Jon Blair
Encyclopedia
Jon Blair is a South Africa
n born writer
, producer
and director
of documentary film
s, drama and comedy who has lived in England
and the United States
ever since he was drafted into the South African army in the late 1960s. He is the only director of documentaries working in the United Kingdom who has won all three of the premier awards in his field: an Oscar, an Emmy (twice) and a British Academy Award.
. The play, originally written for television, and then later adapted for the Royal Shakespeare Company
, pioneered the use of drama in current affairs. Blair directed the play Off Broadway in New York, starring Fritz Weaver
and Philip Bosco
, where it received considerable critical acclaim and ran for four months. After successful productions around the world it was produced on the London stage, and also for television, starring Albert Finney
. A version of the play with an all black cast was staged in Nigeria in 1979 directed by and starring writer, poet and playwright, the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka
.
As a Producer/Director on Tonight, This Week and TV Eye, Blair covered domestic and foreign political and economic stories including the first programme about the 1976 Soweto uprising for British television, There Is No Crisis!, and coverage of wars in the Middle East, Cambodia and Angola. As a war correspondent/feature writer he has contributed to The Times, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Economist and The New York Times. He has also been a book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times.
Having created one of the first independent production companies in England with Spitting Image Productions, Blair set up his own company, Jon Blair Films, in 1987. The company's first production was a feature documentary co-produced with BBC1 which Jon produced, directed and wrote, Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?. It tells the story of a year in the life of the small cow town in Wyoming where the actress Glenn Close
's parents now live. The feature length version was narrated by Robert Redford
who, before agreeing to work on the film, told Close and Blair that he thought it was “one of the best films about the American West” he had ever seen.
Blair then wrote and produced a drama documentary for Channel Four, The Kimberley Carlile Inquiry based on Louis Blom-Cooper’s inquiry into the circumstances surrounding that infamous case of child abuse. The production starred Julie Covington, Brian Cox, Kenneth Cranham, Daniel Day Lewis, Trevor Eve, Alan Howard, Anna Massey, Diana Quick, Zoe Wanamaker and others. His follow-up documentary on child protection in Coventry was later used extensively in training service providers. Another of Blair's documentaries on medical/social issues, made for ITV on the misuse of the drug Haloperidol
in prisons and police stations, has been cited as a good example of how to approach complex medical issues in popular television.
Other productions included an early example of a formatted documentary, Thighs, Lies & Beauty, an investigation of the myths and reality surrounding the beauty business for BBC1; The Art of Tripping, a 2 hour dramatised documentary for Channel Four on drug taking and the arts starring Bernard Hill; a Frontline (Channel Four) current affairs film featuring the story of South African Jann Turner whose father was assassinated in front of her when she was 13, and as an adult returns to South Africa to look at the arguments for revenge versus reconciliation in the new South Africa; Steven Spielberg on "Schindler's List" and Tom Hanks & The World According to Gump, both for the BBC; and Wagner vs Wagner, for Channel Four, featuring Richard Wagner
's great grandson on the composer's political and cultural legacy of anti-semitism
and race hatred.
Distinguished Achievement Award, the Audience Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Jury Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival
and a Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival
together with awards for editing and cinematography at the New York Film and Television Festival. It has also been featured at the Melbourne, Montreal and Toronto International Film Festivals (all non-competitive). The film was distributed theatrically in the UK, North America and Australia.
Blair is the winner of a British Academy Award for Best Documentary for his 1983 film, Schindler
, which preceded Steven Spielberg's feature by 10 years and was used extensively by Spielberg as a research resource. Schindler was narrated by Dirk Bogarde
and written, produced and directed by Blair.
Blair’s latest feature documentary, Dancing with the Devil, premiered at the Silverdocs Festival in the USA in June 2009 and had its Latin American premiere at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival in October 2009. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian
described it as “horribly fascinating” , it portrays the bloody battle between drug lords and police in Rio de Janeiro
where more than 1000 people die each year.
