Nigel Stafford-Clark
Encyclopedia
Nigel Stafford-Clark is a British film
and television producer
, and the brother of the theatre director Max Stafford-Clark
. He was educated at Felsted
and Trinity College, Cambridge
, and worked in advertising and in sponsored documentaries before becoming a commercials producer at Moving Picture Company
(MPC).
In the build up to the launch of Channel 4
in November 1982, he formed MPC’s programme department, executive producing a number of documentary series for the new channel, including one of its earliest hits Tom Keating on Painters. He also produced several television films for the Film on Four strand, including Last Day of Summer, written by Ian McEwan
from his own short story, and The House, the debut drama from writer-director and People Show
alumnus Mike Figgis
. He moved on to feature films in the mid-80s, including The Assam Garden
, in which Deborah Kerr
gave a highly-acclaimed performance in what would be her last feature, and Stormy Monday
, in which Mike Figgis
made an immediate impact as writer and director of his first.
In 1988, Stafford-Clark moved to Zenith Productions
, the independent drama production company whose feature film credits included Prick Up Your Ears
, Wish You Were Here
and The Hit, and whose television productions included Inspector Morse
and Hamish Macbeth
. During his time there he produced a number of television and feature films, amongst them the highly controversial and award-winning Shoot to Kill
(1990), the drama debut of documentary film-maker Peter Kosminsky
, which told the story of the Stalker Inquiry in Northern Ireland.
In 1998 Stafford-Clark left Zenith to form his own production company, Deep Indigo, winning the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial three times between 1999 and 2005 with productions for the BBC
. Warriors
(1999), written by Leigh Jackson, reunited him with director Peter Kosminsky and dealt with the brutal realities facing young British soldiers on peacekeeping duties in Bosnia. The Way We Live Now
(2001), the first of three projects with writer Andrew Davies
, was directed by David Yates
and starred David Suchet
as Anthony Trollope
’s rogue Augustus Melmotte. This was followed by a second Trollope adaptation He Knew He Was Right
(2003) directed by Tom Vaughan
, and then by Bleak House (2005). This eight-hour adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens
was shown in the UK twice weekly in half-hour episodes (after an initial hour), inspired by the episodic publication of the original novel. It was directed by Justin Chadwick
and Susanna White
, with Gillian Anderson
and Charles Dance
leading a cast of over 65.
In March 2008 Stafford-Clark’s most recent production, The Passion
, was broadcast on BBC One
. It tells the story of Jesus from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his Crucifixion and the events which followed. Written by Frank Deasy
and directed by Michael Offer, it was stripped across Holy Week in four peak-time episodes.
Stafford-Clark has developed a four-hour serial for ITV in the UK, written by Julian Fellowes
, that takes a fresh look at the sinking of the Titanic for the one hundredth anniversary in April 2012 - a UK/Hungary/Canada co-production that has been pre-sold to a range of broadcasters, including the ABC Network in the USA. Filming was completed in mid-July 2011 at the Stern Studios in Budapest. He is also developing an original conspiracy thriller written by British Academy Television Awards
winner Neil McKay for Channel 4.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, and the brother of the theatre director Max Stafford-Clark
Max Stafford-Clark
Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart Stafford-Clark is an English Theatre Director.-Life and career:He went to school at Felsted and Riverdale Country School in New York City. He has worked as a theatre director since he left Trinity College, Dublin.His directing career began as associate director of...
. He was educated at Felsted
Felsted School
Felsted School, an English co-educational day and boarding independent school, situated in Felsted, Essex. It is in the British Public School tradition, and was founded in 1564 by Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich who, as Lord Chancellor and Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, acquired...
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, and worked in advertising and in sponsored documentaries before becoming a commercials producer at Moving Picture Company
Moving Picture Company
The Moving Picture Company is a post production facility creating digital visual effects and computer animation for feature films, commercials, music videos and television...
(MPC).
