Graham Hughes (director)

Last updated
Graham Hughes
Born
Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation Film director
Years active2011–present
Notable work
  • Death of a Vlogger
  • A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide
  • Falling for Fitzgerald
  • The Big Slick

Graham Hughes is a Scottish film director. He is possibly best known for his directorial work on the film A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide. [1]

Contents

Life and career

Born in Kirkintilloch, Hughes graduated in 2009 from Stirling University with a degree in Film and Media studies. [2] Together with childhood friends Graeme McGeagh and Keith Grantham, Hughes began writing what would become his first film The Big Slick. The feature-length comedy film, which also starred the trio in acting roles, tells the story of six young guys whose efforts to spend a quiet night in, quickly spiral out of control. [3] The film was a critical success and was chosen to open the 2012 Loch Ness film festival. [4] In March 2011, it was announced that Hughes, McGeagh and Grantham had been nominated for a British Academy Scotland New Talent Award for best achievement in writing. Hosted by Kaye Adams, the 2011 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards took place at the Glasgow Film Theatre on 11 March and despite strong competition, the trio struck gold by taking home the Best Writing accolade. [5] [6]

Following the success of The Big Slick, Hughes was invited to co-produce the short romantic comedy Falling for Fitzgerald by Amy Hawes. The film centres around Melanie (played by Lynn Murray) in her pursuit over her unobtainable best friend, Fitzgerald. Actress Lynn Murray went on to pick up the Best Acting Performance accolade at the 2012 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards. [7] [8]

In late 2012, Hughes reunited with McGeagh and Grantham to pen their next feature film, A Practical Guide to A Spectacular Suicide. The film, starring McGeagh in the leading role, tells the story of Tom, a troubled man whose string of suicide attempts leads him to plan what he dubs will be his own 'spectacular suicide'. After failing to secure funding from the Scottish arts body Creative Scotland [9] the trio turned to the public and sourced the budget for the film through a crowd funding channel. Raising over £3000 for the production, [10] filming began in 2013 and was completed in just 13 days. The film was released in 2014 and quickly became an international hit. On the festival circuit, the film had its American premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in California, [11] and in the UK the film was shown for the first time at the Edinburgh International Film Festival where Hughes was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film. [12] [13] The film was further decorated with 2 nominations at the 2014 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards for Best Film and for Best Acting Performance for Graeme McGeagh. [14] [15] In September 2014, Hughes was invited as a special guest to take part in the British & Irish Film season at the Ciné Utopia in Limpertsberg, Luxembourg. [16]

In 2018, Hughes began work on his third feature film, supernatural horror Death of a Vlogger . [17] The film was completed early 2019 and premiered at FrightFest London [18] in summer of that year. The film went on to be long-listed for a BIFA Discovery award. [19] In March 2020, Death of a Vlogger was programmed for an encore FrightFest screening, [20] as part of their strand at Glasgow Film Festival, the first time for this to happen in the festivals history. The film has been received positively from audiences and critics, with Rafael Motamayor of /Film giving it 9 out of 10 and calling it "A twisted story of warped perceptions, megalomania, the victims in the middle of media manipulation and our own obsession with online cruelty that results in a breath of fresh air in an overcrowded genre." [21]

Filmography

YearFilmCredited asNotes
Director Writer Producer Editor Actor Role
2011The Big SlickYesYesYesYesYesAlexDirectorial Debut
Falling for FitzgeraldYesCo Producer
2014 A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide YesYesYesYes
Epic Wrap BattleYesYesYes
2015Christmas Eve of the DeadYesYesYesYesZombie #4
2019 Death of a Vlogger YesYesYesYesYesGraham
2020On the MoonYesYesYesYes

Awards

YearNominated WorkAwardsCategoryResult
2011The Big Slick British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards Best Writer
(Shared with Graeme McGeagh and Keith Grantham)		Won
2014A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards Best FilmNominated
Cinequest San Jose Film FestivalNew Vision Award (Director)Nominated
Edinburgh International Film Festival Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature FilmNominated
2019Death of a VloggerUnrestricted View Horror Film Festival [22] Love Horror AwardWon
BIFA Discovery Award [23] Long-listed

Related Research Articles

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual award ceremonies, BAFTA has an international programme of learning events and initiatives offering access to talent through workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures, and mentoring schemes in the United Kingdom and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Harris</span> British actor

Sean Harris is an English actor. He played Ian Curtis in 24 Hour Party People (2002), Micheletto Corella in The Borgias (2011–2013), Fifield in Prometheus (2012), Solomon Lane in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Philip in Possum (2018), William Gascoigne in The King (2019) and Henry Peter Teague / Peter Morley in The Stranger (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Mackenzie (director)</span> British film director

David Mackenzie is a Scottish film director and co-founder of the Glasgow-based production company Sigma Films. He has made ten feature films including Young Adam (2003), Hallam Foe (2007), Perfect Sense (2011) and Starred Up (2013). In 2016, Mackenzie's film Hell or High Water premiered at Cannes and was theatrically released in the United States in August. The same year he executive produced Damnation, a TV pilot for Universal and USA Network. Mackenzie also directed Outlaw King (2018), a historical film for Netflix. Mackenzie and his films have been described as not fitting neatly into any particular genre or type.

<i>The Inheritance</i> (2007 film) 2007 British film

The Inheritance is micro-budget road movie following two Scottish brothers on a dark search to find their late father's inheritance. John Robbins, writing for Raindance Film Festival said the film is a "dark, touching look at brotherhood, identity and the stereotype of the Scotsman's inability to express his feelings."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Edgar</span> British film director, screenwriter and producer

Justin Edgar is a British film director, screenwriter and producer.

