Oakwood’s William is disaffected, angry and vulnerable. I was that kid.

Oakwood had me hooked from the first page: a disaffected young man, standing in a field, reeling off everything he hates about the Great British countryside. Angry and smart yet vulnerable and naïve, he was the English Holden Caulfield. When I finished reading the script for the first time, I scribbled down four words on the front page.

‘I was that kid.’

William crashes a tractor on his first driving lesson, I crashed my Dad’s car into a field. William wants to be in a band and play punk music, I used to DJ in my local pub for a few years playing obscure East Coast hip hop to bemused old men. William’s father wants him to stop daydreaming and take over the farm, while my parents were (understandably) less than ecstatic when I told them I wanted to be a director.

Besides the personal connection, my previous short films had been high concept, technically tricky stuff and I think I was looking for a simpler story with rich characters and a theme that resonated. 

Coming from a small town in Fife, I understood William’s need to escape and I thought writer Simon Longman had realised the family very well - they are funny and flawed and care for each deeply although they’d never say it out loud. 

Simon also has a good ear for believable dialogue so I did my upmost to respect the precision and brevity of his words.

The story of a teenager suffocated by all this wide-open space, struggling to make some noise in the silence endeared itself to me.

William’s story is about finding the courage to follow your dreams even if you mess it up on the first few goes. As a wannabe director, I understand that struggle. 

Andrew Cumming is the director of Oakwood.

Oakwood is available to watch and download from Friday, 10 July at 9pm in BBC iPlayer.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.