The Rob Knox Foundation, Fighting Knife Crime

It is truly unnerving to see the increase in knife-related crime that is spreading across the UK and according to the Office for National Statistics it has risen by 4% in England and Wales in the year ending June 2024. In 18% of the cases, offenders were juveniles aged between just 10 and 17 years of age, and an average of four people are being fatally stabbed each week.

The trauma these acts of violence cause, not just to the victims but the families and loved ones is distressing and life changing, especially when lives are lost. The ripple effect of the tragedies imprint on all of those involved, including the emergency service workers who have to handle the consequences.

In 2007, up-and-coming teen star Rob Knox landed his biggest role as Ravenclaw’s Marcus Belby in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Four days after filming had finished in May 2008, Rob went out to celebrate with his brother and friends in Sidcup, when his life was unexpectedly taken from him in a horrendous knife attack. Rob was only 18-years-old with his whole life and acting career ahead of him, he was an inspiration to family and friends and made a big impression on many others.

Rob’s parents, Colin and Sally, set up The Rob Knox Foundation to remember their son and ensure he did not die in vain. Close friend and film director Aaron Truss later joined them as a trustee. The goal of the foundation is to raise funds to educate young people about the dangers of street violence, the importance of respect and making the right choices.

Aaron and Rob met in their local neighbourhood before going to D&B Theatre School to train as actors. They organised and performed in productions together and joined the school’s casting agency which led to them both auditioning for TV shows like The Bill. Whilst at university, Aaron was set a challenge by his lecturer to shoot, edit and finish a short film in just 48 hours. He worked in a supermarket at the time and this is where Employee of The Dead was born. In one of the best nights of Aaron’s life, they pulled off the impossible and shot a comedic zombie horror film in Sainsbury’s Chislehurst on a night shift. Rob got into his role as store manager Mr Rose and Aaron as Harry, they filmed through the night and got straight into the editing suite at the crack of dawn. It was then screened at a pub in Ealing but unfortunately, Rob would never see the finished film.

In 2021 Aaron made a heartfelt documentary, (K)nox: The Rob Knox story, telling the story of Rob’s life and with the hope of creating awareness surrounding knife crime and the devastating impact it has on people. It features Rob’s family, friends, some Harry Potter cast members and actor Ray Winstone. A follow-up short documentary called (K)nox: 16 Years Later has now been made and is due for release on 15 March 2025.

As requested by Rob’s dad, Aaron took over the annual Rob Knox Film Festival, which was started to honour the legacy of Rob. The festival has allowed young and upcoming film makers and actors from all over the globe to showcase their work and skills to industry professionals and audiences, giving them the start needed to make an impact in a competitive industry. It is a non-profit event with all proceeds going towards the foundation.

I met Aaron last year and was deeply taken by how passionate he was in keeping Rob’s name alive and with the work the foundation does to help in the fight against knife crime. After learning about this story from him and hearing some of my loved ones saying they are nervous to go out in fear of being stabbed, I decided to voluntarily help with the foundation to raise awareness of knife and gun crime in the UK.

I caught up with trustee and film director Aaron Truss to find out more about Rob, the films and the foundation’s future plans….

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What was Rob like and your friendship with him?

Rob and I were very close, we had a group of friends at D&B and always took the opportunity to act as the class clowns, we had a very similar sense of humour and ambition. We were always making each other laugh and trying to film our own movies on our parent’s video cameras. I remember the summer of 2005 was dedicated to filming our own comedy version of Doctor Who. We were filming in schools, churches, the park, anywhere we could get our hands on and building scripts around those locations.

I hear a feature film is being planned for ‘Employee of the Dead’ in the future…?

That’s right! We announced it at Picturehouse Central with Rob’s father Colin Knox and Ray Winstone on stage. The story is mainly based on the true events of 2008, when Rob, Joe, myself and our friends Todd and James took over a supermarket on a night shift to film a zombie movie. I can’t say too much right now, but we’ve been working on the script for the past year and it’s in really good shape at the moment, I am super proud of it. What I can say is that Rob will feature as a character in the film, based on his real-life likeness and he’s absolutely hilarious.

