After working in the creative industries for over 50 years, Pen Densham’s list of achievements stretches as long as your arm. As founder of Trilogy Entertainment Group, he has written, directed and produced numerous films, including “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” “Backdraft,” “Moll Flanders” and “Houdini,” as well as TV versions of “The Outer Limits” and “The Twilight Zone.” He was mentored by Norman Jewison, decorated by Queen Elizabeth II, and received two Oscar nominations. He left school at 15 and hasn’t stopped working since.
However, when you ask him what he would like to be remembered for, he doesn’t mention any of. “I didn’t want to be seen as ‘successful,'” he says today. “I want to be seen as someone who stumbles, keeps exploring, and never lets his dreams die.”
It’s a disarming sentence, but entirely consistent with his philosophy. As it turns out, it’s not built on mastery, but on a willingness to be imperfect in public. Get over your inner critic and do your job. Even – and especially – when no one thinks it’s a good idea…
The price of retreat
Pen was born in Ruislip, Middlesex, in 1947 and grew up surrounded by cameras. His father made theatrical shorts, and he was dragged to sets from an early age (partly, he suspects, because his parents couldn’t afford a nanny). When he was four years old, he rode a live crocodile in a show. The camera felt like magic from the start.
Pen Densham rides a crocodile in short film ‘Strange Cargo’
Pen Densham reflects at age 15. Photographed at his New Forest home
Photo by Pen Densham. Filmed at Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, 25-9-65
“Mick” by Pen Densham. Filmed at the Rolling Stones concert at the Gaumont Theater in Southampton, 25-9-65
But his childhood was fraught with difficulties. His mother died when he was 8 years old, only 32 years old. His father later married a woman whom Pen described as “a real Cruella de Vil on LSD.” She was an alcoholic who tried to place Pan and his siblings in care. At 14, he spent time in an orphanage and was accused of being a “megalomaniac” for his love of photography.
“This difficulty gave me a strong desire to protect the creativity of others,” he recalls today. “When you’re trying to create something that doesn’t exist yet – something ephemeral, with no flight path – and you have a gut feeling that it can be achieved, having someone constantly stepping on you gave me a feeling that I wanted to reciprocate.”
It was an inspiring English teacher, DJ Moss, who changed the course of his life. He ignored Pan’s poor handwriting and poor spelling and gave him the school photography award, two articles in the school magazine and a starring role in the school play. Many years later, once Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves When he landed one of Warner Bros.’ biggest movies ever, Penn found him in retirement and called him to say thank you.
“I asked the school to give me his phone number, which I thought was really important,” he said, visibly moved as he recounted the story. “I said: ‘You may not remember me at all, but I want you to know.'”
This anecdote points out what he considers Pen’s most important lesson for any creative: not about technique or timing, but about sheer cost Do nothing. “My errors of omission cost me far more than my errors of commission,” he explained. “Those places where I held back because I felt embarrassed or thought I looked too aggressive — those places where I allowed myself to hold back — those are things I regret.”
Writing scripts that don’t sell
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is an example of this principle in action. Pen is not developing this as a business proposition. He recently had a son and wanted to write about “altruistic heroism.” The story revolves around a spoiled baron’s son who learns that he is willing to die for the children of peasants, a Muslim and a Christian working side by side.
Pen Densham on set for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner, with Christian Slater in the background
Pen pitched the idea to three studios. Everyone told him it was the stupidest idea they’d ever heard. They say no one wants to see a movie with a sword when a gun is the main character. He wrote it anyway. “This is what I call a life script,” he explains. “Something born of unconscious passion. I needed to write it to explore myself and never thought it would turn out like this.”
His typist said she thought it was a good idea and would help in any way she could. The pen started writing. Featuring a cast that included Kevin Costner, Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman, the film became one of Warner Bros.’ highest-grossing films of all time. Bryan Adams’ song “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” reached number one in 19 countries.
However, for Peng, these are not the point. The point is that he wrote this movie because he must. He believes the same principles should apply to all creative work…whether it reaches an audience or not.
