and Produced and Directed by David Whitney, winner of the BAFTA Scotland award for Best Director (Factual) for his previous BBC film Killing Escobar.
