Malcolm Frank Venville is a British photographer and film director.

Venville was the child of deaf parents. He was, in the words of his uncle, "caught in some no-man's land between the deaf world and the hearing world." Venville atteneded Solihull College

Solihull College

Solihull College, formerly known as the 'Solihull College of Technology', is a further education college located in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, which is part of the West Midlands conurbation, in the United Kingdom...

 (1981-83) and Polytechnic of Central London (1983-86), graduating with honors with a BA in film, video, and photographic arts.

Breaking out with a campaign for Wrangler in 1991, he became an acclaimed and sought-after advertising and fashion photographer. In 1992, he began directing commercials

Television advertisement

A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...

, starting with an advertisement for Audi

Audi

Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....

.

Venville published two books of photography. Layers (2003) is a collection of Venville's advertising, celebrity, fashion, and personal photography. Lucha Loco (2006) is a collection of over a hundred portraits of lucha libre

Lucha libre

Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling that has developed within those countries...

wrestlers taken on a 2005 trip to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

His short film career began with Silent Film (1997), an 11 minute film documenting the romance of his deaf parents. He also directed a pair of short documentaries about actresses in small memorable roles: Remembering Sister Ruth (1997), about actress Kathleen Byron

Kathleen Byron

Kathleen Byron was a British actress of stage, screen and television.-Early life:Byron was born Kathleen Elizabeth Fell in West Ham – now in the London Borough of Newham...

, who played the disturbed nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

 Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus

Black Narcissus

Black Narcissus is a 1947 film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden...

(1947), and the 15 minute Remembering Miss Torso (2004), about actress Georgine Darcy

Georgine Darcy

Georgine Darcy was an American dancer and actress best known for her role as "Miss Torso" in the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window. She also had a regular role in the 1960-1961 ABC sitcom Harrigan and Son....

, who played the voluptuous neighbor Miss Torso in Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

's Rear Window

Rear Window

Rear Window is a 1954 American suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by John Michael Hayes and based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder"...

(1954).

Venville initially turned down a number of offers to direct feature films, including Coyote Ugly

Coyote Ugly (film)

Coyote Ugly is a 2000 romantic comedy/drama based on the actual Coyote Ugly Saloon, set in New York City. The film stars Piper Perabo and Adam Garcia...

, because he wished his feature film debut to be a planned movie called Deaf Road, about his uncle's attempts to lose his virginity in Tangiers. It would be entirely in sign language

Sign language

A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...

, which Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and starring in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, and subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood...

 had pledged to learn to star in the film. Venville's feature film debut was 44 Inch Chest

44 Inch Chest

44 Inch Chest is a 2009 British film starring Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson and Ian McShane. The script was written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, who wrote another British gangster drama Sexy Beast, and produced by Richard Brown and Steve Golin...

(2009), a gangster film starring Ray Winstone

Ray Winstone

Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...

, John Hurt

John Hurt

John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...

, Tom Wilkinson

Tom Wilkinson

Thomas Geoffrey "Tom" Wilkinson, OBE is a British actor. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton...

 and Ian McShane

Ian McShane

Ian David McShane is an English actor, director, producer, voice artist, and comedian.Despite appearing in numerous films, McShane is best known for his television roles, particularly the BBC's Lovejoy and HBO's Western drama Deadwood...

. It reunited the writers and some of the cast of an earlier British gangster film, Sexy Beast

Sexy Beast

Sexy Beast is a 2000 British-Spanish crime drama film directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, and Ian McShane. Produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was Glazer's debut feature film, who had previously been a music video director for videos such as Rabbit in Your Headlights for...

(2000). He also directed Henry's Crime

Henry's Crime

Henry's Crime is a 2011 romantic comedy film directed by Malcolm Venville and starring Keanu Reeves, James Caan, Vera Farmiga, and Danny Hoch. The film follows Henry who goes to jail for a robbery he didn't commit. Once released, he plans on robbing the same bank with his former cellmate Max...

(2010), a romantic comedy starring Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...

, James Caan

James Caan

James Caan is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles in The Godfather, Thief, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, Brian's Song, Rollerball, Kiss Me Goodbye, Elf, and El Dorado...

, and Vera Farmiga

Vera Farmiga

Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...

.

External links

• Official web page
• Commercials by Venville at Anonymous Content