During 2007/ early 2008 Blair made Ochberg’s Orphans for Rainmaker Films, about the 1921 expedition of one Isaac Ochberg who saved nearly 200 orphans from the wreckage of post-revolutionary Russia. The film was shortlisted for an Oscar for Short Documentary.
In August 2007 Blair completed Murder Most Foul
a 75 minute feature documentary for More 4 about crime in South Africa
with the ex-South African Shakespearean actor, Sir Antony Sher
.
In 2006, Blair produced and directed a multi episode comedy series for BBC1, Dawn French’s Girls Who Do: Comedy. In 2005 Jon made two one hour drama documentaries for Discovery Networks Europe in the Zero Hour series, about the Oklahoma bomb and the plot to kill Pope John Paul II
. Prior to that he worked as an Executive Producer for Discovery for 8 months.
In 2003/4, he series produced a 4 hour series – of which he produced, wrote and directed 3 hours – Reporters at War, a first hand history of war reporting, featuring some of the most famous American and British war reporters through the ages. The Series won an Emmy in the US for Best Historical Programming. His feature length opening programme of the Series won the Broadcasting Press Guild
Award for best multi-channel programme for 2003 and was nominated for the Broadcast Award for Best Multi-Channel Programme for 2003/4, as well as receiving an Honourable Mention at Banff. The Series also received a Gold Medal at the New York Festivals.
Following a programme on Bin Laden: the Early Years for Channel Four after September 11, 2001, in 2002 he was Series Producer, as well as director and writer of two episodes, of the four part series, The Age of Terror. The Series made by 3BM Television received wide critical acclaim including an International Documentary Association Award nomination and winning the Broadcast Award for Best Multi-Channel Programme for 2002. The Series was also nominated for a Banff Documentary Award.
Also in 2002, Blair produced, wrote, directed and narrated The Meyssan Conspiracy, about a 9/11 conspiracy theory, for Channel Four Science and then a rapid turn-round special, also for Channel Four, on the Bali bombing. He was also a contributor to The Times Special Supplement on the first anniversary of the September 11th tragedy.
, acting as Producer and then Executive Producer until mid 1987. He was also Executive Producer of all Spitting Image Specials for NBC and HBO in the USA. In his time at Spitting Image as Producer or Executive Producer the programme won two Emmies, a Banff comedy award, and numerous other international awards.
Blair produced Dunrulin for BBC1, a satirical comedy based on his own idea featuring the Thatcher family in retirement starring Angela Thorne and John Wells. He also made The Stone Age by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman for BBC1 and starring Trevor Eve. Other comedy productions include Packing Them In and Blue Heaven, both starring Frank Skinner and both for Channel Four. There was also the light hearted dramatised documentary, Sindy Hits Thirty, with Sandi Toksvig for Channel Four.
In 1991 Blair produced and his company made its first feature, Monster in a Box
, Spalding Gray
's sequel to Swimming to Cambodia
.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n born writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
s, drama and comedy who has lived in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ever since he was drafted into the South African army in the late 1960s. He is the only director of documentaries working in the United Kingdom who has won all three of the premier awards in his field: an Oscar, an Emmy (twice) and a British Academy Award.
Film-making
He is the author of The Biko Inquest, a play based on the inquest in South Africa into the death in prison of the black leader, Steve BikoSteve Biko
Stephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
. The play, originally written for television, and then later adapted for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
, pioneered the use of drama in current affairs. Blair directed the play Off Broadway in New York, starring Fritz Weaver
Fritz Weaver
Fritz William Weaver is an American actor and voice actor.-Life and career:Weaver was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Elsa W. and John Carson Weaver. His mother was of Italian descent and his father was a social worker from Pittsburgh. Weaver attended Peabody High School...
and Philip Bosco
Philip Bosco
-Personal life:Bosco was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Margaret Raymond , a policewoman, and Philip Lupo Bosco, a carnival worker. Bosco went to high school at St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City. He attended the Catholic University of Washington, D.C. Bosco married Nancy...
