Chris Barfoot
Encyclopedia
Chris Barfoot is a British actor, writer/director and producer of film productions.
Barfoot was born in Southampton to Eileen Ann a company secretary and John Montague a carpenter and surveyor. Barfoot has two brothers (Paul and Timothy) and one daughter (Bianca). Barfoot is also a member of BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts).
Barfoot attended school in Swanmore
, Hampshire
. He left in 1983 and entered the world of construction erecting steel, working in Scandinavia and the Canary Islands with his father (John) for the oil companies. When he returned to the UK he attempted to realise his primary ambition - to become an actor or a television presenter. Inexperienced, he failed a RADA
audition and sought out Lee Peck (a RADA failure and an ex TV presenter living in Southampton). Peck advised Barfoot to start at the bottom, by joining a hospital radio station - so Barfoot signed up with Winchester's Hospitals Radio. He presented for a year and then quit to go back to college on a two-year media course as a mature student. He enrolled at Highbury College
, Portsmouth
, where lecturer Andy Birtwistle inspired him to become a filmmaker.
Barfoot graduated in 1991 and immediately began producing short films with Alastair Vardy (Special Effects Supervisor) and Peter Dobson of then ScreenTrax (now Carnyx Films). Barfoot picked up work as a regular extra/actor on the Ruth Rendalls, and featured in a few movies such as Sudden Fury, Fit For Nothing and Distant Shadow
. Barfoot and Dobson also created TV Sketches for Jeremy Beadle
's Hot Shots in 1994 before casting Prunella Scales
in the Sci Fi mini-thriller Phoenix in 1997.
Winning two Platinum Remis—for Phoenix and Hellion (Martin Hobbs and Katherine Blackburn)—and two Gold Remis—for Dead Clean
(starring Andrew Sachs
and Shane Richie
) and The Reckoning (starring, Mark Chapman
, Susie Lumley, Lex van Delden
and Katherine Blackburn) —in the U.S. led Barfoot to write several feature scripts. His first to become a full feature, Fall of the Roman Empire (2011), is a contemporary crime thriller set in London.
Barfoot received an Honorable mention at the Dragon Con
film festival
for The Reckoning in 2003. The Reckoning also won Sky Movies
Top Ten Short Films of All Time and was followed by an interview with Richard Jobson
. It played out with NBC Universal
's Sci Fi Channel
until 2008, where it received the highest Sky Movies viewing figures of all time.
In 2006 Barfoot achieved First Place at the Dragon Con film festival for Helix
starring Prunella Scales
and Robert Pulvertaft. Helix
is a re-cut joining of the short films Hellion and Phoenix.
Other feature screenplays he has written are Contact (Tv), Banshee, Knights of Delirium, Hellion (work in progress), The Bump and the Grind (work in progress) and Hell's Gate (shortlisted for best script 2006 at the Beverly Hills Film Festival
)., and winner of an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles Film and Script Festival 2010.
Barfoot's companies are Anglo American Pictures
and Chris Barfoot Productions.
Short films:
Biography
Barfoot was born in Southampton to Eileen Ann a company secretary and John Montague a carpenter and surveyor. Barfoot has two brothers (Paul and Timothy) and one daughter (Bianca). Barfoot is also a member of BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television Arts).
Barfoot attended school in Swanmore
Swanmore
Swanmore is a small rural village and civil parish situated in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England. It is very near to Bishop's Waltham.Swanmore houses the schools Swanmore Primary School and Swanmore College of Technology which is the secondary school for neighbouring towns and villages. The...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. He left in 1983 and entered the world of construction erecting steel, working in Scandinavia and the Canary Islands with his father (John) for the oil companies. When he returned to the UK he attempted to realise his primary ambition - to become an actor or a television presenter. Inexperienced, he failed a RADA
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
audition and sought out Lee Peck (a RADA failure and an ex TV presenter living in Southampton). Peck advised Barfoot to start at the bottom, by joining a hospital radio station - so Barfoot signed up with Winchester's Hospitals Radio. He presented for a year and then quit to go back to college on a two-year media course as a mature student. He enrolled at Highbury College
Highbury College
Highbury College is a general further education college in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It provides vocational and academic education and training, from first-step courses to university level foundation degrees, specialised services for business and education in the community. The College is a...
, Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, where lecturer Andy Birtwistle inspired him to become a filmmaker.
Barfoot graduated in 1991 and immediately began producing short films with Alastair Vardy (Special Effects Supervisor) and Peter Dobson of then ScreenTrax (now Carnyx Films). Barfoot picked up work as a regular extra/actor on the Ruth Rendalls, and featured in a few movies such as Sudden Fury, Fit For Nothing and Distant Shadow
Distant Shadow
Distant Shadow is a 1999 film. A thriller made in the UK, it is 100 minutes in length and was directed by Howard J. Ford.-Plot summary:Michelle witnesses the brutal murder of her mother while she is a four year old child. Sixteen years later she is still traumatized by memories, and living in...
. Barfoot and Dobson also created TV Sketches for Jeremy Beadle
Jeremy Beadle
Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE was an English television presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s, he was a regular face on British television and in two years appeared 50 weeks of the year. His shows regularly topped the charts beating Coronation Street and EastEnders on one...
's Hot Shots in 1994 before casting Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
in the Sci Fi mini-thriller Phoenix in 1997.
Winning two Platinum Remis—for Phoenix and Hellion (Martin Hobbs and Katherine Blackburn)—and two Gold Remis—for Dead Clean
Dead Clean
Dead Clean is a film shot in the December of 1997 in Southampton, England and starring Andrew Sachs and Shane Richie...
(starring Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
and Shane Richie
Shane Richie
Shane Richie is an English actor, comedian, singer and media personality, known for his portrayal of the character Alfie Moon in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.-Early life and career beginnings:...
) and The Reckoning (starring, Mark Chapman
Mark Lindsay Chapman
Mark Lindsay Chapman is an English film and television actor.His credits include: Max Headroom, Dallas ,...
, Susie Lumley, Lex van Delden
Lex van Delden
-Early life and education:Born Alexander Zwaap in Amsterdam as the only child of Wolf Zwaap, a school-teacher, and his wife Sara Olivier, Lex van Delden took piano-lessons from an early age - first from Martha Zwaga and later from the celebrated pianist, Cor de Groot...
and Katherine Blackburn) —in the U.S. led Barfoot to write several feature scripts. His first to become a full feature, Fall of the Roman Empire (2011), is a contemporary crime thriller set in London.
Barfoot received an Honorable mention at the Dragon Con
Dragon Con
Dragon*Con is a North America multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place once each year in Atlanta, Georgia...
film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
for The Reckoning in 2003. The Reckoning also won Sky Movies
Sky Movies
Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland...
Top Ten Short Films of All Time and was followed by an interview with Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson (television presenter)
Richard Jobson is a Scottish singer-songwriter and film-maker, best known as a television presenter, film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
. It played out with NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
's Sci Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
until 2008, where it received the highest Sky Movies viewing figures of all time.
In 2006 Barfoot achieved First Place at the Dragon Con film festival for Helix
Helix (film)
Innocent, also known as Helix, is a 2009 American action drama film directed by Aram Rappaport, filmed in downtown Chicago, Illinois in one continuous take. There are no cuts in the filming...
starring Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
and Robert Pulvertaft. Helix
Helix
A helix is a type of smooth space curve, i.e. a curve in three-dimensional space. It has the property that the tangent line at any point makes a constant angle with a fixed line called the axis. Examples of helixes are coil springs and the handrails of spiral staircases. A "filled-in" helix – for...
is a re-cut joining of the short films Hellion and Phoenix.
Other feature screenplays he has written are Contact (Tv), Banshee, Knights of Delirium, Hellion (work in progress), The Bump and the Grind (work in progress) and Hell's Gate (shortlisted for best script 2006 at the Beverly Hills Film Festival
Beverly Hills Film Festival
The Beverly Hills Film Festival is a film festival in the United States founded by award-winning independent filmmaker Nino Simone in 2001. The festival debuted in 2001, and has shown regular growth each year...
)., and winner of an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles Film and Script Festival 2010.
Barfoot's companies are Anglo American Pictures
Anglo American Pictures
Anglo American Pictures is Chris Barfoot's main production company.Anglo American Pictures has been very successful in the field of producing short movies. 2009 sees the leap into feature markets with Barfoot's debut actioner of FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE currently in pre production....
and Chris Barfoot Productions.
External links
Short films: