Writer-director Calum Rhys was born on 15 July 1993 in Cheltenham, England. At 11 years old, Rhys began making short films with his father's camera and over time began slowly expanding upon these to broaden his knowledge and experience in film. In 2010, he founded production company Smashing UK Productions in Worcester. While studying a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Product Design at York St John University, he shot short films with friends, where he further learned to harness guerrilla filmmaking techniques which he utilised in many of his early films. Shortly after graduating from university, Rhys went on to make the award-winning short war drama, Our Father (2015), which premiered at the 69th Cannes Film Festival and went on to receive 14 award nominations and 3 wins during its festival run. In 2019, Rhys began development on his forthcoming project, Divided We Stand (2020), with a further short film and a debut feature in development for the early 2020s.