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Serial killers, detectives and what happens to aeroplanes at the end of their lifespan – these are just some of the topics brought to life by the award-winning production company Monster Films.

Set up by Ystrad Mynach’s David Howard and business partner Rik Hall, from Cheshire, the company has produced countless documentaries and series for numerous broadcasters both in the UK and the United States.

The duo created the company in 2016, having first worked together in 2000.

A former pupil at Lewis School Pengam, David went on to study law but decided it wasn’t for him.

“I’ve always had a vivid imagination,” David told Caerphilly Observer. “I wanted to get an insight into other people’s worlds and lives.

“I’ve always loved cinema, and I always enjoyed watching documentaries, watching something entertaining that I could learn from.”

Looking for a new career path in the film making industry, he secured himself a work experience placement at BBC Wales – the first step in a career now spanning nearly a quarter of a century and counting.

On that work experience placement, David got involved in a documentary about famous Welsh singer Dorothy Squires – who was at one point married to the late James Bond actor Roger Moore.

Squires had fallen on tough times later in her life and lived as a recluse in the Rhondda Valley. After months of graft getting to know those close to her, David was able to gain access to Squires to document her life. It was the start of a lengthy career in the industry.

David went on to spend the next two decades working as a producer and director on a range of projects, but having gained experience and made names for themselves within the industry, David and Rik decided to produce their own work in 2016.

They set up their own independent company, Monster Films, which is based in Cardiff and has offices in Briton Ferry, near Port Talbot, and Manchester.

Shows produced by the company have been aired on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five and CBS Reality, as well as Crime and Investigation Network.

Despite his career successes, David admitted it was difficult for him to get his foot into the doorway as a young man from a working class background in Ystrad Mynach.

“Back then it was very elitist,” he said. “Even now it’s still difficult because the industry is small and tight-knit.

“A lot more needs to be done to get those from lower socio-economic backgrounds into the industry.”

When asked what advice he had for youngsters looking to forge their own careers in film making, David said people had “forgotten the power of a handwritten letter”.

“Do your research, find out who runs the company and write them a handwritten letter asking for work experience,” he urged.

“It really makes a difference. It’s a personal touch and it shows effort and dedication.”

It was by writing a handwritten letter to BBC Wales that David managed to secure the work experience placement that kickstarted his career.

“I wrote in, I got work experience and built relationships with people in the department. I got there by being in the same building with these people.”

True crime, aeroplanes and award wins

Since its creation, Monster Films has produced documentaries including Murders at the Boarding House – which focused on the murders of elderly serial killer Dorothea Puente, who ran a boarding home in California and murdered nine people between 1982 and 1988.

The company also produces Murder by the Sea, which has aired 48 episodes since 2018. The documentary sees historian Neil Darby explore murder stories from Britain’s coastal towns.

The three-part documentary Dark Son: The Hunt for a Serial Killer, which was released in 2019, was about one of Britain’s biggest unsolved serial murder cases.

In a quest to discover the identity of the notorious 1960s London killer ‘Jack the Stripper’, the show heads to Abertillery – and interviews a 104-year-old from Crumlin along the way.

Moving away from murder, another series created by David and Rik is Plane Reclaimers – which looks at what happens at one of the world’s busiest aeroplane end-of-life years, which happens to be in north Wales.

But despite the nature of many of their true crime documentaries, David said not one complaint had been made to the regulator Ofcom by families after they had seen the documentaries.

He said: “True crime is the biggest genre of documentary at the moment, but we try and approach it with sensitivity and historical accuracy.”

The company has won a string of awards since it was founded, including Best Documentary Programme 2017 with Interview with a Murderer and Best International Crime Programme in that same year.

Monster Films was also crowned Best Current Affairs programme in 2017 by the Royal Television Society, and has been nominated for numerous other awards over the last six years.

Speaking about what’s next for Monster Films, David said the company wants to start producing more drama, particularly historical, crime and human dramas.