Justin Chadwick (Director Filmography)

Justin Chadwick was born in Salford, UK, brought up in Manchester and Bolton. His mum is an art teacher. Justin joined Bolton Little Theatre and played Billy Casper in ‘Kes’ at 11. He then joined Manchester youth theatre and played Jan in the world premier of Ian Serraillier’s The Silver Sword at Oldham Coliseum at 14. Justin graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Performing Arts Drama from Leicester. Throughout college he was part of NSDF (National Student Drama Festival).

Justin is an award winning theatre, television and film director who most recently completed shooting THE FIRST GRADER, starring Naomie Harris for Origin Pictures / Sixth Sense Productions for BBC Films and the UK Film Council. His first feature film was the highly-acclaimed The Other Boleyn Girl, which premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival, starring Eric Bana, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.

Previous to this Justin set-up the mini-series, Bleak House, and directed nine of the fifteen episodes, which were broadcast by the BBC in the UK, and by PBS in the United States as part of their Masterpiece Theatre series. He was nominated for the Prime-time Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special; the Royal Television Society Award for Breakout Performance Behind the Scenes; and, the BAFTA Award for Best Direction for his work on Bleak House, which was the Best Drama Serial winner at the British Academy Television Awards 2006. Bleak House was nominated for two Golden Globes, three Satellite Awards and won at the Royal Television Society Awards, the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and the Television Critics Awards.

Coming from a background in acting, he started his directorial career in the theatre with award winning productions including Molieres Hypochondriac at the Assembley rooms during the Edinburgh Festival. He made his television debut with the 1993 television movie Family Style starring Ewan McGregor, after which he directed and performed in Shakespeare Shorts, a series that explored the history of Shakespearean characters and presented them in key scenes from the plays in which they appeared. He directed episodes of East Enders, Byker Grove, The Bill, Spooks, and set up the series’ for Red Cap and Murder Prevention.

Justin is also developing several projects including the screen version of the Daphne du Maurier novel, Jamaica Inn, for Focus Films, he is writing the adaptation for the multi-award winning novel, The Tenderness of Wolves, for Pink Sands Films / Film 4, which he will also direct, and he is attached to the Ron Bass script, The Godmother, with Unanimous Pictures producing, based on the novel by Carrie Adams.

Ann Peacock (The Scriptwriter)

Ann Peacock, the scriptwriter, was born and raised in South Africa where she obtained an undergraduate degree majoring in English Literature and Speech & Drama and later, a Law degree from the University of Cape Town.

Ann immigrated with her family to Los Angeles where she became a screenwriter. Ann won an Emmy for her first film A LESSON BEFORE DYING, which she wrote for HBO, and followed it with the blockbuster hit THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, NIGHTS IN RODANTHE and KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL. Her upcoming projects, other than THE FIRST GRADER, include an adaptation of John Grisham’s THE PARTNER, the epic MARCO POLO, the action classic ODYSSEUS, the indie MEMORY OF RUNNING and adventure story AIRMAN. She has retained a strong connection with Africa.

Richard Harding (Producer)

Producer Richard Harding is President and CEO of Sixth Sense Productions; a Film and Television production company. Richard  studied film at UCLA and has worked in the film industry for over 10 years with companies such as BBC Films, Kennedy/Marshall, Silver Lion Films and Samuel Goldwyn Films.

“My goal is to create a multifaceted and integrated company that brings the most original, innovative and captivating stories of our time to the big screen.” As the Company’s CEO, his philosophy is “to create feature films that are of the highest caliber, have significant mainstream appeal and great commercial potential, while also maintaining an extraordinary level of critical excellence.”

Richard’s greatest and proudest accomplishment to date, is producing THE FIRST GRADER.

Richard is also President and Chairman of End Malaria Now, a non-profit organization that helps raise life-saving bed nets for African families to end the spread of malaria; he continues to help rebuild a continent stricken with malaria - the Number One killer disease of children in Africa.

Sam Feuer (Producer and Actor)

Sam Feuer is an accomplished actor and award-winning filmmaker. Known to his friends and colleagues as a walking IMDB, he spent his adolescent years in Israel studying all films and has already collaborated with such greats as Steven Spielberg, Will Smith, Adam Sandler, Kathleen Kennedy, David M. Thompson, Mace Neufeld, BBC Films and the late Michael Jackson. Upon graduating with honors from Hunter College, Sam moved to Hollywood to pursue his career in film. He partnered up with Sixth Sense Productions, where he heads the development and production. His biggest accomplishment to date is producing THE FIRST GRADER from an article he found on the front page of the LA Times.

Sam believes that a good, inspiring story well told could truly make a difference in how one sees the world. Whether it is a feature film, documentary or other form of media, Sam wishes to tell compelling, entertaining stories that also create awareness of the real issues that shape our lives.

Sam is on the advisory board of KEF CINEMA (which means FUN in Hebrew) - a non-profit organization that bridges together Israeli Arab Muslims, Christians and Jewish youth to work together in the creation of film projects from concept to marketing. He also founded TRUE ARTISTS to assist creative talents such as actors and filmmakers find their own voice and path for success in the industry.

Equally balancing acting and producing, some of Sam’s acting credits include the role of Yosef Romano in Steven Spielberg’s 5 Academy Award nominated thriller MUNICH and YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN. www.samfeuer.com

David M. Thompson (Producer)

Producer David Thompson has won numerous international awards including three Baftas, two Emmys and several Golden Globes. Having run BBC Films for over a decade, he commissioned a range of award-winning films including BILLY ELLIOT, AN EDUCATION, FISH TANK, THE DUCHESS, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, IN THE LOOP, EASTERN PROMISES, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, BRIGHT STAR, MY SUMMER OF LOVE, A COCK AND BULL STORY, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, SHOOTING DOGS, RED ROAD, IRIS and DIRTY PRETTY THINGS.

He left the BBC in 2008 to set up independent production company Origin Pictures. Origin produces both film and television through their development deal with BBC Fiction, Fremantle Media and Distant Horizon. Their first film for the BBC, FREEFALL by Dominic Savage, was the first drama to explore the financial crisis. Their feature, THE FIRST GRADER, set in Kenya, will come out later in the year and this summer they will shoot a four-part adaptation of Michel Faber’s bestselling novel THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE for the BBC, as well as Edwardian ghost story, THE AWAKENING, starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton.

Whilst at the BBC, Thompson made a special contribution to introducing the work of new directors such as Pawel Pawlikowski, Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, Saul Dibb, Dominic Savage, Sarah Gavron and Francesca Joseph. His TV credits as producer include several Alan Clarke films such as THE FIRM and ROAD, as well as the first SHADOWLANDS and numerous award-winning television dramas which he executive produced / produced such as INTO THE STORM, THE GATHERING STORM, CONSPIRACY, THE LOST PRINCE and EINSTEIN & EDDINGTON for the BBC.