You made a documentary (K)nox: The Rob Knox story, which must have been hard but also got an important story and message across…

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life and I’m really proud of what we accomplished with that documentary. The fact it’s being shown on television all around the world is brilliant and that we were shown on ITVX for two years was a dream come true for Rob’s legacy and his family. Getting the message across and platforming knife crime in the UK is a huge priority for me and the Rob Knox Foundation. The journey isn’t over yet and I hope that we can make a difference in the fight against knife crime.

You now have a follow-up, (K)nox: 16 Years Later, what made you do this now and what can we expect in it?

(K)nox: 16 Years Later is a short follow up to the original documentary and includes interviews with Rob’s family, his friends, Ray Winstone, Nicholas Vince and other spectators. I felt it was extremely necessary to produce some form of follow-up documentary to help promote the original documentary on television. It will include some updates and news on the foundation and the future of our campaign. People will be able to watch it on YouTube.

What is next for the foundation?

The foundation is in talks with Dame Diana Johnson in order to help find solutions to knife crime in the UK. It’s been a long time since Rob’s family have been involved with politics in order to help fight for change, but we’ve recently appointed a new ambassador to help us in the fight – Damian Allain (formally Detective Chief Inspector) who has investigated many high-profile murder cases, including Rob’s. He’s a friend of mine and the foundation and it made complete sense to bring him on board.

You took over the Rob Knox Film Festival, tell us more…

The festival was conceived by Michael Wearing in 2009 and he ran it as director until 2021. Unfortunately, due to personal reasons he retired and Rob’s father approached me to take it over. Originally it was held every July at Bexleyheath Cineworld until I decided to move it to The Cinema Museum in Kennington and re-brand it The Rob Knox London Film Festival. After two successful years, I decided to move the festival to Bromley Picturehouse as it kept selling out and we had to keep turning people away because of capacity restrictions – but Bromley Picturehouse was shut down and we found ourselves without a home. Fortunately, Clare Binns, the CEO of Picturehouse, kindly jumped in and we negotiated a deal to find a new home with Picturehouse Central in the heart of London. We hosted a screening of (K)nox: The Rob Knox Story – The Director’s Cut at Picturehouse Central to celebrate our move and our first festival in our new venue will be in September.

Please tell us about some of your other films…

I stepped away from filmmaking in 2010 to focus on a career in post-production, making featurettes for home video releases for films like Dad’s Army, The Boy and The Hatton Garden Job. I was approached by the band Taxi Joe to produce their music videos in 2017 and found my fire again, I was allowed all the creative freedom and ideas were constantly flowing. Not long after beginning work on (K)nox: The Rob Knox Story, I directed The Understudy, a short horror comedy set in an old theatre. It was this film that caught the attention of Misty Moon and landed me the director role for Pareidolia, which was written by my father Aiden Truss and starring Diane Franklin (Amityville II, Bill and Ted), Graham Cole (The Bill), Carolyn Pickles (Broadchurch) and Joe Acres. In 2022, I co-produced the documentary Cult of VHS which went on to debut at London’s FrightFest – another proud achievement which was a co-venture between Rob Preciado and his team in Mexico and Q Cumber Films in the UK. I also help produce the brand-new podcast, Stark Raving Cinema and I’m currently working with legendary horror film director Jake West on the home video release of the 4K restoration of Razor Blade Smile.

What is next for you?

I intended to take a break from filming as I’d made four films in the space of three years, but as mentioned I’ve been developing the screenplay for Employee of the Dead with Joe Acres and Jake West. My next goal is to make my first feature film and will be my priority, go big or go home!

www.robknox.org

@qcumberfilms

Watch the documentary (K)nox: 16 Years Later here.

Photos: The Rob Knox Foundation / Q Cumber Films