Directors can now enter their programmes for this year's Grierson Awards, and the Rose d'Or Award too.
The Grierson 2010 British Documentary Awards accept entries until 1st June 2010, and have a range of categories available. Click here for further details.
The Rose d'Or, known as "the festival for entertainment television programming" and held in Switzerland, will accept programmes up until May 14th. Further details can be found here.
Friday 30 April 2010
Creative industries create column inches in press
A number of Britain's most established directors have put their name to a letter expressing gratitude for what they see as a "significant and valuable impact" the Labour government has had on the UK's film industry.
The letter, signed by the likes of Paul Greengrass, Gurinder Chadha and Danny Boyle, was published in today's Guardian, and highlights how through tax relief and financial support, the British film industry is now "a global success story". The paper also published an article drawing attention to the letter here.
In a separate letter published in The Times, the CEO of UK Music Feargal Sharkey expressed his belief that the creative industries - and those who work in them - need support through "straightforward and affordable actions" if they are to continue to thrive in the UK.
The letter, signed by the likes of Paul Greengrass, Gurinder Chadha and Danny Boyle, was published in today's Guardian, and highlights how through tax relief and financial support, the British film industry is now "a global success story". The paper also published an article drawing attention to the letter here.
In a separate letter published in The Times, the CEO of UK Music Feargal Sharkey expressed his belief that the creative industries - and those who work in them - need support through "straightforward and affordable actions" if they are to continue to thrive in the UK.
Thursday 29 April 2010
Ridley talks Robin in Telegraph interview
An interview with British director Ridley Scott was published on the Daily Telegraph website today.
In it, Scott talks about his latest blockbuster Robin Hood, his relationship with the film's star Russell Crowe, and how he found the transition from advertisements to film.
“English advertising was in its heyday and it was influencing everything. We – Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne, then my brother Tony five years later --- were doing huge commercials and I think they honestly influenced the way films were cut and the way films looked. I’d done a couple of thousand of them by the time I did my first film and I thought, 'Wow, that was easy.’”
Read the whole thing here.
In it, Scott talks about his latest blockbuster Robin Hood, his relationship with the film's star Russell Crowe, and how he found the transition from advertisements to film.
“English advertising was in its heyday and it was influencing everything. We – Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne, then my brother Tony five years later --- were doing huge commercials and I think they honestly influenced the way films were cut and the way films looked. I’d done a couple of thousand of them by the time I did my first film and I thought, 'Wow, that was easy.’”
Read the whole thing here.
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Nominations for Best Directors announced in BAFTA Craft Awards
A number of Directors UK members had reason to celebrate last night, as the nominations for the BAFTA Television Craft Awards were announced.
The Director categories, which are split into Fiction and Factual, are as ever highly competitive, with nominations for four directors in each field. In Fiction, James Hawes (Enid), Yann Demange (Criminal Justice), Philip Martin (Mo) and Aisling Walsh (Wallander: The Fifth Woman) will compete, whilst in Factual Patrick Forbes (The Force), Annabel Gillings (How Earth Made Us: Water), Nick Read (The Slumdog Children of Mumbai) and Dan Reed (Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai) are in the running.
In other categories, Channel 4's dark trilogy Red Riding picked up seven nominations, whilst there is a special award for Coronation Street's Production Team, as the soap celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
For a full list of nominations, click here.
The Director categories, which are split into Fiction and Factual, are as ever highly competitive, with nominations for four directors in each field. In Fiction, James Hawes (Enid), Yann Demange (Criminal Justice), Philip Martin (Mo) and Aisling Walsh (Wallander: The Fifth Woman) will compete, whilst in Factual Patrick Forbes (The Force), Annabel Gillings (How Earth Made Us: Water), Nick Read (The Slumdog Children of Mumbai) and Dan Reed (Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai) are in the running.
In other categories, Channel 4's dark trilogy Red Riding picked up seven nominations, whilst there is a special award for Coronation Street's Production Team, as the soap celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
For a full list of nominations, click here.
Endemol choose Buenos Aires over Britain for Total Wipeout
The Sunday Times interviewed Endemol boss Ynon Kreiz on the weekend, where they spoke about, among other things, how popular BBC gameshow Total Wipeout is produced in Argentina.
Their decision to film in Buenos Aires rather than Britain is down to a combination of weather-related and financial issues, but is slightly concerning for production staff back here in the UK.
The article also gives mention to the rise of "event" television and the decline of Big Brother in the UK.
Read more here.
Their decision to film in Buenos Aires rather than Britain is down to a combination of weather-related and financial issues, but is slightly concerning for production staff back here in the UK.
The article also gives mention to the rise of "event" television and the decline of Big Brother in the UK.
Read more here.
Leading directors urge voters to protect BBC at election
Some of Britain's most renowned film, television and theatre talent put their signatures to an open letter published in The Observer, to urge voters to consider the significance of the BBC on May 6th in the wake of what they describe as "attacks [on] the BBC to serve the interests of its commercial rivals" by opposition politicians.
Directors such as Stephen Frears, Stephen Merchant and Terry Jones signed the letter, which was published last Sunday (25th April). In response, David Cameron has claimed he is the "most pro-BBC Conservative leader" and that he would "never do anything to put the BBC at risk".
Read more here and here.
Directors such as Stephen Frears, Stephen Merchant and Terry Jones signed the letter, which was published last Sunday (25th April). In response, David Cameron has claimed he is the "most pro-BBC Conservative leader" and that he would "never do anything to put the BBC at risk".
Read more here and here.
Friday 23 April 2010
Neil Marshall and Kevin Macdonald take on the Roman Army
Two British directors are currently working on separate films based on the famous Roman Ninth Legion: Neil Marshall (The Descent) with Centurion and Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) with The Eagle of the Ninth.
The Guardian caught up with the two filmmakers to ask what attracted them to the subject of the Ancient Romans, and how they relocated the sword and sandals epic to British shores.
Read the article here.
The Guardian caught up with the two filmmakers to ask what attracted them to the subject of the Ancient Romans, and how they relocated the sword and sandals epic to British shores.
Read the article here.
Susanna White talks to Directors UK
After much success in television, BAFTA-winning director Susanna White recently made the transition from the small screen to the silver one, with the popular family movie Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.
Having worked in a range of genres before - including period dramas (Bleak House), documentary (Forty Minutes) and an HBO war serial (Generation Kill) - we spoke to her about making yet another transition, and how she found the experience.
Read our interview with her here.
Having worked in a range of genres before - including period dramas (Bleak House), documentary (Forty Minutes) and an HBO war serial (Generation Kill) - we spoke to her about making yet another transition, and how she found the experience.
Read our interview with her here.
Welcome to the Directors UK blog
This is the first of what we hope will be many posts here on the Directors UK blog. We will use this site to share stories and issues affecting directors, along with interviews from across the web and from our own site too. We hope this blog will serve as a platform for discussion and we encourage responses to articles, so if you'd like to comment on any of the posts here we'd love to hear from you.
We are also keen to communicate with non-members here too, to further inform them about the craft of directing, and to (hopefully) provide an insight into the industry they work in. We of course welcome comments from too.
Directors are responsible for what audiences the world over see on their screens; if you want to find out more about the world they inhabit, then take a look around our blog.
For more information about Directors UK, visit our website, or follow us on Facebook.
We are also keen to communicate with non-members here too, to further inform them about the craft of directing, and to (hopefully) provide an insight into the industry they work in. We of course welcome comments from too.
Directors are responsible for what audiences the world over see on their screens; if you want to find out more about the world they inhabit, then take a look around our blog.
For more information about Directors UK, visit our website, or follow us on Facebook.
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