Christopher monger
Encyclopedia
Christopher Monger is a Welsh
screenwriter, director and editor, best known for writing and directing The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
and writing the HBO biopic 'Temple Grandin'. He has directed eight feature films and written over thirty screenplays.
, Wales
. His father, Ifor David Monger was the local doctor and published author and playwright, his short story "The Man Who Lost His Boswell" remains in print. Both Christopher Mongers' parents painted, and his father was also a keen amateur photographer and filmmaker.
Christopher Monger with his younger brother Antony and friend Alan Field, started a village newspaper (The Taff's Well Times) when they were still children. It ran for two years and garnered them interviews on BBC
and HTV
television. Their newspaper (crudely produced by mimeograph) extolled the Surrealists as a local political party, printed fake photographs in which local landmarks had been demolished, and never printed a story based in truth.
Monger first professionally exhibited paintings at the age of sixteen in the South Wales Group at the National Museum of Wales. After attending boarding school in Taunton
, Somerset, he went to the Chelsea School of Art, London, where he won the Bidduph Scholarship for painting.
After graduating he returned to Wales and was a founding member of the Chapter Film Workshop – a full production facility that allowed local talent to make films. In its first five years the workshop produced eight feature films and over fifty shorts.
Monger made his first no-budget features there including the controversial “Voice Over” (1981) which played festivals and was sold throughout the world.
At the same time he was film and video producer for the avant-garde theatre company MOVING BEING, regularly touring throughout Western Europe with such acclaimed shows as “Brecht In 1984” and “The Influence of the Moon on the Tides”.
After the success of “Voice Over” he was invited to show his films at the Museum Of Modern Art
in New York
, and shortly thereafter he moved to Los Angeles
to work with producer Ed Pressman of “Badlands” fame.
, for Miramax Films, starring Hugh Grant
, Colm Meaney
, Tara FitzGerald
and Harry Kretchmer; Waiting For The Light starring Shirley McLaine and Teri Garr; Crime Pays for Film Four International, starring Ronnie Williams
and Veronica Quilligan; and Voice Over starring Ian McNeice
.
He also wrote the television film "Seeing Red" for Granada and WGBH, for which he received a Christopher Award; and wrote and directed “Girl From Rio” which won the Hollywood Film Festival.
His documentary, Special Thanks To Roy London, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win several awards. In 2007 he adapted Kaiulani Lee's stage play "A Sense of Wonder", based on the life of 'Silent Spring' author Rachel Carson, into a film. Shot by Haskell Wexler and produced by Karen Montgomery, the film has been screened throughout North America.
In 2010 he wrote the script for the HBO biopic, 'Temple Grandin'. Starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, with David Straithairn, Julia Ormond and Catherine O'Hara, it was directed by Mick Jackson. Monger was nominated for an Emmy for his screenplay.
Apart from his film work he still paints and is a member of the PHARMAKA group of painters in Los Angeles who opened one of the first galleries in L.A. Downtown Gallery Row.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
screenwriter, director and editor, best known for writing and directing The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a 1995 film written by Ivor Monger and directed by Christopher Monger. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival....
and writing the HBO biopic 'Temple Grandin'. He has directed eight feature films and written over thirty screenplays.
Early life
Monger was born in Ffynnon TafTaff's Well
Taff's Well or Taffs Well is a village located just north of the city of Cardiff and from its city centre. Located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Taff's Well serves as a commuter town.-Name:...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. His father, Ifor David Monger was the local doctor and published author and playwright, his short story "The Man Who Lost His Boswell" remains in print. Both Christopher Mongers' parents painted, and his father was also a keen amateur photographer and filmmaker.
Christopher Monger with his younger brother Antony and friend Alan Field, started a village newspaper (The Taff's Well Times) when they were still children. It ran for two years and garnered them interviews on 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...
and HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
television. Their newspaper (crudely produced by mimeograph) extolled the Surrealists as a local political party, printed fake photographs in which local landmarks had been demolished, and never printed a story based in truth.