, where it received considerable critical acclaim and ran for four months. After successful productions around the world it was produced on the London stage, and also for television, starring Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
. A version of the play with an all black cast was staged in Nigeria in 1979 directed by and starring writer, poet and playwright, the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
.
As a Producer/Director on Tonight, This Week and TV Eye, Blair covered domestic and foreign political and economic stories including the first programme about the 1976 Soweto uprising for British television, There Is No Crisis!, and coverage of wars in the Middle East, Cambodia and Angola. As a war correspondent/feature writer he has contributed to The Times, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Economist and The New York Times. He has also been a book reviewer for the Los Angeles Times.
Having created one of the first independent production companies in England with Spitting Image Productions, Blair set up his own company, Jon Blair Films, in 1987. The company's first production was a feature documentary co-produced with BBC1 which Jon produced, directed and wrote, Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?. It tells the story of a year in the life of the small cow town in Wyoming where the actress Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
's parents now live. The feature length version was narrated by Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
who, before agreeing to work on the film, told Close and Blair that he thought it was “one of the best films about the American West” he had ever seen.
Blair then wrote and produced a drama documentary for Channel Four, The Kimberley Carlile Inquiry based on Louis Blom-Cooper’s inquiry into the circumstances surrounding that infamous case of child abuse. The production starred Julie Covington, Brian Cox, Kenneth Cranham, Daniel Day Lewis, Trevor Eve, Alan Howard, Anna Massey, Diana Quick, Zoe Wanamaker and others. His follow-up documentary on child protection in Coventry was later used extensively in training service providers. Another of Blair's documentaries on medical/social issues, made for ITV on the misuse of the drug Haloperidol
Haloperidol
Haloperidol is a typical antipsychotic. It is in the butyrophenone class of antipsychotic medications and has pharmacological effects similar to the phenothiazines....
in prisons and police stations, has been cited as a good example of how to approach complex medical issues in popular television.
Other productions included an early example of a formatted documentary, Thighs, Lies & Beauty, an investigation of the myths and reality surrounding the beauty business for BBC1; The Art of Tripping, a 2 hour dramatised documentary for Channel Four on drug taking and the arts starring Bernard Hill; a Frontline (Channel Four) current affairs film featuring the story of South African Jann Turner whose father was assassinated in front of her when she was 13, and as an adult returns to South Africa to look at the arguments for revenge versus reconciliation in the new South Africa; Steven Spielberg on "Schindler's List" and Tom Hanks & The World According to Gump, both for the BBC; and Wagner vs Wagner, for Channel Four, featuring Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's great grandson on the composer's political and cultural legacy of anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and race hatred.
Documentaries
Anne Frank Remembered, written, produced and directed by Blair, is the winner of an Academy Award for Documentary Feature (Oscar), as well as an International Emmy, a CableACE, the International Documentary AssociationInternational Documentary Association
International Documentary Association , founded in 1982, is a non-profit organization promoting documentary film, video and new media, to support the efforts of documentary filmmaking and video production makers around the world and to increase public appreciation and demand for the art of the...
Distinguished Achievement Award, the Audience Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Jury Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...
and a Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
together with awards for editing and cinematography at the New York Film and Television Festival. It has also been featured at the Melbourne, Montreal and Toronto International Film Festivals (all non-competitive). The film was distributed theatrically in the UK, North America and Australia.
Blair is the winner of a British Academy Award for Best Documentary for his 1983 film, Schindler
Schindler
-People:* Alexander Schindler , leading figure of American Reform Judaism* Allen R. Schindler, Jr. , was United States Navy officer, victim of a hate crime...
, which preceded Steven Spielberg's feature by 10 years and was used extensively by Spielberg as a research resource. Schindler was narrated by Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
and written, produced and directed by Blair.
Blair’s latest feature documentary, Dancing with the Devil, premiered at the Silverdocs Festival in the USA in June 2009 and had its Latin American premiere at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival in October 2009. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described it as “horribly fascinating” , it portrays the bloody battle between drug lords and police in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
where more than 1000 people die each year.