In the build up to the launch of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in November 1982, he formed MPC’s programme department, executive producing a number of documentary series for the new channel, including one of its earliest hits Tom Keating on Painters. He also produced several television films for the Film on Four strand, including Last Day of Summer, written by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan CBE, FRSA, FRSL is a British novelist and screenwriter, and one of Britain's most highly regarded writers. In 2008, The Times named him among their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945"....
from his own short story, and The House, the debut drama from writer-director and People Show
People Show
The People Show is the longest running English experimental theatre company, based in the East End of London.Founded by Jeff Nuttall and Mark Long in 1966 and performing its first show in the basement of Better Books in London's Charing Cross Road, the People Show was London's first performance art...
alumnus Mike Figgis
Mike Figgis
Michael "Mike" Figgis is an English film director, writer, and composer.-Personal life:Figgis was born in Carlisle, England and grew up in Africa. Figgis for several years had a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows and cast her in several films...
. He moved on to feature films in the mid-80s, including The Assam Garden
The Assam Garden
The Assam Garden is a 1985 British drama film made by Moving Picture Company and distributed by Contemporary Films Ltd. The film was directed by Mary McMurray and produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark with Peter Jaques as associate producer. It was written by Elisabeth Bond...
, in which Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
gave a highly-acclaimed performance in what would be her last feature, and Stormy Monday
Stormy Monday
Stormy Monday is the 1988 feature film debut of director Mike Figgis. Starring Sean Bean, Tommy Lee Jones, Sting and Melanie Griffith, it is an atmospheric, noirish thriller. The notable jazz soundtrack is also by Figgis. Being set in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, the film is something of an homage...
, in which Mike Figgis
Mike Figgis
Michael "Mike" Figgis is an English film director, writer, and composer.-Personal life:Figgis was born in Carlisle, England and grew up in Africa. Figgis for several years had a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows and cast her in several films...
made an immediate impact as writer and director of his first.
In 1988, Stafford-Clark moved to Zenith Productions
Zenith Productions
Zenith Productions was a British independent film and television production company which made a number of drama series including Inspector Morse for ITV, and several series including Byker Grove and Hamish Macbeth for the BBC...
, the independent drama production company whose feature film credits included Prick Up Your Ears
Prick Up Your Ears
Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the book by John Lahr...
, Wish You Were Here
Wish You Were Here (1987 film)
Wish You Were Here is a 1987 British drama/comedy film starring Emily Lloyd and Tom Bell. The film was written and directed by David Leland. The original music score was composed by Stanley Myers.-Plot:...
and The Hit, and whose television productions included Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse (TV series)
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
and Hamish Macbeth
Hamish Macbeth (TV series)
Hamish Macbeth is a television series made by BBC Scotland and first aired in 1995. It is loosely based on a series of mystery novels by M. C. Beaton . The series concerns a local police officer, Constable Hamish Macbeth in the fictitious town of Lochdubh on the north coast of Scotland. The titular...
. During his time there he produced a number of television and feature films, amongst them the highly controversial and award-winning Shoot to Kill
Shoot to Kill (1990 TV drama)
Shoot to Kill is a four-hour drama documentary reconstruction of the events that led to the 1984–86 Stalker Inquiry into the shooting of six terrorist suspects in Northern Ireland in 1982 by a specialist unit of the Royal Ulster Constabulary , allegedly without warning ; the organised fabrication...
(1990), the drama debut of documentary film-maker Peter Kosminsky
Peter Kosminsky
Peter Kosminsky is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as White Oleander and television films like Warriors, The Government Inspector and The Promise.- Biography :...
, which told the story of the Stalker Inquiry in Northern Ireland.
In 1998 Stafford-Clark left Zenith to form his own production company, Deep Indigo, winning the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial three times between 1999 and 2005 with productions for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Warriors
Warriors (TV series)
Warriors is a British television drama serial, written by Leigh Jackson, produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark and directed by Peter Kosminsky. It starred Matthew Macfadyen, Damian Lewis and Ioan Gruffudd. The music was written by Debbie Wiseman...
