Paul Wilmshurst

Paul Wilmshurst
Born
Paul Dominic Wilmshurst

(1961-12-15) 15 December 1961 (age 63)
London, England
OccupationTelevision Director
Websitehttps://www.paulwilmshurst.com

Paul Wilmshurst is a British television director. He has worked on five seasons of the Sky One/Cinemax action-adventure series Strike Back[1] and directed on the first series of David S. Goyer's historical fantasy series Da Vinci's Demons[2][3] for StarZ and BBC America. He has received an International Emmy Award[4] and two BAFTA nominations.[5]

Education

He attended The Leys School, studied English at Churchill College, Cambridge and took a post-graduate course in journalism at City University, London.

Career

After graduating, Wilmshurst started working in news and current affairs, then worked for a number of years as a researcher and director in formatted factual programmes, before persuading Channel 4 to send him to Las Vegas to make an authored documentary about a mafia lawyer.[6][7] Mob Law was joint runner-up for the Joris Ivens Award at IDFA[8] and won awards at the Las Vegas and San Francisco film festivals.

He went on to make feature documentaries collaborating with novelist Luke Rhinehart[9] and comedian Frank Skinner,[10] before directing two separate year-long, three-part series for Channel 4: White Tribe (with Darcus Howe)[11] and The Gambler (with Jonathan Rendall).[12][13]

He then wrote and directed a handful of dramadocs: about cocaine dealing;[14] pseudocide; the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge;[15] alcoholism in the workplace;[16][17] and being kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, telling the story of Chris Moon.[18] Wilmshurst also wrote, produced and directed the 90-minute BBC dramatised documentary Hiroshima[19] – shown in over 30 countries on the 60th anniversary of the bombing – which won an International Emmy for Best Documentary[4] and a BAFTA for Best Visual Effects,[20] shared between Gareth Edwards, Mike Tucker and Red Vision.

In November 2008 actress Lucy Cohu won an international Emmy award for Best Actress for her role in the true-life drama Forgiven.[21] The drama was well reviewed at the time[22][23] and was later listed as one of the 50 Best Television Programmes of the Decade in The Times: "32: Forgiven (2006) It is easy to condemn child abuse. It is much harder to try to understand it, to engage with the abuser and stop it from happening. Paul Wilmshurst’s harrowing drama with Lucy Cohu showed unbelievable courage."[24] He also wrote and directed the CBBC miniseries Runaway,[25] produced and directed the BAFTA-nominated[26] children's series Combat Kids,[27] as well as directing episodes of long-running crime series Law & Order: UK, Silent Witness and Trial & Retribution.

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2017 Jamestown Director Episodes 5 & 6
2016 Indian Summers (Season 2) Director Episodes 7, 8, 9 & 10
2015 A.D. The Bible Continues Director Episodes 7 & 8
2014 Doctor Who Director Kill the Moon
Mummy on the Orient Express
Last Christmas
2013 Strike Back: Shadow Warfare Director Episodes 5 & 6
2012 Da Vinci's Demons Director Episode 5 "The Tower"
Episode 6 "The Devil"
2012 Strike Back: Vengeance Director Episodes 3 & 4
2011 Strike Back: Project Dawn Director Episodes 7 & 8
2010 Combat Kids Director, Producer Episodes 1, 2 & 3
2010 Law & Order: UK Director Shaken
2010 Silent Witness Director Home (Parts 1 & 2)
2009 Runaway Director, Writer, Producer Episodes 1, 2 & 3
2008 Trial & Retribution Director Conviction (Parts 1 & 2)
2007 Forgiven Director, Writer, Producer
2006 I Shouldn't Be Alive Director, Writer, Producer Kidnapped in the Killing Fields
2005 Hiroshima Director, Writer, Producer
2004 Pissed on the Job Director, Writer, Producer
2003 Seven Wonders of the Industrial World Director, Writer, Producer The Brooklyn Bridge
2003 Dogumentary Director, Writer, Producer Rewind the Summer
2001 Frank Skinner on Frank Skinner Director, Producer Biography of comedian Frank Skinner
2000 The Gambler Director With Jonathan Rendall
2000 White Tribe Director, Producer Documentary series with Darcus Howe
2000 Secrets & Lines Director, Writer, Producer Inside the world of cocaine dealers
1999 Diceworld Director, Producer Documentary series with Luke Rhinehart
1998 A Little Bit of Elvis Director, Producer Frank Skinner and Elvis Presley's blue velvet shirt
1998 Mob Law Director, Writer A film portrait of Oscar Goodman

References

  1. ^ "STRIKE BACK to return for an explosive third series". Left Bank Pictures. 30 January 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Da Vinci's Demons 1.05 The Tower REVIEW". sfx.co.uk. 18 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Da Vinci's Demons Episode 6 Review: The Devil". denofgeek.com. 20 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b "British TV triumphs at Emmys". The Guardian. 21 November 2006.
  5. ^ "Paul Wilmshurst Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  6. ^ Luck, Richard (5 January 2010). "Mob Law: A Film Portrait of Oscar Goodman". Film4. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  7. ^ McGee, Kimberly (19 August 1998). "Hobnob with the Mob". Las Vegas Sun.
  8. ^ "Mob Law | IDFA 2013". Idfa.nl. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  9. ^ "Film, Stage & TV". Lukerhinehart.net. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  10. ^ "'A Little Bit Of Elvis' – Frank Skinner (1998 Documentary)". 26 September 1956. Retrieved 27 August 2013 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "White Tribe – 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  12. ^ "BIOG". Paul Wilmshurst. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  13. ^ "The Gambler – 4oD". Channel 4. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  14. ^ "Channel 4 – Secrets & Lines – Cocaine Dealing Hierarchy Documentary 1999". Retrieved 27 August 2013 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "BBC Two – Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, The Brooklyn Bridge". BBC. 24 December 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  16. ^ Smith, Rupert (15 January 2004). "Booze crews". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  17. ^ "pissed on the job part 1". Retrieved 27 August 2013 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "Paul Wilmshurst". IMDb. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  19. ^ Morelock, Jerry D. (15 June 2006). "Hiroshima – DVD Review". Armchair General. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  20. ^ "Three wins for Bleak House at Bafta Craft | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  21. ^ "British talent on a roll at Emmys". Metro. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  22. ^ "Last night's TV: Forgiven". The Guardian. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  23. ^ "Last night on television". The Daily Telegraph. London. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  24. ^ "The top 50 TV shows of the Noughties". The Times. 19 December 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  25. ^ "Homeless Season: Runaways". BBC. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  26. ^ "BAFTA AWARDS: Children's in 2011". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  27. ^ "Combat Kids, CBBC". Broadcast. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  • [1] Profile page with agent Curtis Brown
  • [2] Personal website
  • [3] IMDb page