About the Film

In 2013 I made Ambition Lab, a youth documentary film for the Newcastle charity The Key, exploring how young people discover passion, purpose and direction. The film asks a question that shapes so many young lives: what do you want to be when you grow up? What we found went far beyond job titles.

Beyond Job Titles

From the film’s opening moments, young people speak with raw honesty about their futures. “I want to become a psychiatrist in the future.” “I want to be a film director.” “I don’t know… because I don’t think I’ll ever grow up.” As a youth documentary film, Ambition Lab explores not just what young people want to become, but why, and how they sustain that motivation over time.

Intrinsic Motivation

At the heart of Ambition Lab is Self-Determination Theory, which holds that lasting motivation comes from within rather than from external reward or fear. “When I find something I like, it seems very easy for me just to get on with it,” says one contributor. Others reflect on the cost of ignoring that instinct. “It can be quite upsetting meeting somebody who’s 55 and they suddenly realise they’ve spent their whole lives trying to please other people.”

Autonomy, Relatedness, Competence

The film draws out three psychological needs that Self-Determination Theory identifies as essential: autonomy, the sense of being in control of your own choices; relatedness, feeling connected and valued; and competence, feeling capable and skilled. Building trust and connection with contributors mattered just as much behind the camera as it does within the film’s subject matter. “Tim’s reaction made me want to continue doing it,” one young person recalls, “because up until then I’d never done anything that anybody actually turned around and said that’s amazing.”

Career Paths Are Rarely Straight

Ambition Lab challenges the idea of a single, linear career path. Several contributors described their working lives as a series of meanders rather than a straight progression. “I’ve zigzagged all over the place,” says one. “I’m just about to start my fifth career in the House of Lords.” That openness to changing direction runs through the whole film.

Young People as the Solution

A recurring message in Ambition Lab is that young people already hold huge reserves of motivation, and that the real task is building environments where that motivation can thrive. “Young people aren’t the problem, they are the solution,” says one contributor. The Key’s approach of gradually handing over responsibility, until young people are leading their own projects, runs right through the film.

Redefining Success

Ambition Lab ultimately reframes success away from money or status and towards personal fulfilment. “Success is achieving what you feel is personally fulfilling for you,” one contributor reflects. “Possibly the question can be answered by saying, so am I happy?”

Reflections

More than a decade on, this youth documentary film remains one of the projects I am most proud of. It captured young people’s resilience, honesty and humour at a time when career uncertainty and mental health were, and still are, ever present. On a personal level, the film marked a turning point for me, the first time I thought of myself not simply as a videographer but as a filmmaker, and it shaped how I have approached documentary work ever since.

Ambition Lab would not have been possible without the vision of The Key, the Newcastle charity behind the project, whose work helps young people build confidence, skills and self-belief by designing and delivering their own projects. You can find out more about their work at thekeyuk.org.