Keith English

Keith was nominated by BAFTA for the Disney Channels kid's series 'Bus Life' and recently directed the feature film 'The More You Ignore Me' - a dark, but heartwarming, comedy drama about how mental affects a family in the 1980s. In 2000 Keith and Claire Cottrell set up their own production company, Velvet Pictures. Their first project was 'Top Dog' - a short film written and directed by Keith. A dark thriller with psychotic overtones. The film was shown in various festivals around the world - winning the Kodak award in Los Angeles and being shortlisted for the Turner Short Film award. Keith English has always been a film-maker. He bought his first movie camera when he was 9 years old from his uncle in 1970. It cost him £5. From that day forward he wrote and directed countless short movies utilising his friends and family as actors and crew. Having done three seasons in the National Youth Theatre in London, performing and crewing, in 1981, at 20, Keith won a place at the Bournemouth Film school, one of the few courses at that time to be recognised by the The Royal Television Society and the ACTT (the Film union). There he majored in Writing and Directing where his flair for edgy subject matter and near-the-knuckle humour won him a distinction and 'Best Film of The Year' for 'The Undertakers' a dark musical comedy. Whilst at the school he was also Production Designer on the BAFTA nominated short drama 'Killing Time' - about unemployment and fixations about the Catholic faith. On graduating in 1985, he became Creative Director of Scores Ltd whose clients included all the major studios and directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Tim Burton, Lindsey Anderson and Hugh Hudson. There he met (future cutting-edge director) Jonathan Glazer. They wrote two feature film scripts in their spare time; one being 'The Metal Forest' (1992) - a horror film where mechanophilia (having sex with cars) and nihilism are strong themes. On leaving Scores, Keith became a freelance writer-director making TV promos and Industrial Films. His work garnered him a host of industry awards and accolades including gold medals in New York Festivals and 3 Promax (UK) statues for his high profile advertising campaign for the BBC's 'Eastenders'. 1992 Keith started his commercials career with a highly provocative commercial for 'The Great Frog' (a famous Soho Jewellery store). It was the first 18-rated commercial ever shown in cinemas. From that day to this, he has become internationally well-known in commercials for his dark humour and his ability to tackle edgy subject matter. He has done 400 plus commercials over that time. For many years his work was based in Spain and Amsterdam, but more recently he has worked for Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Czech republic, France, Belgium, Germany. He has twice won the coveted Creative Director's award for Best Director in Belgium. In 2008 Keith was chosen to direct the international Heineken promotion for the James Bond release 'A Quantum of Solace' - working with Bond Actress Olga Kurylenko.