John Walsh (filmmaker)

John Walsh

Walsh at BAFTA Film Awards
Born London, England
Nationality British, Irish
Education London Film School
Occupation Director, Producer, Writer
Notable work Monarch
ToryBoy The Movie
Headhunting The Homeless
Website www.walshbros.co.uk

Film Maker John Walsh was born in London and is founder of film company Walsh Bros Ltd.[1] His film work on subjects such as social mobility and social justice have brought him many awards including two BAFTA nominations. His company Walsh Bros Ltd. was ranked in the Production 100, a ranking of the top 100 independent film companies in the UK, by Televisual in 2010, 2011 and 2012.[2][3][4]

A film maker from a young age, John had his first super-8 camera by the age of ten. He was accepted to the London Film School in 1989 where his documentary work got him was noticed with his film on stop-motion animation filmmaker Ray Harryhausen. Today John Walsh is a Trustee of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation.[5]

Film

In 2010 John Walsh stood as a Parliamentary candidate in the 2010 General Election and made the gonzo-style documentary feature film Tory Boy The Movie which was released in cinemas in 2011 and 2012. The film follows Walsh as he becomes a Conservative candidate after a lifetime of voting Labour. In the film, he claims that Sir Stuart Bell, the Labour Party's MP in Middlesbrough, is absent so often from Middlesbrough that he is an unsuitable candidate. According to Richard Moss, a BBC film critic, "some silliness aside, it is a thought-provoking insight into the way our political system works or doesn't work on the ground." [6] It was subsequently nominated for the Grieson Documentary award for "Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme".[7] The film received a re-release in cinemas in 2015 in the lead up to the 2015 UK General Election.[8][9] It was controversially banned in Middlesbrough where the film was set.[10]

In 2014 John Walsh's remastered version of the film Monarch was released.[11] The original negative for the film had been lost and was the subject of various newspaper reports. The film starred late Irish stage and screen actor T. P. McKenna and Jean Marsh.[12] This subsequently led to cinema showing starting at the Tricycle Cinema [13] in London.[14][15] He discussed the issues around finding the lost negatives for Monarch and other lost projects with BBC Radio 2 Janice Long [16]

Television

In 2010 Rose d'Or nominated Walsh's five part BBC series on childhood homeless Sofa Surfers [17] was nominated for the Social Award at the Rose d'Or Awards.[18]

The BAFTA nominated film My Life: Karate Kids [19] for the first time tackled issues of bullying among disabled children. It was narrated by Doctor Who actor David Tennant

The Monte Carlo TV Nominated BBC film Toy Soldiers presented the point of view of the bereaved children of UK service personnel. John discusses this on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme.[20] The film was praised by Dr Geraldine Walford for challenging perceptions around the topic of childhood grief. "good to see this sensitive and crucially important topic being opened up for people to learn from.".[21] Also nominated for Prix Jeunesse International Munich.[22]

John Walsh's three part Grierson Trusts Nominated BBC series Headhunting The Homeless [23] was part of the BBC’s 120 most treasured programmes in the corporation’s drive to convince its critics that the licence fee should not be abolished.[24] John worked again with charity boss Eva Hamilton MBE again on her latest venture Key 4 Life and made a documentary in December 2013 about their work with former young offenders.[25]

The BAFTA nominated and New York Festival winning Channel 4 Series Don't Make Me Angry was television's first anger management series. This ran for two series.[26]

Walsh Bros Ltd.

John Walsh founded Walsh Bros Ltd. production company in April 1992 . Its film work on subjects such as social mobility and social justice have brought many awards including two BAFTA nominations. Walsh Bros Ltd. was ranked in the Production 100, a ranking of the top 100 independent film companies in the UK, by Televisual in 2010, 2011 and 2012.[2][3][4]

Ray Harryhausen Foundation

John Walsh was made a Trustee of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation in 2014.[27] He first met with Ray Harryhausen in 1988 as a film student of the London Film School and made documentary entitled Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life [28] narrated by Doctor Who actor Tom Baker.

John Walsh filmed and recorded commentary tracks with Ray Harryhausen in his London home commencing 17 May 2012.[29] Since that date recordings were made for Clash of The Titans, Mysterious Island, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, First Men in the Moon with Academy Awards winner Randy Cook, The Valley of Gwangi with his daughter Vanessa Harryhausen, One Million Years B.C. with Martine Beswick, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad with fellow Trustee Caroline Munro, Mighty Joe Young with film director John Landis and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger with SFX artist Colin Arthur. This last was recorded in January 2013. John Walsh donated the film and sound footage recorded entirely to the Ray Harryhausen Foundation and they contain many new revelations by Ray on how his films were created and produced.

