More4 has commissioned British photographer Leo Maguire's documentary as part of its True Stories series. Blood Line is a 70-minute exploration of the legacy of violence handed down through generations of gypsy fathers to their sons "through the poignant story of two families from the Irish Traveller and Romany gypsy communities."

Maguire, an award-winning photographer, first started working on the story as a photographic project in 2007. "I started this project originally as a documentary photo story," he tells BJP. "I had written an over ambitious proposal on documenting the world of Gypsy bare-knuckle fighting and applied for the Getty Grant [for Editorial Photography] way back in 2007. Unfortunately for me I got the grant - you apply for these things but never imagine winning them.

Each year, Getty Images offers five grants of $20,000 to "provide photojournalists with the funding and freedom to pursue projects of personal and journalistic significance."

Maguire adds: "I was given nine months to complete the story. I can't even begin to explain how tough it was to try and gain access to this closed off community. Patience and gentle persistence began to open doors but it has been a long and arduous process, I am nearly four years into working on this project."

But, last year, Maguire started shooting video using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera. "I felt that the people, the situations, just had too much texture for stills to fully capture and convey to an audience but I didn't know what to do with the footage, I thought perhaps some form of multimedia," he tells BJP.

Eventually he showed some rushes to a professional film editor, who "was amazed at what I had and convinced me I should shoot a documentary film on the subject," says Maguire. "If it where not for the Canon 5D Mark II, I would not be doing a documentary film, I would never have picked up a video camera and begun to shoot because it's something that feels so alien as a photographer."

Maguire received help from an editor and began to shoot more footage and gather some interviews with his subjects. "We cut a trailer to try and get some financial help for the film," he says. "Eventually I found a fantastic production company - Clear Story - who showed a huge passion and interest in the project but more importantly was run by people I felt I could work with and trust. They facilitated me getting the commission with More4's True Stories.

Anna Miralis, commissioning editor of True Stories, was so enthused with the project that she commissioned it straight away for a 2011 broadcast, according to Maguire. "It is a risk for them as I have no previous directing experience, but they feel my photographer's eye and perspective brings something new and exciting."

In a statement, Miralis says: "Leo's documentary is the product of immersing himself in the traveller community for three years, the mesmerising power of his photography is brought to life by film as we hear the stories behind the portraits"

Maguire adds: "The amount of time I have spent with my subjects and the level of acceptance I have gained obviously comes across strongly in my footage and perhaps the TV world is not used to seeing how close we as photographers often get. It feels like an epic journey, suddenly everything is moving very quickly and coming to a finale, I feel hugely honored to be let into the Gypsy community, I only hope that I do the project justice."

Blood Line will be broadcast in December 2011, according to More4. It is executive produced by Russell Barnes and Molly Milton.

Fred Butcher © Leo Maguire.

Hughie Doherty © Leo Maguire.