Following an extensive career as an actor, he wrote his first short, Bantam, in 2009. He went on to write and direct the shorts The Farmer’s Wife (2012), Bradford Halifax London (2013), and The Last Smallholder (2014), which collectively have played at many international film festivals and won numerous awards. Francis’ first feature film, God’s Own Country, was funded by BFI and Creative England and and has premiered at Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival 2017. He is currently working on two further feature film projects.