Early career

Barantini was at first an actor,^[2] notably starring as Sergeant Wayne A. "Skinny" Sisk in HBO's Band of Brothers (2001). His other television roles include Billy O'Neill in Dream Team (1998-2000), Bezpalov in Chernobyl (2019), and Steve in The Responder (2022).

Barantini starred as Steve Hart in the film Ned Kelly^[3] (2003) alongside Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom. His other film roles included Joey in The Escapist (2002), David in Hard Boiled Sweets (2012), and John Morgan in A Violent Man (2022).

Whilst acting, Barantini expressed an interest in directing, taking opportunities to shadow other directors.^[4] He made his directorial debut with the short film Seconds Out (2019), shortly before filming and releasing his second short Boiling Point (2019), which reunited him with his friend and Band of Brothers co-star Stephen Graham.^[5] The short earned him the Lift-Off Season Award for Best Short^[6] at the Manchester awards.

Barantini's first feature film was the gritty crime thriller Villain,^[7] starring Craig Fairbrass.

2020 - present: Boiling Point and other activities

Following the success of the 2019 kitchen drama, Barantini co-wrote a feature film, also titled Boiling Point (2021), with his regular writing partner James Cummings. Barantini drew inspiration for many of the story arcs from his own experiences as a head chef^[8] as well as experiences of those who he knew who worked in the industry. The feature saw Stephen Graham reprise the lead role of chef Andy Jones and was filmed in one true take.^[9] The film was shot on location at Jones & Sons in Dalston, London, just days before the first lockdown was enforced in the United Kingdom.

Graham described working on the single-shot feature as “the most exhilarating array of emotions I’ve ever felt on a film set in my life.”^[10] The film was nominated for 11 BIFA awards in 2021, including Best Director and Best British Independent Film and won Best Cinematography for Director of Photography Matt Lewis and Best Casting for Carolyn McLeod. The film went on to be nominated for four BAFTAs^[11] at the 2022 ceremony, including a nomination for Outstanding British Film of the Year and Best Leading Actor for Stephen Graham.

In September 2021, Barantini directed the music video for Sam Fender's "Spit of You", which chronicled Fender's relationship with his father, portrayed in the video by Stephen Graham.^[12][13] The video won the UKMVA award for Best Rock Video in 2022, beating the likes of Muse and Florence + The Machine.

Television series

Barantini was given a role in the Liverpool-based TV drama The Responder, with Martin Freeman and was subsequently asked to direct the final episode. He directed the finale^[14] alongside the same Director of Photography as Boiling Point, Matthew Lewis.

In 2022, Barantini directed the five-part ITV drama series Malpractice (2022) starring Niamh Algar.^[15]

A series sequel of Boiling Point was announced^[16] in 2022, and began filming in early 2023. The four-part series was released on BBC One in December 2023 and was co-produced by Matriarch Productions (headed by Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters), and Ascendant Fox with Barantini's own production company It's All Made Up Productions.^[17] Barantini was a producer, co-creator and director on the series, directing the first two episodes of the series with the final two directed by Mounia Akl. The series saw the return of many of the familiar characters from the feature and picked up a few months on from where the film ended.^[18]