Published on: 19 May 2017 in Events

Directors UK at the 2017 Media Production Show

Reading time: 9 minutes and 52 seconds

We are delighted to be partnering with Media Business Insight (MBI) again this year to be the main sponsors for The Media Production Show.  

The Media Production Show (MPS), taking place on Tuesday 13 June and Wednesday 14 June 2017 at Olympia London, is a unique event open to all working in the creative industries, across multiple genres of television, feature films, documentaries, commercials, music videos, corporate films and more. The show is free to attend, all you have to do is register.

Over the two-day event, Directors UK will be hosting three fascinating sessions — you can read all about them below.

Register to attend the Media Production Show.

Directing Factual: Fixed Rig

16:00, June 13. 

Rig shows have become a huge part of factual television. From Educating… to First Dates the process of installing a rig into a location and keeping most of the filming team out of the room with subjects makes for a specific type of programme and a level of choice in material previously unavailable. So what it is like directing a rig show and how is it different to other types of factual filmmaking? What skills do you need as a director to successfully lead a team operating in different spaces? Sophie Jones, Paddy Wivell, John Douglas, Stu Bernard talk about their experiences of using rigs to make primetime factual TV.

Register to attend now. 

About Sophie Jones

Sophie Jones is a Series Producer and Director who has been working in factual television since 2006. Sophie’s work includes My Brother the Murderer, Coppers and The Tube (Blast! Films), along with Grierson nominated One Born Every Minute (Dragonfly) and BAFTA-nominated The Undateables (Betty TV).  Sophie has worked on the last two series of Channel 4’s successful 24 Hours in A&E (The Garden) and is currently Series Producing the latest 34 episodes.

About Paddy Wivell

Paddy Wivell is an award-winning director and has been making films for around twenty years. His credits include the BAFTA award winning Bedlam, Extremely British Muslims, the Grierson-nominated A Hasidic Guide to Love, Marriage and Finding A Bride. The recent BAFTA nominated series The Tribe is Paddy’s first rig series.

About John Douglas

John Douglas is Head of Documentaries at 72 Films. He is a multi-award winning filmmaker who has overseen some of Britain’s biggest rig documentary series, including 24 Hours in Police Custody and 24 Hours in A&E. John spent 15 years at the BBC where he directed a number of series and single documentaries. These included films for the BAFTA-winning Our War and Life and Death Row. His most recent film was Gun Shop for Channel 4's Cutting Edge strand, where a rigged gun store in the American mid-West created an honest and intimate film that explored the complex issues around gun ownership in the US.

About Stu Bernard

An award-winning director, Stuart spent 13 years at the BBC mainly working on short series and single documentaries, before developing the BAFTA-winning series Our War (BBC three) and directing its final episode. Since becoming freelance in 2013 he has directed for major rig shows 24 Hours in A&E, 24 Hours in Police Custody and Spies (Channel 4), as well as continuing to direct single documentaries. He is currently series directing a new three-part documentary series for BBC Two.

Special FX — crash, bang, kapow!

10.30, June 14. 

For over 30 years, Lee Sherward has directed the second unit, co-ordinated and performed in over 120 feature films, thrilling audiences worldwide and delighting directors with his ability to deliver breath-taking action sequences. In this high-octane session Lee will be sharing with you some of his most memorable work and how he makes it happen.

Register to attend.

About Lee Sherward

From a very young age, and having been fascinated by the adventures he saw on Television and at the Cinema, Lee wanted to be a Stunt Man. Having accomplished the relevant training and spending his teenage years working in the circus or medieval jousting, Lee Joined the Equity Stunt Register in 1986 at 18. What then followed was an on-going career of over 30 years, working in international film and TV productions as a stunt performer, stunt co-ordinator and finally as a second unit director. He continues to work globally having recently returned from the US, where he directed second unit on the Fox TV pilot Mayans MC. He is a DGA member, and now splits his time between Los Angeles and his home in West Sussex with his wife Athena and children Tishian and Devan.

