What if you shared a name with the most famous man in the world?

As the literary Bond celebrates its seventieth anniversary in 2023, the legacy of that once simple, quiet name has evolved for many men across the globe.

From the moment Ian Fleming and Jonathan Cape published 1953’s Casino Royale and which was subsequently compounded by Sean Connery’s immortal movie line “the name’s Bond, James Bond” in 1962’s Dr. No, being called just that has led to a lifetime of hindrances, advantages, adventures, surprises, associations and benefits for very real people leading very real lives.

The Other Fellow’s director Matthew Bauer / Photo – Mark O’Connell

To investigate this most fascinating fate for these people, their families and friends, Australian filmmaker Matthew Bauer gave himself a mission – to find, document and understand the multitude of stories these real James Bonds have always been in the [golden] eye of.

An ambitious and globe hopping documentary feature, his documentary feature debut film The Other Fellow is an intriguing and wholly unique look at the pop-cultural impact of the 007 phenomenon.

Having been on quite the global adventure itself debuting across different continents, film festivals and headlines, The Other Fellow held its UK premiere at the historic Regent Street Cinema in London on May 15th 2023.

Photo / Mark O’Connell

Gathered in this The Other Fellow fellowship was a diverse audience of the film’s key creatives and cast members, the great teams from Bulldog Film Distribution and Reservoir Docs, Bond commentators, Bond authors, historians and biographers, Bond fans and alumni, friends, colleagues and family, and a rich pool of new moviemaking talent. And this bullet catcher.

Photo / Mark O’Connell

As a proud Consultant Producer on the film, I was on duty not only to introduce Matthew Bauer and his film, but also to steer a cracking Q&A session with key folk from the film and some insightful questions and warm responses from the gathered audience.

All photos / Mark O’Connell

(from left) Bond commentator Calvin Dyson, Bond scholar Ajay Chowdhury (author, Some Kind of Hero), director Matthew Bauer and Mark O’Connell
James Bond meets Gunnar James Bond Schäfer / Photo – Mark O’Connell
Mark O’Connell and Calvin Dyson
The Other Fellow’s London premiere fellowship, Regent Street Cinema
Director Matthew Bauer & Consultant Producer Mark O’Connell introduce London to The Other Fellow
(from left) Cast members James Hart and Gunnar James Bond Schäfer, composer Alistair McNamara, editor Lesley Posso, director Matthew Bauer and Mark O’Connell
Editor Lesley Posso, director Matthew Bauer and Mark O’Connell throw the questions out to the audience at the Regent’s Street Cinema.
Composer Alistair McNamara explains his inspirations and motivations for scoring The Other Fellow
Two very different men called James Bond swap notes.

The Other Fellow is in selected UK cinemas from May19th 2023 and On-Demand on various streaming platforms.

Thanks to Matthew Bauer, the whole The Other Fellow team, Bulldog Film Distribution, Reservoir Docs and the whole team at the Regent Street Cinema.

Meet THE OTHER FELLOW as a brand new documentary feature looks at the phenomenon of being called Bond, James Bond