Mark Herman | |
---|---|
Born | Mark Herman 1954 (age 69–70) |
Other names | Mark Black Black Amber and Black Amber & Black M. Henry Herman M Henry Herman |
Occupation(s) | Film producer, film director, screenwriter |
Years active | 1987–2009 |
Mark Herman (born 1954) is a British film director and screenwriter, best known for writing and directing the 1996 film Brassed Off and the 2008 film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas . Film critic Paul Wells offers this assessment of Herman's work in the 2019 book Directors in British and Irish Cinema: "Herman has attracted little critical attention but his preoccupation with the underdog and personal and social injustice makes him a pertinent commentator on the decline of the English working class and its strategies for survival." [1]
Herman was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. [2] [3] His father worked as a bacon importer. [2] He was educated at Woodleigh School, North Yorkshire and thereafter at Sedbergh School and Bridlington Grammar School, Bridlington. He worked for his father's bacon importing business until his mid-20s. [2]
He was late entering the film industry, first studying art at the Regional College of Art and Design in Kingston upon Hull aged 25, then going on to study graphic design at Leeds Polytechnic for 3 years. [4] At the end of the first year he had to choose between illustration, printmaking, graphics or film for the final 2 years. He applied to the illustration, printmaking, and graphics parts of the course, however he wasn't accepted into any of them, so had no choice but to pick film. It was there in the film part of his graphic design degree, that he started doing animation. [4]
He then progressed to the National Film and Television School. [2] [4] At NFTS he recognised the superior talents of people like his neighbouring classmate Nick Park, and other classmates like Tony Collingwood, so decided to move away from animation and towards live-action instead. [4] [5] Nick Park was making A Grand Day Out at the time. [3] [4] [6]
Herman made his live-action directorial debut with his NFTS graduation film, See You At Wembley, Frankie Walsh (1986) , which he also wrote. [7] It won the Foreign Student Film award at the Student Film Awards. [8] He spent the next few years writing for the BBC, and for the ITV series The 10%ers . [2] [9] In 1989, he made a short film, Unusual Ground Floor Conversion, which played in cinemas before Mel Smith’s The Tall Guy . [10]
Herman’s first feature-length project was Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), made for the Hollywood Pictures unit of Disney, a comedy of mistaken identity starring Dudley Moore, Bryan Brown, Patsy Kensit, Richard Griffiths, and Bronson Pinchot. It failed at the box office, and with most critics. [2] However, Janet Maslin in the New York Times called it “effervescent fun. Mark Herman, a film school graduate who both wrote and directed this comedy, has concocted a witty mistaken-identity plot and done an able job of keeping it in motion.” [11]
Next, Herman wrote and directed the critically acclaimed Brassed Off (1996), following the members of a colliery brass band, still struggling to survive a decade after the miners' strike. The film won the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy at the Evening Standard British Film Awards in 1997, as well as the Best Screenplay award from the Writers Guild of Great Britain; it also won the César for Best Foreign Film in 1998. [12] It has become a classic, ranked at #85 in the British Film Institute’s 1999 list of 100 best British films of the 20th century. [13] A stage adaptation by Paul Allen was first performed in Sheffield in 1998, and has been revived frequently since then. [14]
In Little Voice (1998), adapted by Herman from Jim Cartwright's play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice , Jane Horrocks reprises the title role of a harried young woman whose only escape lies in the memory of her father and in imitating the singers he admired. The film also starred Michael Caine, Brenda Blethyn (who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), [15] Jim Broadbent, and Ewan McGregor. Derek Elley in Variety called Little Voice “a small picture with a big heart” and cited Herman’s “smooth direction.” [16]
