Mike Downey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Devon, England |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Website | www |
Michael Downey OBE is an Irish-British film producer. He is the co-founder and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment and as of 2020 [update] the Chairman of the European Film Academy.
Downey was born in Devon, England, the son of Brigid Downey (née Flood) and Thomas Downey, who were economic migrants from Kildare, Ireland. The family moved to Taunton, Somerset, where he attended the St George's Roman Catholic School and Huish's Grammar School aka Richard Huish College.
After gaining a BA degree in French with Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick, [1] Downey went on to continue post-graduate studies at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle (as a Boursier du Gouvernement Francais/French Government Scholar), [2] and Paris X Nanterre. While working towards his MA and then PhD, he taught at the Lycée Charlemagne and at the theatre school at the Théâtre des Amandiers, under Patrice Chereau. [2]
The 1980s saw Downey working as a theatre director France, Germany, the former Yugoslavia and the U.K. in theatres as varied an eclectic as The Gate (London), Bac To Bac Theatre (Exeter), Atelje 212 (Belgrade), Studiotheater and Theater Rechts der Isar (Munich) and the UK's National Student Theatre Company. [3]
In 1986 and 1987, Downey curated a number of film programmes at the National Film Theatre. Among the most significant were the three major seasons he programmed of Yugoslav Cinema. [4] In 1986, he also published his first book, The Self Managing Screen, written by Downey to coincide with a major retrospective of television fiction at the British Film Institute that he curated at the National Film Theatre on the subject of television fiction during the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Jugoslavija. [5]
In 1990, he co-founded Moving Pictures International magazine in London and it rapidly became one of the key international trade papers serving the global film industry, alongside Variety , The Hollywood Reporter and Screen International . [6]
A decade later, in 2000, Downey joined forces with fellow producer Sam Taylor, [7] to create the UK-based independent production house Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) as part of a public offering on the Frankfurt Neuer Markt. [8] As of 2020 [update] , F&ME is based in Dublin, Ireland. [7]
His work as a film maker has seen projects developed with novelists James Ellroy, [9] the late Gunter Grass, [10] and Thomas Keneally ( Schindler's List ); [11] IDA writer Rebecca Lenckiewicz, [12] VICE Group founder and CEO Shane Smith, [13] as well as directors such as Volker Schloendorff, [14] Mohsen Makhmalbaf, [15] and Julien Temple; [16] and writers of the ilk of Lee Hall, [17] Colm Tóibín,} and David Grossman. [18]
In his career as a film producer he has worked with a wide range of directors, including Peter Greenaway, [18] Agnieszka Holland, [19] Paweł Pawlikowski, Andrzej Jakimowski, [20] Rajko Grlić, [21] Srđan Karanovićc, Juraj Jakubisko, [22] Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, [23] and Stephen Daldry, [24] as well as a multitude of other helmers the length and breadth of Europe, South America, Africa and India.
In 2002, he wrote and edited The Film Finance Handbook, published by Wallflower Press, which acts as a guide for anyone planning to set out as a producer of films. [25]
In 2004, Downey joined the European Film Academy Board [26] and was elected deputy chairman in 2014, [27] and was also elected as EFA chairman in 2020. [28]
He has served two terms as a BAFTA Council member and in 2008 he was a member of the BAFTA Film Committee. [29] [30] Downey rejoined the BAFTA Council in 2020. [31]
Downey is founder and President of the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia, [32] artistic advisor to the Zagreb Film Festival, [33] artistic director to the Antalya Film Festival [34] and former artistic board member of the Pula Film Festival. [35]
He has been a trustee of the White Ribbon Alliance since 2010, [36] and as of 2017 [update] was on the International board of trustees of The Isango Ensemble, a South African theatre company. [37]
A member of the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (APSA) since 2017, Downey was as a former APSA Cultural Diversity Award winner a jury member at the 2019 APSA's. [38] [39]
Serving on more than 20 international juries at film festivals worldwide, including the Sarajevo Film Festival, [40] Festival do Rio de Janeiro, [41] Cottbus International Film Festival, [42] Warsaw International Film Festival, [43] [20] Istanbul Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Motovun Film Festival, [44] Sofia International Film Festival, [45] Transylvania International Film Festival, [44] Krakow Film Festival, [44] Cartagena International Film Festival (FICCI) [46] and Zagreb Film Festival. [44]
Downey is also an alumnus of The Sundance Institute, [2] and quondam Thomas Ewing Professor of Film at Ohio University. [47]
In 2009, Downey's work as a producer was honored with a retrospective at the Croatia's largest cultural event, the Zagreb Film Festival. [48]
In 2014, he received Producer of the Decade Award from the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, presented by Stephen Daldry. [49]
In 2015, Prague's Febiofest also celebrated Downey's career as a producer with a retrospective tribute. [30]
In September 2020, it was announced that Downey would be the Honorary President of the 2020/2021 jury for the revamped LUX Prize, renamed LUX – the European Audience Film Award by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy (also known as LUX European Audience Film Award). [50]
It was also in September 2020 that Downey launched the International Coalition for Film Makers at Risk (ICFR) at the Venice Film festival. The ICFR aims to activate the film community's collective response to filmmakers who face political persecution for their work. Downey is a founder and board member, and the European Film Academy, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and IDFA are the founding partners of the ICFR, with activities that include advocacy, support, monitoring, and observation. [51] [52]
Downey was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to British cinema. [53]
Johnnie To Kei-fung is a Hong Kong filmmaker. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in the West he is best known for his action and crime movies, which have earned him critical respect and a cult following, which includes American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
The European Film Academy is a group of European filmmakers who come together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988.