John was a keynote speaker at the Society for Animation Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University in July 2015 [30] discussing the work of the Foundation and plans for the centenary in 2020. The Scotsman reported on the centenary plans for the Foundation with a tour of items from the collection quoting John Walsh “As 2020 will be Ray’s centenary, we want to do a series of events counting down to this date.”.[31] This includes new podcast recordings including never before heard audio from Ray Harryhausen. These were made available from February 2016 and hosted by Connor Heaney the Collections Manager and John Walsh and broadcast via iTunes.[32]

Filmography / Awards

Year Title Role Film / Television Award / Nomination*
2015 ToryBoy The Movie (re-release) Director, Writer, Producer Feature Film Grierson Awards Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme*
2014 Monarch (re-release) Director, Writer, Producer, Editor Feature Film Mill Valley Film Festival
2011 ToryBoy The Movie Director, Writer, Producer Feature Film Grierson Awards Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme*
2010 Toy Soldiers [33] Director, Writer, Producer BBC Documentary Monte-Carlo Television Festival* & Prix Jeunesse Munich* [22]
2009 Prime Ministers Global Fellowship [34] Director, Writer, Producer Documentary British Council
2009 My Life: Karate Kids [35] Director, Writer, Producer BBC Documentary BAFTA*
2008 Sofa Surfers [36][37] Director, Writer, Producer BBC Documentary Rose d'Or*
2007 Don't Make Me Angry - series 2 [26] Director, Writer, Producer Channel 4 Documentary New York Festival
2006 Don't Make Me Angry - series 1 [26] Director, Writer, Producer Channel 4 Documentary BAFTA*
2003 Headhunting The Homeless [24][38][39] Director, Writer, Producer BBC Documentary Grierson Awards Best Documentary Series*
2001 Nu Model Armi Director, Writer, Producer Channel 4 Documentary
2001 TREX2 Director, Writer, Producer Channel 5 Documentary
2000 TREX Director, Writer, Producer Channel 5 Documentary
2000 Monarch Director, Writer, Producer, Editor Feature Film Mill Valley Film Festival
1999 Cowboyz & Cowgirlz Director, Writer, Producer Channel 5 Documentary
1998 Boyz & Girlz Director, Writer, Producer Channel 5 Documentary
1991 Masque of Draperie Director, Writer, Producer Documentary
1989 Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life [40] Director, Writer, Producer Documentary

Professional Memberships

References

  1. ↑ "Walsh Bros.". walshbros.co.uk.
  2. 1 2 Televisual Media Ltd UK. "Televisual - REPORTS & SURVEYS". televisual.com.
  3. 1 2 Televisual Media Ltd UK. "Televisual - REPORTS & SURVEYS". televisual.com.
  4. 1 2 Televisual Media Ltd UK. "Televisual - REPORTS & SURVEYS". televisual.com.
  5. ↑ "About The Foundation". harryhausenfoundation.com.
  6. ↑ "Tory Boy takes on Sir Stuart Bell in documentary film". BBC News.
  7. ↑ "The Grierson Trust :: Shortlist - 2011". griersontrust.org.
  8. ↑ "Satirical film ToryBoy The Movie returns to big screen". The Irish Post.
  9. ↑ "BAFTA-nominated Greenwich filmmaker's controversial ToryBoy returns to cinemas before election". News Shopper.
  10. ↑ "Student Union involved in row over planned screening of controversial Toryboy the Movie". The North Crowd.
  11. ↑ "Lost joys: Directors reveal searches for missing movies". BBC News.
  12. ↑ http://www.wharf.co.uk/2014/06/tudor-whodunnit-filmed-in-gree.html
  13. ↑ "Monarch - Tricycle". tricycle.co.uk.
  14. ↑ http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/leisure/oldcinema/movies_news_reviews/11441818.Critically_acclaimed_movie_shot_in_Charlton_set_for_high_definition_re_release/?ref=mac
  15. ↑ "Rare TP McKenna film to be screened after original tapes recovered". The Irish Post.
  16. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01xn3p1
  17. ↑ "Sofa Surfers". bbc.co.uk.
  18. ↑ "Rose d’Or nominations announced". realscreen.com.
  19. ↑ "My Life". RadioTimes.
  20. ↑ "audioBoom / Father's death ‘took a chunk out of my heart’". audioBoom.
  21. ↑ "Toy soldiers - childhood bereavement in the armed forces". Dr Morton's.
  22. 1 2 http://www.prixjeunesse.de/themen/festival/2012/catalog/catalog_2012_web.pdf
  23. ↑ "Headhunting the Homeless". bbc.co.uk.
  24. 1 2 John Plunkett. "BBC list aims to win over critics". the Guardian.
  25. ↑ http://www.key4life.org.uk/news/60/key4life_film.html
  26. 1 2 3 "Learning - Don't Make Me Angry". channel4learning.com.
  27. ↑ "John Walsh". harryhausenfoundation.com.
  28. ↑ "Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life (1990)". IMDb. 18 March 1990.
  29. ↑ "Ray Harryhausen - The Official Website". rayharryhausen.com.
  30. ↑ "Speakers - SAS Beyond the Frame". sasbeyondtheframe.com.
  31. ↑ http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/film/ray-harryhausen-film-memorabilia-to-tour-scotland-1-4009746
  32. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ray-harryhausen-podcast/id1076346591?mt=2
  33. ↑ "My Life". RadioTimes.
  34. ↑ The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship. Vimeo.
  35. ↑ "My Life: Karate Kids". David Tennant News.
  36. ↑ "LFS News:: June 2010". lfs.org.uk.
  37. ↑ "Sofa Surfers". RadioTimes.
  38. ↑ "BBC - Press Office - Headhunting the Homeless". bbc.co.uk.
  39. ↑ "Video title". OVGuide.
  40. ↑ "Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life (1990)". IMDb. 18 March 1990.
  41. ↑ http://www.dggb.org/files/SIR%20ALAN%20PARKER%20LAA%201998.pdf
  42. ↑ http://www.dggb.org/files/Stanley%20Kubrick%201999.pdf
  43. ↑ https://www.directors.uk.com/users/3154

External links

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