David M. Thompson
Encyclopedia
David Marcus Thompson is a British film and television producer.
Thompson moved to London in 1978, and worked for the BBC as a film programmer and documentary maker. He was the founding head of BBC Films
. Up until 2007, BBC Films was run and funded as a private company, with its own offices in Mortimer Street around the corner from Broadcasting House, while still under the full control of the BBC. In 1981 he filmed WOZA ALBERT!
.
A recent re-structure of the division has seen it re-integrated into the main BBC Fiction department of BBC Vision, under the ultimate control of Jane Tranter
. As a result, it has moved out of its independent offices into Television Centre and David Thompson, previously head of BBC Films
, left to start his own film production company.
Now usually credited as 'Executive Producer', he has several projects still in production, including Revolutionary Road
. He was in overall control of The History Boys
(2006) and the remake of Brideshead Revisited
(2008).
David Thompson's two-part BBC documentary on the films of Jean Renoir
in 1993 led to him editing (with Lorraine LoBianco) an anthology of the director's letters for Faber (1994). He has also edited Scorsese on Scorsese (with Ian Cristie) for the same publisher.
He is not to be confused with Canadian media mogul David Thomson
or film critic David Thomson
, the latter of whom is also an admirer of Jean Renoir's films.
Thompson moved to London in 1978, and worked for the BBC as a film programmer and documentary maker. He was the founding head of BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
. Up until 2007, BBC Films was run and funded as a private company, with its own offices in Mortimer Street around the corner from Broadcasting House, while still under the full control of the BBC. In 1981 he filmed WOZA ALBERT!
Woza Albert!
Woza Albert! is a political satire that imagines the second coming of Christ in apartheid-ridden South Africa.-The play:The play opened at Johannesburg's Market Theater and toured in Europe and America as the most successful play to come out of South Africa, winning more than 20 prestigious awards...
.
A recent re-structure of the division has seen it re-integrated into the main BBC Fiction department of BBC Vision, under the ultimate control of Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter is an English television executive who has been the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base since January 2009...
. As a result, it has moved out of its independent offices into Television Centre and David Thompson, previously head of BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
, left to start his own film production company.
Now usually credited as 'Executive Producer', he has several projects still in production, including Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road, the first novel of author Richard Yates, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1962 along with Catch-22 and The Moviegoer. When it was published by Atlantic-Little, Brown in 1961, it received critical acclaim, and the New York Times reviewed it as "beautifully crafted.....
. He was in overall control of The History Boys
The History Boys
The History Boys is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Lyttelton Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where there were 185 performances staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.The play won multiple...
(2006) and the remake of Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. Waugh wrote that the novel "deals with what is theologically termed 'the operation of Grace', that is to say, the unmerited and unilateral act of love by...
(2008).
David Thompson's two-part BBC documentary on the films of Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
in 1993 led to him editing (with Lorraine LoBianco) an anthology of the director's letters for Faber (1994). He has also edited Scorsese on Scorsese (with Ian Cristie) for the same publisher.
He is not to be confused with Canadian media mogul David Thomson
David Thomson, 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet
David Kenneth Roy Thomson, 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet is a Canadian media magnate. He is the son of the late Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet and his siblings are actress Taylor Thomson and Peter Thomson...
or film critic David Thomson
David Thomson (film critic)
David Thomson is a film critic and historian based in the United States and the author of more than 20 books, including The New Biographical Dictionary of Film.-Career:...
, the latter of whom is also an admirer of Jean Renoir's films.