Purely Belter (2000), adapted by Herman from Jonathan Tulloch's novel The Season Ticket, is the story of two teenage boys trying to get together enough money for a couple of Newcastle United F.C. season tickets. Herman cast two unknown boys in the lead roles, and their performances were praised by critics, while the film was largely ignored. As Michael Thomson wrote in his BBC review, “Indeed Chris Beattie and Greg McLane, both newcomers, are wonderfully unforced and amusing as the two lads, but they would have benefited from characters which were fuller in a film that was richer.” [17]
Herman’s 2003 film Hope Springs was his first film since his debut to be made for a major Hollywood studio (Touchstone Pictures). Herman adapted the screenplay from the novel New Cardiff by Charles Webb, author of The Graduate . The film starred Colin Firth, Heather Graham, and Minnie Driver, in a story about a British artist who relocates to small-town Vermont to get over a failed relationship. Reviews were mixed, with Mark Adams in The Hollywood Reporter writing that “somehow it can't make the leap from an enjoyable light film to a movie to remember,” while Neil Smith on the BBC called it “a date movie that's well worth making a date with.” [18]
His most recent work is the Holocaust drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas , which Herman adapted from the 2006 novel of the same name by John Boyne. It was produced by David Heyman, and starred Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Sheila Hancock, and Rupert Friend. [19] The film divided critics strongly, with Ty Burr in The Boston Globe writing, “Because its gaze is so level and so unyielding, it stands as one of the better dramatic films made on this subject,” while John Anderson in The Washington Post called it “yet another attempt to revisit a sorrowful event in history that should never be forgotten or used for entertainment.” [20] Herman reflected in 2024 that “the challenge there was to tell a story that might pull kids in to want to learn more about the Holocaust. But by making the story accessible to kids, about kids, it had to be unrealistic, a fable even, and therefore upset quite a lot of people. But I didn’t mind how many people it upset, if it encouraged one single kid to learn more, it was worth it.” [21]
Herman is a fellow of Film and Television Production at York St John University, York, England, and has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Hull and Leeds Beckett University.
Herman was a schoolfriend of musician Henry Priestman, who like Herman is a Hull City A.F.C. fan. [22]
In February 1983 Priestman as "Harry Amber" and Herman as "Mark Black," together as "Amber and Black," along with the Hull City players themselves, released the song "The Tigers are Back." [22] It was made to raise funds to help pay the players wages, as the effects of Hull City's previous seasons money struggles were still visible. [22] Herman reworded the song "Out of Luck" by Priestman's previous band Yachts, to get the lyrics. [22] The record sleeves and records themselves contained the made up record label logo "Don Records" in tribute to Hull City's then chairman Don Robinson, and the made up issue number "COL001" in tribute to their then manager Colin Appleton. [22]
In June 1983, Herman filmed Hull City's end-of-season tour of Florida, where the players and staff visited Walt Disney World, and played the Tampa Bay Rowdies who were managed by Rodney Marsh, in the return leg of the Arrow Air Anglo-American Cup. [22] It was directed and edited by Herman, with Priestman composing the music. Herman released the documentary online in 2016 with the title A Kick in the Grass. [23]
Herman co-wrote lyrics for the songs "Ideal World," "Hooverville," and "Sad Songs" for Henry Priestman's band The Christians on their first album, The Christians (1987), alongside Priestman himself. [4] Priestman had done a football themed song for Herman's film See You at Wembley, Frankie Walsh, and Herman had done the lyrics for it, however the lyrics didn't fit the song, so they were scrapped. However they tweaked the lyrics, which were eventually used for "Ideal World" instead. [4]
On 1 January 2008, midway through Hull City's Premier League promotion season, "Amber & Black" released the song "The City's on Fire" on Myspace. [24] [25] It was their first Hull City song since 1983. [24] It was later re-released just before 2014 FA Cup final between Hull City and Arsenal F.C. [22] [26]
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprise Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford, Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). They were among the first openly gay pop acts and made gay rights and sexuality a theme of their music and performances.