Directing Masterclass: High-End Drama

14.30, June 14

Big-budget dramas are big business and the high-end TV tax credit has seen a boom in the production of these shows in the UK over the past few years. In this session four directors — Bill Anderson, Udayan Prasad, Tim Fywell and Paul Andrew Williams — talk about how they have worked on series such as The Tunnel, Mr Selfridge, The ABC, and Broadchurch. They will discuss what it takes to direct at this level, how they lead such big operations, as well as the benefits and challenges of directing on these high-end shows.

Register to attend. 

About Bill Anderson

Bill Anderson has been directing distinctive television drama for over twenty years. Since 2006 he has directed shows such as Lewis, George Gently, The Mill, Mr. Selfridge and most recently has been working on the newest series of Doctor Who.

His earlier work included directing a number of acclaimed single dramas, including Sword of Honour, Last Rights and Dockers, which was nominated for a BAFTA and an RTS award.  Guardians, which he also wrote, was nominated for the Prix Italia and an RTS.

Before studying at the NFTS, Bill worked as a roustabout on Fulmar Alpha North Sea oil rig.

He currently sits on the Directors UK board as the head of the TV Fiction committee.

About Udayan Prasad

Udayan Prasad has been directing documentaries, television drama and feature films since graduating from the National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield, UK. Among his numerous television credits are three single dramas written by Simon Gray for BBC Television - They Never Slept (1989), Running Late (1992, Golden Gate Award for Best Television Feature 1993), Femme Fatale (1992).  Two other single dramas, both written by Alan Bennett and also for BBC Television, were 102 Boulevard Haussmann (1991, Golden Gate Award for Best Television Feature 1991, BAFTA Nomination for Best Single Drama 1991), Talking Heads 2: Playing Sandwiches (1998, BAFTA Nomination for Best Single Drama 1998). More recently he directed two episodes of The Tunnel (2013) for Sky Atlantic and two episodes, including the finale, of The Musketeers (2016) for BBC TV.

His first theatrical feature was Brothers In Trouble, (1995, Golden Alexander Award for Best First Feature at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival), This was followed by My Son The Fanatic, (1997, Directors Fortnight Cannes Film Festival, Best Feature at the Potsdam Film Festival), Gabriel & Me (2000, Edinburgh Film Festival) and Opa! (2005, Toronto International Film Festival). His latest feature The Yellow Handkerchief (Sundance Film Festival) was released in the United States in 2010.

When not actively involved in production, he is a frequent visiting lecturer on directing and screenwriting programmes at several film schools including The National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield, UK; The London Film School; The Wajda School in Warsaw and the National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz, Poland. He is also an advisor and mentor on various international directing and screenwriting workshops. 

About Tim Fywell

Tim Fywell has just commenced production as lead director of series three of Tony GroundsOur Girl for the BBC, having recently completed post-production on the opening episodes of the third series of Granchester for Kudos/ITV (Tim previously led the second series). Previously, he directed the second block of Abi Morgan’s River for BBC/Kudos (starring Stellan Skarsgard, Nicola Walker, Lesley Manville and Eddie Marsan.) In 2014, Tim directed the finale of the critically acclaimed and BAFTA-winning Happy Valley for Red/BBC, and the final block of the first series of Grantchester. Other recent credits include Masters of Sex for Showtime (starring Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan and Alison Janney) as well as Nigel Williams’ script about PG Wodehouse’s war years, Wodehouse in Exile, for Great Meadow/BBC 4 and a block of Dracula for Carnival/Sky Living. Tim’s earlier credits include DCI Banks, Without You (Charlotte Jones’ script from the Nicci French novel) with Marc Warren and Anna Friel, Andrew Davies’ adaptation of Sarah Waters’ novel Affinity, Half Broken Things with Penelope Wilton and Daniel Mays for ITV, and The Turn of the Screw for the BBC. He also directed the Disney film Ice Princess (with Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall), Norma Jean and Marilyn for HBO (with Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino) and critically-acclaimed feature film I Capture The Castle for BBC Films, which starred Romola Garai, Henry Cavill, Rose Byrne and Bill Nighy. Tim is developing a number of feature projects currently, including Ladykiller (with Genesius Pictures) and his own script Still Hear Your Voice (with producers Kristina Dubin/Arnold Messer).

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