STEVE BARRON

Steve Barron started in films as a camera assistant on epic productions such as Richard Donner’s ‘Superman’, Richard Attenborough’s  ‘A Bridge Too Far’ and Ridley Scott’s ‘The Duellist’s’. He began  directing music videos in the early eighties for The Jam, Human League, and Adam & the Ants, his work helping to inspire the formation of MTV. In 1982 he conceived and directed the award winning ‘Billie-Jean’ – the first single of Michael Jackson’s incredible ‘Thriller’ album. More seminal videos followed. Dire Straits’ ‘Money for Nothing’ won Best Video at the 1986 MTV Awards and A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ was awarded Best Director.

Steve’s first feature film ‘Electric Dreams’ starring Virginia Madsen, was released worldwide in 1984.

In 1987 his foray into network television won an Emmy for ‘Hans My Hedgehog’ – the ‘Storyteller’ pilot for NBC. The second show ‘Fearnot’ gained immense critical acclaim after broadcast in 1987, while a third, ‘Sapsorrow’, broadcast in 1988, was similarly revered. The Washington Post said of ‘Fearnot’ – This fantasy turns the television screen into Alice’s looking glass, Snow White’s magic mirror and The Thief of Baghdad’s all-seeing eye. It is so seductively imaginative that you can almost feel it pulling you into a bottomless tube.

In 1990 Steve’s second feature stunned the movie industry by becoming the first independent feature to break the 100 million-dollar theatrical barrier in the U.S. ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ grossed over 350 million dollars worldwide. A Grammy nomination followed for Dire Straits’ ‘Calling Elvis’ and the Billboard Best Director award for Natalie Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’ duet with her father, which reached No.1 across the world, selling over 12 million albums on the way.

In the mid-nineties Steve directed the Dan Ackroyd feature ‘Coneheads’ for Paramount and he was Executive Producer on the Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone picture ‘The Specialist’, and the highly successful ‘While You Were Sleeping’ starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. He was also Executive Producer on ‘ReBoot’, the first fully computer animated network series.

In 1996 he directed ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’, starring Oscar winner Martin Landau and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Alexander Walker said in the London Evening Standard ‘Director Steve Barron’s blend of human stars with the eponymous animatronic wooden hero has produced an amazing movie rooted in timeless fairyland but incorporating state-of-the-art wizardry…. The inventiveness lasts through the fable: it really is something to goggle at, whatever your age.’  Responses across the Atlantic in the U.S. were equally warm. The Washington Post wrote of the film, ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’ evokes the look and language of traditional European picture book tales, and does so with so much charm that it offers a fresh new delight, not just a pale live-action imitation, of the Disney animated classic.’

In autumn 1998, Steve directed ‘Merlin’, a $30 million television mega-series produced by Hallmark for NBC in America. Merlin attracted a stella cast including Sam Neill, Helena Bonham-Carter, Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Martin Short, Alan Bates, Sir John Geilguid and Rutger Hauer. In the US alone 58 million people tuned in to watch ‘Merlin’ and the critical reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Entertainment Weekly wrote… Merlin cast a new spell on history posting the highest ratings in adults 18-49 since 1984… the result is nothing less than an instant classic – a four -hour TV movie that deserves to be shown annually, the way it used to be a tradition to broadcast ‘The Wizard of Oz’ every year. It’s that good – that scary, that rich, that much fun. ‘Merlin’ was nominated for 15 Emmy’s, 4 Golden Globes and a DGA nod for outstanding Directing.

In 1999 Steve completed ‘Arabian Nights’, this time for the ABC network in America. Photographed in Turkey and Morocco its stars include Alan Bates, Jason Scott Lee, John Leguizamo, Dougray Scott and Rufus Sewell. The show aired to rave notices on ABC TV in the USA and BBC1 in the UK simultaneously, earning 5 more Emmy and a US National Television Critics nomination.

In October 2000 the Universal movie ‘Rat’ had it’s theatrical premiere in Dublin. This dark comedy, co-produced and directed by Steve Barron, is the bizarre story of a Dublin man who comes home from the pub one day ‘not feeling very well’ and turns into a rat. Starring Imelda Staunton and Pete Postlethwaite the Irish press greeted the film with an ecstatic response. Brian Reddin of the Dublin Evening Herald said – To miss this superb surreal comedy would be to miss one of the greatest Irish films ever made and perhaps the funniest.

Steve’s next comedy was ‘Mike Bassett-England Manager’ a spoof documentary feature film starring Ricky Tomlinson as the national soccer coach. The film had a wide UK theatrical release in November 2001, through the government funded Film Council and Entertainment distributors, taking $6m and charting at number three in it’s first four weeks.