Bananas in Pyjamas is an Australian children's television series that first aired on 20 July 1992 on ABC. It has since been syndicated in many countries and dubbed into other languages. In the United States, the "Pyjamas" in the title was modified to reflect the American spelling pajamas. It aired in syndication from 1995 to 1997 as a half-hour series, then became a 15-minute show paired with a short-lived 15-minute series The Crayon Box, under a 30-minute block produced by Sachs Family Entertainment titled Bananas in Pajamas & The Crayon Box. Additionally, the characters and a scene from the show were featured in the Kids for Character sequel titled Kids for Character: Choices Count. The pilot episode was Pink Mug.
Bridlington is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is about 28 miles (45 km) north of Hull and 34 miles (55 km) east of York. The stream called Gypsey Race flows through the town and enters the North Sea at the harbour.
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. They play their home games at the MKM Stadium, after moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's traditional home colours are black and amber, often featuring in a striped design on the shirt, hence their nickname, the Tigers. Hull also contest the Humber derby with both Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United.
The MKM Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kingston upon Hull, England. It has a current capacity of 25,586. The stadium is home to both association football club Hull City A.F.C. of the EFL Championship and rugby league club Hull F.C. of the Super League.
David Wheeler, better known as David Thewlis, is an English actor and filmmaker. He is known as a character actor and has appeared in a wide variety of genres in both film and television. He has received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and nominations for two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Rupert William Anthony Friend is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in The Libertine (2004) and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He portrayed George Wickham in Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lieutenant Kurt Kotler in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), Albert, Prince Consort in The Young Victoria (2009), psychologist Oliver Baumer in Starred Up (2013), CIA operative Peter Quinn in the political thriller series Homeland (2012–2017), Vasily Stalin in The Death of Stalin (2017), Theo van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate (2018), and Ernest Donovan in the series Strange Angel (2018–2019).
David Jonathan Heyman is a British film producer and the founder of Heyday Films. Heyman is best known as the producer of all eight installments of the Harry Potter film series, which are based on a series of popular fantasy novels of the same name by author J. K. Rowling. He then produced all three installments of its spin-off prequel series, Fantastic Beasts. His work makes him the second-most commercially successful producer of all time.
Bridlington Town Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They were founded in 1918 and currently play in the Northern Premier League Division One East.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 historical non fiction novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. The plot concerns a German boy named Bruno whose father is the commandant of Auschwitz and Bruno's friendship with a Jewish detainee named Shmuel.
John Boyne is an Irish novelist. He is the author of sixteen novels for adults, six novels for younger readers, two novellas and one collection of short stories. His novels are published in over 50 languages. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was adapted into a 2008 film of the same name.
Woodleigh School was a preparatory school for boys and girls aged 3 to 13, located in the village of Langton, North Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1929 and closed in August 2012. In its final year, it had 61 pupils, a mixture of day children and boarders.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2008 Holocaust historical drama film written and directed by Mark Herman. It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by John Boyne. Set in Nazi-occupied Poland, the film follows the son of a Schutzstaffel officer who befriends a Jewish prisoner of his age.
Asa Bopp Farr Butterfield is an English actor. He has received nominations for three British Independent Film Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and three Young Artist Awards.
Jack Charles Scanlon is an English former child actor who is best known for his role in the 2008 Holocaust film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Amber Louisa Oatley Beattie is a former English actress, mainly known for her roles as Lulu Baker in Jinx (2009) and as Gretel in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008). She now works as a producer and has worked on shows including Secret Cities with Albert Lin for National Geographic and Disney's Secrets of the Elephants.
The 11th British Independent Film Awards, held on 30 November 2008 at the Old Billingsgate Market in London, honoured the best British independent films of 2008.
Henry Christian Priestman is an English rock singer, keyboardist, record producer and songwriter.
See You At Wembley, Frankie Walsh is a 28-minute long, comedy-drama, short film written and directed by Mark Herman, as his graduation project from the National Film and Television School. It was his directorial debut.
Maisie Hannah Peters is an English singer-songwriter. She began her professional career independently, releasing two singles. In 2018 she signed with Atlantic Records, releasing two EPs and the second series soundtrack to the British comedy series Trying.