David L. Williams (film director)

Last updated

David L. Williams
Beyond the Pole Director David L Williams and Helen Baxendale.jpg
Williams with Helen Baxendale at Beyond the Pole premiere
OccupationFilm director, writer, and producer
Citizenship United Kingdom
GenreDrama, comedy, documentary
Partner Helen Baxendale
Children3; including Nell

David L. Williams is a British film director, writer, and producer living in London. An active film campaigner in Rwanda (Genocide) [1] [2] and Liberia (Deforestation), his commercial work with the UK production house Shooting Pictures has led to collaborations with comedians including Dom Joly, Russell Brand, and Alistair McGowan.[ citation needed ] His debut cinema feature, the Arctic comedy Beyond the Pole , [3] was his first attempt to fuse comedy with his campaigning work [4] and was supported by Friends of the Earth. [5] In November 2010 Williams collaborated with members of The Fast Show team to campaign for the Sustainable Livestock Bill, legislation designed to protect the Amazonian rainforest and support more local, planet friendly farming. [6]

Contents

Career

Williams began his career as an actor, working regularly with theatre director Matthew Lloyd at the Almeida Theatre, Leicester Haymarket and Glasgow Citizens Theatre, where he met his partner, Helen Baxendale. Television and film roles included the BBC's Harry, and a lead for two series in Russell T Davies' BAFTA winning, The Ward.[ citation needed ]

Moving behind the camera Williams founded Shooting Pictures in 2000 with Baxendale, and has since led more than a 100 shoots across 5 continents. His television comedy, Flyfishing, starring Frances Barber and Kate Ashfield, sold to over 30 countries.[ citation needed ]

In 2009 Williams directed, produced and co-wrote the Arctic comedy, Beyond the Pole , [7] for Shooting Pictures. Premiering in the Best of British strand at the Glasgow International Film Festival, Beyond the Pole went on to win 9 awards on the festival circuit in America and Europe, [8] before its UK cinema release. Starring Stephen Mangan, Rhys Thomas, Mark Benton and Alexander Skarsgard, the film was shot on floating sea ice off the coast of Greenland. [9]

Personal life

Williams has been with his girlfriend Helen Baxendale since the early to mid-1990s. The couple have three children, including actress Nell Williams.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Boyd (actor)</span> Scottish actor and musician

William Nathan Boyd, professionally known as Billy Boyd, is a Scottish actor and musician. He played Peregrin "Pippin" Took in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), Barret Bonden in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and Glen and Glenda in the Child's Play film Seed of Chucky (2004) and second season of the television series Chucky (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Cumming</span> Scottish actor (born 1965)

Alan Cumming is a Scottish actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a New York Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the West End production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1991). His other Olivier-nominated roles were in The Conquest of the South Pole (1988), La Bête (1992), and Cabaret (1994). Cumming won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for reprising his role as the Emcee on Broadway in Cabaret (1998). His other performances on Broadway include Design for Living (2001), and Macbeth (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Mirren</span> British actor (born 1945)

Dame Helen Mirren is an English actor who became an American citizen in 2017. With a career spanning 60 years, she is the recipient of numerous accolades and is the only performer to have achieved both the American and the British Triple Crowns of Acting. Mirren has received an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award for portraying the same character in The Audience, as well as three British Academy Television Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect.

<i>Bugsy Malone</i> 1976 gangster musical comedy film

Bugsy Malone is a 1976 gangster musical comedy film written and directed by Alan Parker. A co-production of United States and United Kingdom, it features an ensemble cast, featuring only child actors playing adult roles, with Jodie Foster, Scott Baio and John Cassisi in major roles. The film tells the story of the rise of "Bugsy Malone" and the battle for power between "Fat Sam" and "Dandy Dan".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Butler</span> Scottish actor and film producer (born 1969)

Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as Mrs Brown (1997), the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and Tale of the Mummy (1998). In 2000, he starred as Count Dracula in the gothic horror film Dracula 2000 with Christopher Plummer and Jonny Lee Miller.

<i>The Blob</i> 1958 film by Irvin Yeaworth

The Blob is a 1958 American independent science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. It stars Steve McQueen and Aneta Corsaut and co-stars Earl Rowe and Olin Howland. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures as a double feature with I Married a Monster from Outer Space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laird Hamilton</span> American big-wave surfer

Laird John Hamilton is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a former professional volleyball player, television personality, and model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Baxendale</span> English actress

Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy drama Cold Feet (1997–2003) and Emily Waltham in the American sitcom Friends (1998–1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Mangan</span> English actor (born 1968)

Stephen James Mangan is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Seán Lincoln in Episodes, Bigwig in Watership Down, Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie, Richard Pitt in Hang Ups, Andrew in Bliss (2018), and Nathan Stern in The Split (2018–2022).

Rhys Thomas is a British director, producer, actor, comedian and writer.

Dead Clever: The Life and Crimes of Julie Bottomley is a British black comedy film, first screened on ITV on New Year's Day, 2007. Directed by Dearbhla Walsh and written by Sally Wainwright, it stars Suranne Jones, Helen Baxendale and Dean Lennox Kelly.

