Paul Andrew Williams joins Film Team

Date:	24 September 2007

From London to Brighton to Kingston

Director Paul Williams, director of London to Brighton (2006) – named by The Guardian as “best British film of the year” – has joined the Film and Television subject area as Visiting Professor.

Born in Portsmouth on the south coast of England on 15th Oct 1973, Paul moved to London in 1992 to attend the acting school LAMDA.

Paul first got into the film business by performing in front of the cameras. After leaving drama school in 1995 to star in the BBC series No Bananas with Tom Bell and Stephanie Beacham, he went on to guest lead in Soldier Soldier, The Thin Blue Line, Dalziel and Pascoe, Casualty, Band Of Brothers and Eastenders.

He set up So Loose Films in early 2000 to make the short film The Thief in March that year and later on, Sugar, a film that went to the Depict 2000 short film festival and was picked up for worldwide distribution by Atom films.

Paul began his career as an actor but in the last five years he has written and directed a number of successful pop-promos, viral ads and short films.

In 2001 Paul wrote and directed the short film Royalty which would later inspire London To Brighton. Royalty premiered at the London Film Festival in 2001, screened on UK television and was shortlisted for the Kodak showcase, consequently screening at BAFTA. In 2003 Paul was the only UK-based director to be picked up by the Fox Searchlight Director's Lab. His short film, It's Okay To Drink Whiskey, made through this programme, premiered at 2004's Sundance Film Festival. His UK TV debut, Naked, was pick of the day in Time Out and was well received by audiences and critics alike.

Paul is a prolific writer and has several projects in development including The Cottage a dark comedy-horror, bittersweet road movie Wisdom’s Last Legs, and S.H.S. (Self Harm Society) a coming-of-age drama.

Paul told Subject Head Will Brooker he was “honoured” to be considered as a Visiting Professor, and that he hoped to contribute more than the expected two days per year. Details of specialist masterclasses, where Film and TV students will be able to work closely with the director, and a major event involving screening and discussion of Paul’s work, will be announced later this semester.

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Paul Andrew Williams joins Film Team

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