Paul Cotter

Born in Brighton, Paul studied Geography in Manchester and worked on glaciers in Pakistan, before studying for an MFA in Cinema & Photography in the United States, allowing him to become a filmmaker.

"Bomber", described by Variety as Paul's "impressive feature debut", premiered in competition at SXSW before winning over 12 Best Feature, Director and Actor awards at festivals worldwide, securing North American distribution through Film Movement. The Chicago Reader described "Bomber" as a "truthful indie comedy masterpiece... writer and first-time feature director Paul Cotter never puts a foot wrong." while Ray Pride in NewCity described the film as "one of the most accomplished no-budget movies I've seen... inspired... beautifully composed." 

Television credits includes work for ITV ("Vera"), Channel 4 ("Shameless", "Hollyoaks") Disney ("Evermoor") and the BBC ("Waterloo Road", "Doctors").  Paul's episode of "Rocket's Island was nominated for a BAFTA Children's Academy Award in Best Drama and won the Prix Jeunesse International Children's Prize.

Paul has also written radio plays for the BBC: "Dropping Bombs" was pick of the week for Gillian Reynolds (Daily Telegraph): "Paul Cotter, the clever playwright, catches exactly how families always get on one other's nerves yet somehow manage to go on propping each other up.

Paul's short films have premiered at the Berlin Film Festival ("Die Berliner Mauer"), Sundance ("Estes Avenue"), SXSW ("Odd Shoe") & Palm Springs ("Last Hand Standing"). "Die Berliner Mauer" won the Short Film Jury Prize at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. His debut short, "Jeff Farnsworth" sold to HBO.

Paul has directed award winning commercials, including "Stupid", an anti-smoking PSA which is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His commercials have won five Tellys and been honoured at the Chicago International Television Festival. Paul supports Manchester City, likes the colour blue & occasionally directs theatre. Productions have included Donald Lewis's "Good Girl" for the Bailiwick, Richard Dresser's "Wonderful World" for the Infamous Commonwealth Theatre, and Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" for VPT, all of which were performed in Chicago.