Meg Leonard

Last updated

Meg Leonard
Occupation Screenwriter, Film Director, producer
Years active2004–present
Partner Nick Moorcroft
Children3

Meg Leonard is a screenwriter, producer and director.

Contents

Career

Meg Leonard, also known as Meg Mistry, spent ten years working in Casting for film, television and theatre before embarking on a career as a screenwriter, producer and director. During this period she produced the short film “Ten Minute Movie” starring John Simm and Jimi Mistry which won the Special Jury Award at Houston Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film at the Belfast Film Festival. [1]

In 2018 and 2019 she co-wrote and produced two of the most successful Independent British films of the last decade; Fisherman's Friends, about a group of Cornish fishermen from Port Isaac who were signed by Universal Records and achieved a top 10 hit with their debut album of traditional sea shanties [2] and Finding Your Feet which starred Bafta award-winning and Oscar nominated actress, Imelda Staunton and Timothy Spall. The film opened the 35th Torino Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2018. [3]

A French remake of Finding Your Feet based on her original screenplay co-written with Nick Moorcroft started shooting in Paris, France, on 10 August 2020. The film, entitled "Alors On Danse" was directed, adapted by and stars Michèle Laroque and will be theatrically released by UGC nationwide in France on 22 January 2022. The film features an all-star French cast including Thierry Lhermitte, Isabelle Nanty and Jean-Hugues Anglade. [4]

On 22 September 2020, it was announced by the worlds press, that Leonard and her partners Nick Moorcroft and James Spring had purchased the film rights to produce a biopic about British hero Captain Tom Moore who raised over £40 Million for the NHS throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is due to go into production in 2021 with a 2022 global theatrical release date. [5]

On 11 March 2021, Flying Fish Productions, a new film company founded by Leonard, Nick Moorcroft and James Spring, signed a 3 year distribution deal with Entertainment Film Distributors. [6]

On 7 April 2021, she co-wrote, co-directed and executive produced Fisherman's Friends: One and All, the sequel to Fisherman's Friends. Principal photography on the film started on 7 April 2021 on location in Port Isaac, Cornwall and London for six weeks. [7] The film stars James Purefoy, David Hayman, Dave Johns, Sam Swainsbury, Maggie Steed, Jade Anouka, Ramon Tikaram and Irish singer-songwriter Imelda May making her acting debut. [8]

Filmography (Screenwriter)

Filmography (Producer)

Filmography (Director)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meg Ryan</span> American actress (born 1961)

Meg Ryan is an American actress. She made her acting debut in 1981 in the drama film Rich and Famous. She joined the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982. In the 1980s, Ryan appeared in Top Gun, Promised Land (1987) and the Rob Reiner-directed romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Ivory</span> American film director (born 1928)

James Francis Ivory is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. All three were principals in Merchant Ivory Productions, whose films have won seven Academy Awards; Ivory himself has been nominated for four Oscars, winning one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Willner</span> American record producer (1956–2020)

Hal Willner was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles. Willner died during the COVID-19 pandemic from complications brought on by the virus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Buckley</span> American actor

Robert Earl Buckley is an American actor, known for his roles as Major Lillywhite on The CW's comedy-drama series iZombie from 2015 until 2019, Kirby Atwood on NBC's comedy-drama series Lipstick Jungle and Clay Evans on The CW's teen drama series One Tree Hill. Buckley also starred as Brian Leonard on ABC's horror drama series 666 Park Avenue.

Gerald Harper is an English actor, best known for his work on television, having played the title roles in Adam Adamant Lives! (1966–67) and Hadleigh (1969–76). He then returned to his main love, the theatre. His classical work includes playing on Broadway with the Old Vic company, playing Iago at the Bristol Old Vic and Benedick at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Other plays in London included Crucifer of Blood at the Haymarket Theatre, House Guest, A Personal Affair, Suddenly at Home and Baggage. He has directed many plays, amongst them a production of Blithe Spirit in Hebrew at the Israeli National Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimi Mistry</span> British actor

Jimi Mistry is a retired English actor. He is known for appearing in numerous films such as East Is East (1999), The Guru (2002), Ella Enchanted (2004), The Truth About Love (2005), Blood Diamond (2006), Partition (2007), RocknRolla (2008), Exam (2009), It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2010), and West is West (2010). He is also known for his roles, as Dr. Fred Fonseca in BBC1 soap opera EastEnders, Latif in Cinemax series Strike Back, Kal Nazir in long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, and as Tom Bedford in Kay Mellor drama The Syndicate.