(1999), written by Leigh Jackson, reunited him with director Peter Kosminsky and dealt with the brutal realities facing young British soldiers on peacekeeping duties in Bosnia. The Way We Live Now
The Way We Live Now (2001 TV serial)
The Way We Live Now is a 2001 four-part television adaptation of the novel by Anthony Trollope. The serial was first broadcast on the BBC and was directed by David Yates, written by Andrew Davies and produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark...
(2001), the first of three projects with writer Andrew Davies
Andrew Davies (writer)
Andrew Wynford Davies is a British author and screenwriter. He was made a Fellow of BAFTA in 2002.-Education and early career:...
, was directed by David Yates
David Yates
David Yates is an English filmmaker who rose to mainstream prominence directing the final four films in the Harry Potter film series. He helmed the series' fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth installments, all of which became an instant blockbuster success and made him the most commercially...
and starred David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
as Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
’s rogue Augustus Melmotte. This was followed by a second Trollope adaptation He Knew He Was Right
He Knew He Was Right (TV serial)
He Knew He Was Right was a 2004 BBC TV adaptation of the novel of the same name by Anthony Trollope. It was directed by Tom Vaughan.*Jenny Uglow consultant*Nigel Stafford-Clark producer-Cast:*Oliver Dimsdale - Louis Trevelyan...
(2003) directed by Tom Vaughan
Tom Vaughan (director)
Tom Vaughan is a Scottish television and film director. His work includes Cold Feet and He Knew He Was Right for television, and What Happens in Vegas and Extraordinary Measures for cinema....
, and then by Bleak House (2005). This eight-hour adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
was shown in the UK twice weekly in half-hour episodes (after an initial hour), inspired by the episodic publication of the original novel. It was directed by Justin Chadwick
Justin Chadwick
Justin Chadwick is an English actor and television and film director.Chadwick began acting at the age of eleven. He graduated from the University of Leicester and in 1991 made his screen debut in London Kills Me...
and Susanna White
Susanna White
Susanna White is a British television director. She was one of two directors on the BBC adaptation of Bleak House. She won a BAFTA award for best drama serial for her work on the series. She also directed the BBC mini-series Jane Eyre and was nominated for an Emmy award for her work on the series...
, with Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
and Charles Dance
Charles Dance
Walter Charles Dance, OBE is an English actor, screenwriter and director. Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. His most famous roles are Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown , Dr Clemens, the doctor of penitentiary Fury 161, who becomes Ellen Ripley's confidante in Alien 3 ,...
leading a cast of over 65.
In March 2008 Stafford-Clark’s most recent production, The Passion
The Passion (TV serial)
The Passion is a television drama serial produced by the BBC and HBO Films in association with Deep Indigo Productions. It tells the story of the last week in the life of Jesus. The serial was first proposed by Peter Fincham in 2006, on the success of the contemporary-set Manchester Passion...
, was broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. It tells the story of Jesus from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his Crucifixion and the events which followed. Written by Frank Deasy
Frank Deasy
Frank Deasy was an Irish screenwriter. He won an Emmy Award for the television series Prime Suspect and was also nominated for his works, Looking After Jo Jo and The Grass Arena...
and directed by Michael Offer, it was stripped across Holy Week in four peak-time episodes.
Stafford-Clark has developed a four-hour serial for ITV in the UK, written by Julian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes
Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...
, that takes a fresh look at the sinking of the Titanic for the one hundredth anniversary in April 2012 - a UK/Hungary/Canada co-production that has been pre-sold to a range of broadcasters, including the ABC Network in the USA. Filming was completed in mid-July 2011 at the Stern Studios in Budapest. He is also developing an original conspiracy thriller written by British Academy Television Awards
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
winner Neil McKay for Channel 4.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
External links
- Nigel Stafford-Clark at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...