The cinema of Croatia has a somewhat shorter tradition than what is common for other Central European countries: the serious beginning of Croatian cinema starts with the rise of the Yugoslavian film industry in the 1940s. Three Croatian feature films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, several of them gained awards at major festivals, and the Croatian contribution in the field of animation is particularly important.
Anthony McCarten is a New Zealand writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing big-budget biopics The Theory of Everything (2014), Darkest Hour (2017), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), The Two Popes (2019), and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022). McCarten has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including twice for Best Adapted Screenplay, for The Theory of Everything and The Two Popes.
Rajko Grlić is a Croatian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is a professor of film theory at Ohio University and artistic director of the Motovun Film Festival in Motovun, Croatia.
The Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europe's "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival held in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival held in France. Furthermore, it is one of the "Big Five", the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The festival regularly draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
You Love Only Once is a 1981 Yugoslavian drama film directed by Rajko Grlić. It competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In 1999, a poll of Croatian film critics said it to be one of the best Croatian films ever made.
Tamara Obrovac, Croatian singer, composer, songwriter and flutist is one of the most impressive artists on the Croatian music scene, her main expression is ethnically inspired contemporary jazz influenced by the particular musical and dialect traditions of her homeland, the Croatian peninsula of Istria.
Živko Zalar is a Croatian cinematographer, son of Croatian cinematographer Slavko Zalar.
Just Between Us is a 2010 Croatian drama film directed by Rajko Grlić starring Miki Manojlović, Bojan Navojec, Nataša Dorčić, Daria Lorenci and Ksenija Marinković. The film is a co-production involving Croatia's Mainframe Production, Serbia's Yodi Movie Craftsman and Slovenia's Studio Maj and was additionally financed by the Croatian Radiotelevision and Eurimages.
Josephine is a 2001 English-language Croatian film directed by Rajko Grlić. It was shown at several international film festivals in 2001, but was never released to theatres as the production company filed for bankruptcy during the film's post-production.
Film and Music Entertainment is a British film production company based in Dublin, Ireland. The company was founded by Mike Downey and Sam Taylor in 2000, then headquartered in London, and has since produced many films, including Guy X and Deathwatch.
Slobodan Trninić is a Croatian cinematographer.
The UK Jewish Film Festival is an annual film festival dedicated to world cinema that explores Jewish life, history and culture worldwide. It was founded in 1997 and takes place in November, in London and in other cities in the United Kingdom.
Nevio Marasović is a Croatian film director, screenwriter, and a commercial director.
Maren Ade is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she runs the production company Komplizen Film. She is best known for her film Toni Erdmann, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
Signe Byrge Sørensen is a Danish film producer. She is the head of and co-founder of the film production company Final Cut for Real in Copenhagen, Denmark. Sørensen and film director Joshua Oppenheimer were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for the 2013 film The Act of Killing. She was also the producer to the critically acclaimed documentary The Look of Silence. Signe Byrge Sørensen a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Danish Film Academy. In 2022, she produced the animated documentary film Flee and was nominated in Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature categories.
The Prague film school, also known as the Czech film school or the Prague wave was a group of Yugoslav film directors who rose to prominence in the 1970s after graduating from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). Five prominent Yugoslav directors born from 1944 to 1947 attended classes at FAMU: Lordan Zafranović, Srđan Karanović, Goran Marković, Goran Paskaljević (1947-2020), and Rajko Grlić. Emir Kusturica, who was born is 1954, is sometimes also considered a member of the Praška škola. Cinematographers Živko Zalar, Predrag Pega Popović, Vilko Filač, Valentin Perko, and Pavel Grzinčič, also studied at FAMU.
The 45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 2 to 10 July 2010. The Crystal Globe was won by The Mosquito Net, a Spanish drama film directed by Agustí Vila. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by Kooky, a Czech action comedy film directed by Jan Svěrák. American film producer Ron Yerxa was the Grand Jury President of the festival.
Sevak "Sev" Ohanian is an American film producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-writer and producer of the films Searching and Run, as well as executive producer on the film Judas and the Black Messiah. He is also one of the founders of Proximity Media.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
