Stephen John Coogan is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating and portraying Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which he developed while working with Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris on On the Hour and The Day Today. Partridge has featured in several television series such as I'm Alan Partridge (1997–2002) and the film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013). Coogan has earned accolades such as four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.
Michael Winterbottom is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—Welcome to Sarajevo, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People—have competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He and co-director Mat Whitecross won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival for their work on The Road to Guantanamo.
A Cock and Bull Story is a 2005 British comedy film directed by Michael Winterbottom. It is a film-within-a-film, featuring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing themselves as egotistical actors during the making of a screen adaptation of Laurence Sterne's 18th-century metafictional novel Tristram Shandy. Gillian Anderson and Keeley Hawes also play themselves in addition to their Tristram Shandy roles. Since the book is about a man attempting but failing to write his autobiography, the film takes the form of being about failing to make the film.
Man from Plains is a 2007 American documentary film written and directed by Jonathan Demme, which chronicles former President of the United States Jimmy Carter's book tour across America to publicize his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. For the book promotion, Carter grants interviews to selected newspapers, magazines, and television shows, such as CNN, PBS, Air America Radio, NPR, Chicago Life, Los Angeles Times, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Of Time and the City is a 2008 British documentary collage film directed by Terence Davies. The film has Davies recalling his life growing up in Liverpool in the 1950s and 1960s, using newsreel and documentary footage supplemented by his own commentary voiceover and contemporaneous and classical music soundtracks.
The Trip is a British television sitcom and feature film directed by Michael Winterbottom, starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as fictionalised versions of themselves on a restaurant tour of northern England. The series was edited into feature film format and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010. The full series was first broadcast on BBC Two and BBC HD in the United Kingdom in November 2010. Both the TV series and film received very positive reviews.
The Trip is a 2010 British comedy film directed by Michael Winterbottom. It is the first installment of Winterbottom's film adaptations of the TV series The Trip. The film stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as fictional versions of themselves. Steve is asked by The Observer to tour the UK's finest restaurants, and when his girlfriend backs out on joining him, he is forced to go with his best friend, Rob. The film is largely improvised.
Stan & Ollie is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird. The script, written by Jeff Pope, was inspired by Laurel and Hardy: The British Tours by A.J. Marriot which chronicled the later years of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy; the film stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The film focuses on details of the comedy duo's personal relationship while relating how they embarked on a gruelling music hall tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland during 1953 and struggled to get another film made.
The Wife is a 2017 drama film directed by Björn L. Runge and written by Jane Anderson, based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Meg Wolitzer. It stars Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, and Christian Slater, and follows a woman (Close) who questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband (Pryce), who is set to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Greed is a 2019 satirical black comedy film written and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film stars Steve Coogan, David Mitchell, Asa Butterfield, Dinita Gohil, Sophie Cookson, Jonny Sweet, Asim Chaudhry, Shirley Henderson, and Isla Fisher. The film centres around Sir Richard McCreadie, played by Coogan, a billionaire high-street fashion mogul loosely based on Arcadia Group chairman Philip Green, and events surrounding the build-up to his 60th birthday celebrations on the Greek island of Mykonos.
The Two Popes is a 2019 biographical drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles and written by Anthony McCarten, adapted from McCarten's play The Pope which premiered at Royal & Derngate Theatre in 2019. Predominantly set in Vatican City in the aftermath of the Vatican leaks scandal, the film follows Pope Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins, as he attempts to convince Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, played by Jonathan Pryce, to reconsider his decision to resign as an archbishop as he confides his own intentions to abdicate the papacy.
Military Wives is a 2019 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Cattaneo, from a screenplay by Rosanne Flynn and Rachel Tunnard. It stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan and Jason Flemyng. The film is inspired by the true story of the Military Wives Choirs, a network of 75 choirs in British military bases across the United Kingdom and overseas, featured in the fourth season of the British documentary television series The Choir.
Slow Horses is a British spy thriller television series based on the Slough House series of novels by Mick Herron. The first series, Slow Horses, premiered on Apple TV+ on 1 April 2022. The second series, Dead Lions, premiered on 2 December 2022. In June 2022, the programme was renewed for a third and fourth series. The third series, Real Tigers, premiered on 29 November 2023. The fourth series, Spook Street, premiered on 4 September 2024. In January 2024, it was renewed for a fifth series, which will be based on the fifth book in the series, London Rules. In October 2024, ahead of the fourth series premiere, it was renewed for a sixth series, which will be based on the sixth and seventh books in the series Joe Country and Slough House.
The Lost King is a 2022 British biographical film directed by Stephen Frears. Written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, it is based on the 2013 book The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones. It is a dramatisation of the story of Philippa Langley, the woman who initiated the search to find King Richard III's remains under a car park in Leicester, and her treatment by the University of Leicester in the claiming of credit for the discovery. Coogan and Harry Lloyd also feature in the cast.
Disclaimer is a psychological thriller miniseries written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Renée Knight. It stars Cate Blanchett as a documentarian who is forced to confront her past, and Kevin Kline as the father of a boy who died in Italy 20 years earlier. The supporting cast includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Louis Partridge, Leila George and Lesley Manville.
Sugar is an American neo-noir mystery drama television series created by Mark Protosevich with Fernando Meirelles directing 5 episodes and Adam Arkin directing 3 episodes. The series stars Colin Farrell, who also serves as executive producer. It premiered on Apple TV+ on April 5, 2024.
The Big Cigar is a biographical drama thriller miniseries developed by Jim Hecht, based on the 2012 Playboy article of the same name by Joshuah Bearman. Following the events of the Black Panther Party in 1970s, the series is about party founder Huey P. Newton escaping from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to Cuba with the help of Bert Schneider for an elaborate plan.
Sidney is a 2022 American documentary film directed by Reginald Hudlin. The film is a portrait of the life and legacy of actor Sidney Poitier in his final appearance.
One Life is a 2023 biographical drama film directed by James Hawes. Based on the true story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, the film alternates between following Anthony Hopkins as a 79-year old Winton reminiscing on his past, and Johnny Flynn as a 29-year old Winton who successfully helps 669 predominantly Jewish children in German-occupied Czechoslovakia to hide and flee in 1938–39, just before the beginning of World War II. Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp and Jonathan Pryce co-star in supporting roles.
Blitz is a 2024 historical war drama film written, produced and directed by Steve McQueen. The film stars Saoirse Ronan and Elliot Heffernan, supported by Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, and Stephen Graham.