May Miles Thomas is a film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma Films</span>

Sigma Films is a film production company based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company was formed in 1996 by Gillian Berrie, David Mackenzie and Alastair Mackenzie – a producer, director and actor respectively. Over the last twenty years the company has been responsible for film releases including Starred Up (2013), Under the Skin (2013), Perfect Sense (2011), Hallam Foe (2007), Red Road (2006), Young Adam (2003) and Dear Frankie (2004). In 2017, Sigma began production on big-budget historical epic Outlaw King for Netflix.

Sally El-Hosaini is a Welsh-Egyptian BAFTA nominated film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ferns</span> Scottish film director and screenwriter

Michael Ferns is a Scottish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his debut feature film Kirk about the life of Reverend Robert Kirk of Aberfoyle. The film won the 'Best Independent Feature' at the Festival of Fantastic Films and also earned Ferns the 'Best Director' award at the 2010 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Dorff</span> American actress, writer, and producer

Heather Dorff is an American actress, writer, and producer currently living in Los Angeles, California.

Simone Smith is a Scottish film director and visual artist from Glasgow. Her independent short film SLAP was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA in 2019, and her film RED earned her the Best Editor accolade at the 2013 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards. Smith's latest short film THE MOBIUS TRIP premiered at the Glasgow Short Film Festival in March 2023, and won the Jury Special Mention award for its "radicalism", and "strong adventurous cinematic vision". Official selections include Academy-qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival and Encounters Film Festival. Further notable wins include the UK Special Mention at Encounters International Film Festival, Best Film at Torino Underground Cinefest, Best Experimental at Arizona Underground, the Grand Jury Award at Chicago Underground Film Festival, and longlisted for Best British Short at the British Independent Film Awards. She has two feature films in development with BFI Network and Screen Scotland: IT'S TOO LATE YOU CAN'T SAVE ME and UNTIL SHE BLEEDS.

Graeme McGeagh is a Scottish screenwriter and actor. He is possibly best known for co-writing and playing the leading role of Tom Collins in the film A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide.

Graham Fitzpatrick is a Scottish film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Berrie</span> Scottish film producer

Gillian Berrie is a Scottish filmmaker and co-founder of the Glasgow-based production company Sigma Films with director David Mackenzie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh O'Connor</span> British actor (born 1990)

Joshua O'Connor is a British actor. After training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he had supporting roles in television series such as Doctor Who in 2013 and Peaky Blinders in 2014. He had his breakthrough playing the lead role of a sheep farmer in Francis Lee's romantic drama God's Own Country (2017), for which he won a British Independent Film Award.

Tartan Features is a filmmaking network and distribution platform based in Scotland. It supports the production of micro-budget feature films.

<i>A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide</i> 2014 Scottish film

A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide is a 2014 Scottish micro-budget dark comedy film by Graham Hughes. It centres on Tom, a young man who is determined to kill himself. The film was nominated for awards at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and by BAFTA Scotland in 2014.

Felipe Bustos Sierra is a Chilean-Belgian film director, producer and editor based in Scotland. His debut feature-length documentary, Nae Pasaran (2018), won the Best Feature award at the 2018 British Academy Scotland Awards, where Bustos Sierra was also nominated for Best Director (Factual). Bustos Sierra is also the founder and creative director of Debasers Filums, an independent film company based in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

<i>Death of a Vlogger</i> 2019 film

Death of a Vlogger is a 2019 Scottish horror/mystery found footage film, written and directed by Graham Hughes. The film premiered at the 2019 London FrightFest Film Festival.

<i>1745</i> (film) 2017 British drama short film

1745 is a 2017 British short drama film directed by Gordon Napier and co-produced by director himself with John McKay. The film stars Moyo Akandé and Morayo Akandé with Clive Russell, Buki Adenipikun, and Emmanuel Njoku in supporting roles.

References

  1. ↑ British Film Council Listing
  2. ↑ Evening Times Article on Hughes
  3. ↑ Scotsman Article on BAFTA Nominees
  4. ↑ Movie Scramble Article: Loch Ness Film Festival 2012
  5. ↑ GFT Article: BAFTA IN SCOTLAND NEW TALENT AWARD WINNERS Archived 2014-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Bafta Scotland: 2011 New Talent Award Winners
  7. ↑ British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards Full List of Winners & Nominations 2012
  8. ↑ Scottish Dram Training Network: 'BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award Winners'
  9. ↑ STV Article: 'Edinburgh Film Festival: A Practical Guide to a Spectacular Suicide'
  10. ↑ "Films Sponsume Page". Archived from the original on 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  11. ↑ Cinequest Festival Film Page
  12. ↑ Edinburgh Festival Film Page
  13. ↑ Edinburgh Reporter Article
  14. ↑ British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards Full List of Winners & Nominations 2014
  15. ↑ Skinny Magazine Article on 2014 Nominations
  16. ↑ Luxembourg Chronicle Article on Hughes
  17. ↑ Death of a Vlogger , retrieved 2020-05-09
  18. ↑ "ARROW VIDEO FRIGHTFEST | DEATH OF A VLOGGER". frightfest.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  19. ↑ Dalton2019-10-22T08:04:00+01:00, Ben. "BIFA reveals longlist for 2019 Discovery award (exclusive)". Screen. Retrieved 2020-05-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ "FRIGHTFEST GLASGOW 2020 | DEATH OF A VLOGGER". frightfest.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  21. ↑ "'Death of a Vlogger' Review: 'Paranormal Activity' for the YouTube Generation [FrightFest 2019]". /Film. 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  22. ↑ "Graham Hughes". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  23. ↑ "BIFA Raindance Discovery Award Long List 2019". BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.