During 2007/ early 2008 Blair made Ochberg’s Orphans for Rainmaker Films, about the 1921 expedition of one Isaac Ochberg who saved nearly 200 orphans from the wreckage of post-revolutionary Russia. The film was shortlisted for an Oscar for Short Documentary.
In August 2007 Blair completed Murder Most Foul
Murder Most Foul
Murder Most Foul is the third of four films made by MGM loosely based on novels by Agatha Christie and starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Bud Tingwell as Inspector Craddock, and Stringer Davis as Mr Stringer. The story is ostensibly based on the novel Mrs McGinty's Dead, but notably...
a 75 minute feature documentary for More 4 about crime in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
with the ex-South African Shakespearean actor, Sir Antony Sher
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher, KBE is a double Olivier Award winning South African-born British actor, writer, theatre director and painter.- Early years :...
.
In 2006, Blair produced and directed a multi episode comedy series for BBC1, Dawn French’s Girls Who Do: Comedy. In 2005 Jon made two one hour drama documentaries for Discovery Networks Europe in the Zero Hour series, about the Oklahoma bomb and the plot to kill Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
. Prior to that he worked as an Executive Producer for Discovery for 8 months.
In 2003/4, he series produced a 4 hour series – of which he produced, wrote and directed 3 hours – Reporters at War, a first hand history of war reporting, featuring some of the most famous American and British war reporters through the ages. The Series won an Emmy in the US for Best Historical Programming. His feature length opening programme of the Series won the Broadcasting Press Guild
Broadcasting Press Guild
The Broadcasting Press Guild is a British association of journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media generally....
Award for best multi-channel programme for 2003 and was nominated for the Broadcast Award for Best Multi-Channel Programme for 2003/4, as well as receiving an Honourable Mention at Banff. The Series also received a Gold Medal at the New York Festivals.
Following a programme on Bin Laden: the Early Years for Channel Four after September 11, 2001, in 2002 he was Series Producer, as well as director and writer of two episodes, of the four part series, The Age of Terror. The Series made by 3BM Television received wide critical acclaim including an International Documentary Association Award nomination and winning the Broadcast Award for Best Multi-Channel Programme for 2002. The Series was also nominated for a Banff Documentary Award.
Also in 2002, Blair produced, wrote, directed and narrated The Meyssan Conspiracy, about a 9/11 conspiracy theory, for Channel Four Science and then a rapid turn-round special, also for Channel Four, on the Bali bombing. He was also a contributor to The Times Special Supplement on the first anniversary of the September 11th tragedy.
Drama/Comedy
Blair was co-founder and co-creator of Spitting ImageSpitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
, acting as Producer and then Executive Producer until mid 1987. He was also Executive Producer of all Spitting Image Specials for NBC and HBO in the USA. In his time at Spitting Image as Producer or Executive Producer the programme won two Emmies, a Banff comedy award, and numerous other international awards.
Blair produced Dunrulin for BBC1, a satirical comedy based on his own idea featuring the Thatcher family in retirement starring Angela Thorne and John Wells. He also made The Stone Age by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman for BBC1 and starring Trevor Eve. Other comedy productions include Packing Them In and Blue Heaven, both starring Frank Skinner and both for Channel Four. There was also the light hearted dramatised documentary, Sindy Hits Thirty, with Sandi Toksvig for Channel Four.
In 1991 Blair produced and his company made its first feature, Monster in a Box
Monster in a Box
Monster in a Box is a monologue originally performed live on stage by the writer Spalding Gray then subsequently made into a 1992 film starring Gray and directed by Nick Broomfield....
, Spalding Gray
Spalding Gray
Spalding Rockwell Gray was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, performance artist and monologuist...
's sequel to Swimming to Cambodia
Swimming to Cambodia
Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia is a 1987 Jonathan Demme-directed performance film. The film is a performance of Spalding Gray's monologue which centered around such themes as his trip to Southeast Asia to create the role of the U.S. Ambassador's aide in The Killing Fields, the Cold War,...
.