<i>Man-Thing</i> (film) 2005 television film directed by Brett Leonard

Man-Thing is a 2005 monster film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Brett Leonard, it stars Matthew Le Nevez, Rachael Taylor, and Jack Thompson, with Conan Stevens portraying the title character. The film is influenced by Man-Thing comics written by Steve Gerber and follows a Louisiana sheriff as he investigates a series of deaths in a swamp, leading to him encountering the eponymous creature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fisherman's Friends</span> Folk music group from Cornwall, England

The Fisherman's Friends are a folk music group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010. Whilst essentially an a cappella group, their studio recordings and live performances now often include traditional simple instrumentation.

Janie Dee is an English actress and singer. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, for her performance as Jacie Triplethree in Alan Ayckbourn's Comic Potential.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Moorcroft</span> English screenwriter

Nick Moorcroft is a British screenwriter, film producer, director and theatrical producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Spears</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1965)

Peter Spears is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing Nomadland at the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony in 2021. The film also won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, PGA Award, and the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. Spears also produced the critically acclaimed 2017 film Call Me by Your Name, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He directed the underground cult-favorite short film Ernest and Bertram, which portrayed Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie as gay lovers in a loose parody of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour. Spears also developed the television series Nightmare Café and John from Cincinnati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G Live</span>

G Live is an arts centre in Guildford, Surrey, England. The venue was officially opened by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in February 2012.

Barnaby David Waterhouse Thompson is a British film director and producer. He is best known for producing Wayne's World, Spice World, Kevin & Perry Go Large and An Ideal Husband, as well as co-directing the St Trinians films. He founded Fragile Films and ran the iconic Ealing Studios for fourteen years.

<i>Urban Hymn</i> 2015 British film

Urban Hymn is a 2015 British coming-of-age drama directed by Michael Caton-Jones, written by Nick Moorcroft, and starring Letitia Wright, Shirley Henderson, Isabella Laughland, Ian Hart, and starring Steven Mackintosh.

<i>Finding Your Feet</i> 2017 British film

Finding Your Feet is a 2017 British romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard. The film stars Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie, Joanna Lumley and David Hayman, and was released on 23 February 2018 in the United Kingdom.

<i>Fishermans Friends</i> (film) 2019 British film by Chris Foggin

Fisherman's Friends is a 2019 British comedy-drama film directed by Chris Foggin from a screenplay by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth.

<i>Blithe Spirit</i> (2020 film) 2020 film by Edward Hall

Blithe Spirit is a 2020 British comedy film directed by Edward Hall and starring Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Judi Dench, Emilia Fox, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Adil Ray, Michele Dotrice, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards. The film was based upon the 1941 play of the same name by Noël Coward, adapted for the screen by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard, and Piers Ashworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Workman</span> American filmmaker and editor

Jeremy Workman is an American filmmaker and editor. His documentary films frequently focus on eccentrics, outsiders, and those with extreme passions. His acclaimed films include Lily Topples The World, The World Before Your Feet, Magical Universe, and Who Is Henry Jaglom? In most of his films, Workman serves as the director, cinematographer, and editor.

Fisherman's Friends: One and All is a 2022 British film directed by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard from a screenplay by Moorcroft, Leonard and Piers Ashworth. The film stars James Purefoy, David Hayman, Dave Johns, Sam Swainsbury, Maggie Steed, Jade Anouka and Ramon Tikaram, with Irish singer-songwriter Imelda May making her acting debut. The sequel to the 2019 film Fisherman's Friends, the film follows the continued career of Fisherman's Friends up to their performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2011.

<i>Fishermans Friends: The Musical</i> 2021 musical

Fisherman's Friends: The Musical is a stage musical with a book by Amanda Whittington based on the true story and music of the folk-music group Fisherman's Friends and the 2019 film Fisherman's Friends.

References

  1. "Finding Your Feet – An inspirational story set around a seniors' dance class". writingstudio.co.za. 30 April 2018.
  2. Alberge, Dalya (13 May 2018). "From shanties to the screen: Fisherman's Friends inspire feelgood UK film". The Guardian . Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. Pond, Steve (14 January 2018). "Palm Springs Film Festival Winners Include 'Finding Your Feet,' 'Skid Row Marathon'". TheWrap . Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  4. Remake Of UK Comedy ‘Finding Your Feet’ Underway In Paris With Actress-Director Michèle Laroque(EXCLUSIVE)
  5. National Treasure Captain Tom Moore To Be Subject Of Movie From ‘Fisherman's Friends’ & ‘ Finding Your Feet’ Producers (EXCLUSIVE)
  6. Entertainment Film Distributors signs three-year deal with UK outfit Flying Fish (EXCLUSIVE)
  7. "article 'Fisherman's Friends 2' kicks off UK shoot, reveals cast, sales representation".
  8. html ""Drama queen" Imelda May to make acting debut in Fisherman's Friends sequel".{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)