Next was a $24m American Indian mini-series epic for ABC and Hallmark. ‘Dreamkeeper’ is the first big scale attempt to bring to life the myth’s and legends of the Native American people. Tribes all across the United States were consulted and ninety-five speaking roles all cast with Native people. The production won Steve a Gold for Directorial Achievement at the Chicago International TV Festival and an Emmy for best visual effects.

In 2005 Steve wrote and directed the New York based independent feature film ‘Choking Man’ starring Mandy Patinkin and Aaron Paul. The contemporary feature follows the fortunes of an acutely shy Ecuadorian dishwasher. Set in an old traditional diner in Jamaica, Queens the movie’s backdrop is the largest, most diverse immigrant population in North America.

Steve was presented with an ‘Outstanding Achievement in Music Videos’ award at the Hammersmith Palais in London. 2007 also brought a prestigious Gotham Award for his first original screenplay Choking Man. Through these years Steve Exec-Produced two feature documentaries for ‘Peace One Day’ and ‘The Day After Peace’ with Jude Law and Angelina Jolie, which premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival and Cannes respectively. The film charts Jeremy Gilley’s incredible journey to create a day of peace in the world calendar.

2009 Steve directed the Sci-Fi internet sensation Slingers, starring Sean Pertwee, with visual effects by the acclaimed company he was a founder of, Framestore. 2011 he Directed the miniseries Treasure Island, for Sky and SyFy, starring Eddie Izzard, Elijah Wood and Donald Sutherland. Filmed in Dublin and Puerto Rico Steve kept up his unbroken Emmy Nomination sequence for television with two more Emmy nods.

Steve has recently completed the Artificial Intelligence thriller mini-series for Sonar Productions ‘Delete’ for release worldwide in 2013. Through Riley Productions he has signed a development deal with the British Film Institute to make a sequel to his now cult ‘Mike Bassett’ movie.

2012
DELETE
Director

2012
TREASURE ISLAND
Director

2009
SLINGERS
Director

2008
THE DAY AFTER PEACE
Co-Producer

2006
CHOKING MAN
Director, Producer, Writer

2004
PEACE ONE DAY
Executive Producer

2003
DREAMKEEPER
Director

2001
MIKE BASSETT: ENGLAND MANAGER
Director, Producer

2000
RAT
Director, Producer

2000
ARABIAN NIGHTS
Director

1998
MERLIN
Director

1996
THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO
Director, Writer

1995
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
Executive Producer

1994
THE SPECIALIST
Executive Producer

1994
REBOOT
Executive Producer

1993
CONEHEADS
Director

1990
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
Director

1988
THE STORY TELLER
- Sapsorrow
- Hans My Hedgehog
- Fearnot
Director

1984
ELECTRIC DREAMS
Director

2006
Gotham Award for CHOKING MAN

2006
Outstanding Achievement in Music Videos -
CADS in association with MTV

2004
Nominated, Saturn Award Best Television Presentation, DREAMKEEPER

2004
Emmy Awards
Won, Emmy Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, DREAMKEEPER

2004
Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
Nominated, Golden Reel Award Best Sound Editing in Television Long Form – Music, DREAMKEEPER

2003
American Indian Film Festival Best Film for: DREAMKEEPER (2003) (TV)

2003
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA DREAMKEEPER (2003) (TV)

2002
‘MIKE BASSETT – ENGLAND MANAGER’
Nominated for Best British Film 2002 Empire Awards

2002
Nominated, Saturn Award Best DVD Release.
Irish Film and Television Awards: RAT

2000
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror
Films, USA:
RAT

2000
Casting Society of America, USA:
ARABIAN NIGHTS

2000
Won, Artios Best Casting for TV Miniseries’.                                                                                                                                         ARABIAN NIGHTS

2000
Emmy Awards: ARABIAN NIGHTS
Won, Emmy Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries,
Movie or a Special.
Nominated, Emmy Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.
Nominated, Emmy Outstanding Miniseries.
Nominated, Emmy Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.
Nominated, Emmy Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.
Television Critics Association Awards.

2000
Nominated, TCA Award Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials.                                                                ARABIAN NIGHTS

2000
Nominated, IFTA Award Best Screenplay Wesley Burrowes.
Nominated, IFTA Award Best Actress Imelda Staunton.                                                                                                                         ARABIAN NIGHTS

1999
Nominated Directors Guild of America Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television for:
MERLIN (1998/II) (TV)

1998
Emmy Awards
Nominated Emmy Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Movie for:
MERLIN (1998/II) (TV)

1998
WorldFest Flagstaff
Won Gold Award Television and Cable Production for:
MERLIN (1998/II) (TV)

1996
Gemini Awards Best Animated Program or Series for:
“REBOOT” (1994)
Shared with: Christopher J. Brough / Ian Pearson /
Stéphane Reichel