Pen Densham Joins Kevin Costner on ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’
This philosophy stems in part from an incident early in his career. Renowned director Norman Jewison was impressed by Pang’s first play as an independent writer/director and offered to mentor him into Hollywood. But he almost turned him down.
“I didn’t think I was good enough,” he recalls. “That was my imposter syndrome. Luckily, Norman could see how good I could be. That’s one of the things I love to share: the imperfections I’ve experienced in my career. I want to make imperfection the norm; experimentation is justified and rejection is part of the learning process.”
put down the camera
In addition to being a filmmaker, Pen has always been a keen photographer. He photographed the Rolling Stones at age 17, sold photos as a teenager, and spent time doing industrial photography. But over the years, his still images failed him. He shot Kodachrome slides according to the rules, keeping the camera still. But the result feels emotionally flat. He gradually put the camera aside and devoted his visual energy to the film. Until one day his teenage daughter picked up his old Nikon… and it was a revelation.
“Her untrained image-making was more fluid and ethereal than mine,” recalls Pan. “She didn’t follow the rules. She was just exploring.” The digital Lumix LX2 given to him for Christmas started a new chapter.
Aquaessence by Pen Densham. Part of the Wavelife series. Shot on Oahu, Hawaii, 2019
Life of the Wind by Pen Densham. Part of the Wavelife Nocturne series. Shot on Oahu, Hawaii, 2019
At sunset, Peng waded into the Hawaiian ocean, holding his camera high as waves crashed into him. As they retreated, he lowered his camera inches from the flowing water and captured images of what he describes as “these swirls of water and light and color.” He showed them to his friends. People say they’re cool.
What follows is a long process of what Pan calls “unlearning.” In Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, the black, grainy water acts like a moving mirror. As the boat ripples in the light, Pen begins to move the camera, revealing unexpected shapes, stripes, and sculptures in his images.
Pan began thinking about Inuit concepts from his collection of Native American art; the sculptor’s idea of releasing animals from soapstone was not to impose a form but to discover one. “I started approaching what was in my photos by saying ‘I don’t know what this is,’ rather than ‘This is what it should be,'” he explains. “I realized that a lot of photography is about teaching us what we should do to make a photo look like other people’s good photos.” I decided not to do it anymore. “
“We Come From the Water” by Pen Densham. Photographed in Lake Huron Series, Ontario, Canada, 2022
“Wavelength” by Pen Densham. From the Napa Crimson Collection. Photographed in Napa Valley, 2013
Pen’s editing process is intentionally simple. Apple Photos, a few plug-ins, noise reduction software are run multiple times, and adjustments are layered in until something clicks. The inner critic remained (he quotes it vividly and in detail), but he learned to overcome it. “It does get emotional when it feels right,” he said. “I get choked up when I’m working on a photo and then it comes together.”
His impressionistic studies of water, trees, koi ponds and waves now hang in Los Angeles galleries and in private collections from California to Monaco. He also collected them in a book, Quaglia – named after a philosophical term that describes a sensory experience that resists verbal description – he offers as a free download.
what happens next
Pan was honest about the reception he received. “I found that the photography community was not particularly receptive to my work,” he says. “But there are people in the art world who are crazy about it. And I’m on a journey to let go of the dogma of the art that I love.”
“Dragon’s Gate” by Pen Densham. Part of the Dragon Gate Koi series. Photographed in Los Angeles, California, 2014
“Pen’s Koi Pond and Reflections of Flowers” by Pen Densham. Part of the Dragon Gate Koi series. Photographed in Los Angeles, California, 2009
Anything Is Possible by Pen Densham. Part of the Plant Life series. Photographed at the Guggenheim Museum in Balboa, Spain, 2019
He still doesn’t have a clear destination in mind, but doesn’t seem bothered by that fact. “I’m excited to see the results I continue to achieve,” Pan enthuses. “I would love to truly contribute to photography; to be recognized as having a style worthy of contributing to the medium I love. But right now, that’s not the point. For now, just seeing what happens next is enough.”
No matter what your creative discipline is, if you’re struggling with self-doubt, market pressure, or the fear of looking stupid, this is a perspective worth embracing. In Pen’s world, stumbling yes focus. The dream must stay alive.