Pilot (<i>Cold Feet</i>) British television pilot directed by Declan Lowney

Cold Feet is a British television pilot directed by Declan Lowney. It stars James Nesbitt and Helen Baxendale as Adam and Rachel, a couple who meet and fall in love, only for the relationship to break down when he gets cold feet. John Thomson, Fay Ripley, Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst appear in supporting roles. The programme was written by Mike Bullen, a BBC radio producer with little screenwriting experience, who was tasked with creating a one-off television production that would appeal to middle-class television audiences, who the executive producer Andy Harries believed were underepresented on British television.

William Graham Moffat was a Scottish actor, director, playwright and spiritualist. Moffat formed a Men's League for Women's Suffrage in Glasgow in 1907 after his wife Maggie Moffat was arrested at a protest in London and imprisoned for refusing to pay the fine. He is known for his 1910 comedy Bunty Pulls the Strings which was a hit on Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Pudi</span> American actor

Daniel Mark Pudi is an American actor and director. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and one nomination for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy. Since 2020 he has starred as Brad Bakshi in the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest. He was the voice of Huey Duck on the 2017 reboot of DuckTales.

<i>Beyond the Pole</i> 2009 British film

Beyond the Pole is a 2009 British mockumentary adapted from the cult BBC radio series of the same name. It received its UK cinema release in 2010. Directed and produced by David L. Williams Beyond the Pole was shot on floating sea ice off the coast of Greenland, and stars an acclaimed cast of actors and comedians including: Stephen Mangan, Rhys Thomas, Mark Benton, Alexander Skarsgård and Helen Baxendale. Described by Variety magazine as a cross between The Office and Touching the Void, the film follows the trials and tribulations of the world's first Carbon Neutral, Vegetarian, Organic expedition to the North Pole.

The Shift is a short film directed by David Trumble, starring Greg Lock and Graham Hornsby. The film, written by David Trumble, Matt Brothers, and Greg Lock, focuses on a paramedic and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) working for the London Ambulance Service on a night shift.

Rachel Louise Bradley is a fictional character portrayed by Helen Baxendale in the British comedy-drama television series Cold Feet. Rachel is introduced in the pilot episode (1997), where she begins a relationship with Adam Williams. Their relationship has highs and lows throughout the series; Rachel reveals a secret husband in the first series (1998) and has an abortion in the second (1999), which supposedly prevents her from conceiving a child in the future. She and Adam marry in the third series (2000) and are surprised to discover that she is pregnant in the fourth (2001). They both begin raising their child in the fifth series (2003), but Rachel's life is cut short when she is killed in a car crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Benitez</span> Filipina cinematographer

Tamara Benitez is a Filipina Cinematographer and camera operator, based in Metro Manila, Philippines. Known primarily for her underwater videography, Benitez has worked extensively for the ABS-CBN Corporation and under its production companies Star Cinema and VIVA Films, and has worked with such directors as Lav Diaz, Wenn Deramas, Sig Sanchez, Paolo Herras, and Martin Aviles. She has also worked with Cinematographer Arvin Viola on numerous occasions. Benitez is one of few female Cinematographers working in the cinema of the Philippines. In 2006 she was Director of Photography for the featured pictures Heremias and Lambanog, and in 2011 shot footage for the TV series Survivor India and served as Director of Photography for the TV series Where's Tony.

Nell Marmalade Baxendale-Williams, known as Nell Williams, is an English actress. In 2015, she portrayed a teen version of Cersei Lannister in the opening episode of Season 5 of the HBO series Game of Thrones. She has also appeared in the sitcom The Revolting World of Stanley Brown (2012), the television film Loving Miss Hatto (2012), and in an episode of the drama series Grantchester. Williams appeared as Vivian Daniels in the 2016 film London Town, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival. She also appeared in the 2019 films Blinded by the Light and The Good Liar.

The Radleys is an upcoming film starring Damian Lewis. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Matt Haig. Directed by Euros Lyn, it is produced by Debbie Gray for Genesius Pictures.

References

  1. "SURF – An orphans village – Official Site". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.. URL retrieved on 26 July 2010
  2. "SURF – a survivors testimony – Official Site". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.. URL retrieved on 24 July 2010
  3. "Beyond the Pole – Official Site". Archived from the original on 7 August 2010.. URL retrieved on 24 July 2010
  4. Elley, Derek (10 January 2010). "VARIETY".[ permanent dead link ].URL retrieved on 24 July 2010
  5. "Friends of the Earth – Official Site".. URL retrieved on 24 July 2010
  6. "Friends of the Earth – Moodunnit?"..URL retrieved on 5 November 2010
  7. Darkin, Stewart (1 September 2010). "Beyond the Pole". Blend Magazine. p. 23-32. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  8. "IMDB – Director Q+A".. URL retrieved on 26 July 2010
  9. "CITY LIFE".. URL retrieved on 26 July 2010