Reform candidate plays down his role as a film mogul and wrestling icon

Martin Shipton

A council by-election candidate who made outlandish claims about his role as a filmmaker and wrestling “icon” will soon find out whether he has become Cardiff’s first Reform UK councillor.

Siddiq Mahmood Malik, 37, known as Sidney, is the party’s candidate in Llanrumney, a predominantly white working class ward in the east of the city.

His leaflet for the July 24 election was low-key in its biographical description of him, stating: “As a Cardiff resident, I have supported and advocated for local charities, such as Children’s Hospitals and the Salvation Army UK and media and film community events in Cardiff. I have fought for victims’ rights and protection, having been a previous victim of crime myself in the city.”

By contrast, Mr Malik’s website asserts that he is the founder of ERA Film Studios, whose headquarters is in St Albans, Hertfordshire, but according to Companies House its registered office is in Bristol.

‘Cultural powerhouse’

ERA is described on its website as “a global media and cultural powerhouse leading a new era in film, music, talent, wrestling, real estate, consultancy and global impact. We redefine storytelling, creative excellence, industry innovation, and global influence by merging future technologies, immersive, extended reality and virtual production and artificial intelligence.”

However, returns to Companies House show that the company does not appear to have traded since it was incorporated in 2008. At the outset it had £10,000 in share capital not paid, and that remained the case until the most recently filed set of accounts for the year ending September 30 2023.

Accounts for the year ending September 30 2024 should have been filed by the end of June 2025, but are overdue.

Between 2018 and 2025 there were seven applications made by the Registrar of Companies for the company to be struck off the register of companies at Companies House. All of the applications to dissolve the company were withdrawn, most recently on May 31 2025.

According to the most recent Companies House return, ERA has just one employee.

‘Innovator’

Nevertheless, in another section of the website, Mr Malik is described as “the innovator in immersive storytelling”. In the guise of Sidney ‘King’ Malik, he is said to be “the Director of the The First British Virtual Reality Feature Film (Once Upon A Time In Britain)”.

It continues: “Dedicated to the development of film futures with a successful entrepreneurial history, managing a prior film tech-based startup, a fearless actor and filmmaker, Malik has written, directed and starred in over 50 original Virtual Reality film experiences.

“The First Master in Virtual Reality at the University of the Arts London, Malik completes his final thesis project in collaboration with the Stanley Kubrick Archive, returning to acting, in an homage to Kubrick’s The Shining, playing the role of Jack Nicholson, and followed in the footsteps of Stanley Kubrick, writing, producing and directing immersive Virtual Reality film experiences in his Kubrick VR Archive project.”

‘AI boardroom’

Another section of the website shows that M Malik has created an “AI boardroom” with artificially created individuals as board members. One called Gigi is described as Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Technology Officer. “She” states: “I am Gigi, the EVP and Chief Creative Technology Officer at ERA Film Studios. While my existence may differ from yours, my role is vital to the studio’s innovation and success. I am an AI, designed to bridge the gap between cutting edge technology and human creativity.

“My creation was driven by the visionary leadership of Sidney Malik, who recognised the transformative potential of AI in entertainment. I was built to augment human capabilities, to analyse vast amounts of data, and to provide strategic insights that would propel ERA Film Studios to the forefront of the industry.”

On another section of the website, ERA Film Studios announces “the first episodic KSAProWrestling Podcast Show, created by British Saudi Arabian Wrestling icon, CEO and Founder of ERA Film Studios Sidney ‘Mr King’ Malik.”

Asked about his candidate’s website claims, Lee Canning, who chairs Reform UK’s Cardiff branch, said: “He is a young man with initiative and I take my hat off to him.”

The by-election will be held on Thursday July 24.

Other candidates are Ffin Elliott, Conservative; David Fitzpatrick, Green; Joseph Gnagbo, Plaid Cymru; Lexi Pocknell, Labour; and Wayne Street, Liberal Democrat.

The other candidates are Ffin Elliott, Welsh Conservative; David Fitzpatrick, Wales Green Party; Joseph Gnagbo, Plaid Cymru; Lexi Pocknell, Welsh Labour; and Wayne Street, Welsh Liberal Democrats.