Monger first professionally exhibited paintings at the age of sixteen in the South Wales Group at the National Museum of Wales. After attending boarding school in Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
, Somerset, he went to the Chelsea School of Art, London, where he won the Bidduph Scholarship for painting.
Short films
His graduation short, a comic rendering of the life of 8th Chinese poet Han Shan, “Cold Mountain”, was the opening film of the first ever British Festival of Independent Film in 1974.After graduating he returned to Wales and was a founding member of the Chapter Film Workshop – a full production facility that allowed local talent to make films. In its first five years the workshop produced eight feature films and over fifty shorts.
Monger made his first no-budget features there including the controversial “Voice Over” (1981) which played festivals and was sold throughout the world.
At the same time he was film and video producer for the avant-garde theatre company MOVING BEING, regularly touring throughout Western Europe with such acclaimed shows as “Brecht In 1984” and “The Influence of the Moon on the Tides”.
After the success of “Voice Over” he was invited to show his films at the Museum Of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and shortly thereafter he moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to work with producer Ed Pressman of “Badlands” fame.
Later Work
His produced credits include: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a MountainThe Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a 1995 film written by Ivor Monger and directed by Christopher Monger. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival....
, for Miramax Films, starring Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
, Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaney is an Irish actor widely known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is second only to Michael Dorn in most appearances in Star Trek episodes. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons...
, Tara FitzGerald
Tara Fitzgerald
Tara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage....
and Harry Kretchmer; Waiting For The Light starring Shirley McLaine and Teri Garr; Crime Pays for Film Four International, starring Ronnie Williams
Ronnie Williams
Ronnie Williams was a Welsh actor and comedian.Williams struggled with his choice of an acting career, making an isolated television appearance in The Wednesday Play in 1966...
and Veronica Quilligan; and Voice Over starring Ian McNeice
Ian McNeice
Ian McNeice is a prolific English screen, stage, and television character actor.-Early life:McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire. McNeice's acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse...
.
He also wrote the television film "Seeing Red" for Granada and WGBH, for which he received a Christopher Award; and wrote and directed “Girl From Rio” which won the Hollywood Film Festival.
His documentary, Special Thanks To Roy London, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win several awards. In 2007 he adapted Kaiulani Lee's stage play "A Sense of Wonder", based on the life of 'Silent Spring' author Rachel Carson, into a film. Shot by Haskell Wexler and produced by Karen Montgomery, the film has been screened throughout North America.
In 2010 he wrote the script for the HBO biopic, 'Temple Grandin'. Starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, with David Straithairn, Julia Ormond and Catherine O'Hara, it was directed by Mick Jackson. Monger was nominated for an Emmy for his screenplay.
Apart from his film work he still paints and is a member of the PHARMAKA group of painters in Los Angeles who opened one of the first galleries in L.A. Downtown Gallery Row.
Director
- Voice Over (1983)
- Waiting for the Light (1990)
- Just Like a Woman (1992)
- The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a MountainThe Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a MountainThe Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a 1995 film written by Ivor Monger and directed by Christopher Monger. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival....
(1995) - Chica de Río (2001)
- That's LifeThat's Life (2000 TV series)That's Life is an American dramedy series created by Diane Ruggiero, that was broadcast on CBS from October 1, 2000 to January 26, 2002.-Synopsis:...
(4 episodes, 2000–2002) - Special Thanks to Roy London (2005)
- "Sense Of Wonder" (2007)
Writer
- Voice Over (1983)
- Waiting for the Light (1990)
- The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a MountainThe Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a MountainThe Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a 1995 film written by Ivor Monger and directed by Christopher Monger. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival....
(1995) - Seeing Red (2000)
- Chica de Río (2001)
- Temple Grandin (film)Temple Grandin (film)Temple Grandin is a 2010 biopic directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, a woman with autism who revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses.-Plot synopsis:...
(2010)