John Crowley (director)

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John Crowley
John Crowley Dinard 2008-10a.jpg
John Crowley at Dinard (France) in October 2008
Born (1969-08-19) 19 August 1969 (age 54)
Cork, Ireland
OccupationFilm director
Spouse Fiona Weir

John Crowley (born 19 August 1969) is an Irish film and theatre director. [1] He is best known for the films Brooklyn (2015) and his debut feature, Intermission (2003), for which he won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Director. He is a brother of the designer Bob Crowley.

Contents

Education

Crowley earned a BA in English and Philosophy (1990) and an MA in Philosophy from University College Cork. [2]

Career

Crowley became involved in theatre as a student, seeing it as a stepping stone to directing film. He began directing plays in Dublin in the early 1990s, reached London's West End by 1996 and eventually become an associate director at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2000, he directed Come and Go as part of the Beckett on Film series and made his feature debut Intermission (2003), a comedy drama set in Dublin, starring Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Kelly Macdonald, based on a screenplay by playwright Mark O'Rowe. [3]

In May 2005, Crowley, along with Danny Boyle, launched the UK Film Council Development Fund's "25 Words or Less: Director’s Cut" scheme to develop a feature film project, stating that he wanted particularly to "create a contemporary 'rebirth' or transformation story about a man or woman who begins as someone that spreads coldness." [4]

In 2007, Crowley reteamed with O'Rowe for the thought-provoking BAFTA-winning drama Boy A , about a young man's return to civilian life after imprisonment for a brutal childhood killing, which was made for British television but was released theatrically in the US the following year. [3] It won him the Best Director (Fiction) award at the 2008 British Academy Television Craft Awards. [5]

Additionally, Crowley was Tony nominated for the hugely successful London and Broadway runs of Martin McDonagh's play The Pillowman in 2003 and 2005. He directed Neve Campbell and Cillian Murphy in the West End production of Love Song in 2006-7, and in 2007 filmed a television version of Harold Pinter's Celebration starring Michael Gambon, Stephen Rea and Colin Firth. [3] In 2009 he directed the film Is Anybody There? , set in 1980s seaside Britain, written by Peter Harness and starring Michael Caine as a grumpy ex-magician. In 2010, Crowley teamed once again with McDonagh for A Behanding in Spokane on Broadway.

In July 2016, it was announced that Crowley will direct the screen adaptation of Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Goldfinch for Warner Bros. and RatPac Entertainment, starring Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard and Finn Wolfhard. [6]

In 2017 it was announced that he would be directing a film adaption of Midwinter Break. [7]

Theatre

Filmography

Television
YearTitleNotes
2007 Celebration Televised play
2015 True Detective Episodes "Other Lives" and "Omega Station"
2020 Life After Life Miniseries;
Also executive producer
2021 Modern Love Episode "In the waiting room of estranged spouses"
2023 Black Mirror Episode "Beyond the Sea"

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryTitleResult
2003 IFTA Film & Drama Awards [9] Best Film DirectorIntermissionWon
Galway Film Fleadh [10] Best First Feature FilmWon
First Feature FilmWon
2004 British Independent Film Awards [11] The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)Won
Galway Film FleadhBest First FeatureWon
2006 Golden Rooster Awards Best International DirectorWon
2008 British Academy Television Awards Best Single Drama Boy ANominated
British Academy Television Craft Awards Best Director: Fiction Won
Banff World Media Festival Best Made for TV MovieNominated
Berlin International Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Won
Dinard British Film FestivalGolden HitchcockWon
Silver HitchcockWon
Film by the Sea Youth Jury AwardWon
Irish Film & Television Awards Best Film DirectorNominated
2010 Bodil Awards Best Non-American Film Nominated
CinEuphoria AwardsTop Ten of the Year - International CompetitionWon
2015 Denver Film Festival Narrative FeatureBrooklynWon
Detroit Film Critics Society Best Director Nominated
Dublin Film Critics' Circle Best DirectorNominated
IndieWire Critics Poll Best DirectorNominated
Mill Valley Film Festival World CinemaNominated
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Director Nominated
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards Best Director Nominated
Twin Cities Film FestFeature FilmWon
Vancouver International Film Festival People's ChoiceWon
Virginia Film Festival Narrative FeatureWon
2016 British Academy Film Awards Outstanding British Film Won
International Online Film Critics' Poll Best DirectorNominated
Irish Film & Television Awards Best Film DirectorNominated
2017 Kinema Junpo Best Foreign Language FilmNominated
Best Foreign Language Film (Readers' Choice)Nominated

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References

  1. Michael Dwyer (2 May 2009). "A director with a lot on his mind". Irishtimes.com. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  2. "Biographies - Irish Film & TV Research Online - Trinity College Dublin". Tcd.ie. 27 November 2006. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "John Crowley, Is Anybody There?". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  4. "John Crowley Teams With Danny Boyle for New Script Initiative | The Irish Film & Television Network". Iftn.ie. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  5. "BAFTA Craft Awards 2008". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  6. "John Crowley eyed to Direct Adaptation of The Goldfinch". Variety. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  7. Tartaglione, Nancy (4 September 2017). "John Crowley To Direct 'Midwinter Break' For Film4, Shoebox – Venice". Deadline. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  8. The Present Broadway Official Website http://www.thepresentbroadway.com/?
  9. "THE IRISH FILM AND TELEVISION AWARDS 2004". Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  10. "galway film fleadh 2003". Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  11. "Intermission - John Crowley - 2004 The Douglas Hickox Award". Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2009.