Dawn Shadforth is a British director of music videos, TV, and film and a visual artist. She was originally a fine artist making work with objects, light, video and sound. She won the Whitworth Young Contemporaries Award for the installation "Sweet Dreams" in 1991 which was exhibited in Manchester and Sheffield. Shadforth later became a music-video and television director, receiving many awards for her work in music video including: Best New Director at The 1998 CAD Awards, Best Director at the 2001 CAD Awards. Visionary Video at the VH1/

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

Fashion Awards. The Icon Award at the 2010

UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music. The awards began in 2008. There is a wide range of opportunities for UK individuals and companies to ...

. And for dramatic work she won a BIFA for Best British Short Film at the 2018

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

for the short film ''The Big Day'', and subsequently nominated for two BAFTAs in 2019 for Breakthrough talent for ''

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

'' episode "Silenzio" and in 2021 for Best Mini-Series for ''

Adult Material ''Adult Material'' is a four-part British drama television series concerning a woman's life working in the adult film industry Starring Hayley Squires and created by an all female team, it first aired on Channel 4 on 5 October 2020. Adult indu ...

''.

Early life

Shadforth was born on 10 November 1973 in Billericay, Essex, England the daughter of a pharmacist Richard Shadforth and ceramacist Sue Shadforth. She graduated from

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

with a 1st Class Hons Degree in Fine Art - Sculpture. In 2018 Sheffield Hallam University awarded her with an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

Career

Early work

In 1995, Shadforth directed ''The Friends Tale'', a 10-minute experimental

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ''Battered Britain'' series. Around the same time she directed ''The Seven Year Glitch'', an experimental film documenting the

Warp Records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, A ...

seven-year anniversary tour, screened at

onedotzero onedotzero is a contemporary digital arts organisation based in London that aims to promote new work in moving image and motion arts. The organisation conducts public events, artist and content development, publishing projects, education, produc ...

London, United Kingdom London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Sónar Sónar is a festival dedicated to music, creativity and technology, founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Ricard Robles, Enric Palau, and Sergi Caballero. The festival has been divided into two parts since its inception: Sónar by Day and Sónar b ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Music video

In 1996, Shadforth directed a music video for the track "Hush" by

Kurtis Mantronik Kurtis el Khaleel (born Graham Curtis el Khaleel, September 4, 1965), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the inf ...

. The video was filmed in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. It features cameos by

Todd Terry Todd Norton Terry (born April 18, 1967) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer in the genre of house music. Musical career Todd Terry was influential in moving House music beyond the early Chicago house sound of 1984–86. He crossed ...

Róisín Murphy Róisín Marie Murphy ( , ; born 5 July 1973) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one half of the pop duo Moloko alongside English musician Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, she em ...

, Jason Buckle from the band

Relaxed Muscle Relaxed Muscle are an English electro duo formed in 2002 by Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and All Seeing I's Jason Buckle. In early 2003, Relaxed Muscle began playing gigs. Cocker and Buckle maintained anonymity by assuming the alter-egos 'Darren Spoone ...

and DJ Winston Hazel amongst others. In 1997, Shadforth's music video for Sheffield band

All Seeing I The All Seeing I were a British electronic music group from Sheffield, England, comprising Dean Honer, Jason Buckle and DJ Parrot (real name Richard Barratt). Biography The band released their first single "I Walk" in 1997, but it was not unt ...

's single "Beat Goes On" won for Best Dance Video at the 1998 Muzik Video Awards and for Best New Director and Best Editing at the 1999 CAD Awards. In 2000 Shadforth directed a video for

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

’s "

Special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

" featuring the band dog fighting in futuristic aircraft in the skies above a barren desert planet. The video was awarded Visionary Video at the VH1/

Fashion Awards. In 2001, Shadforth made the

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

video "

Can't Get You Out of My Head "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is a song that was recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her eighth studio album, ''Fever (Kylie Minogue album), Fever'' (2001). Parlophone, Parlophone Records released the song as the album's Single ( ...

". The video features Minogue in a computer generated futuristic city, arriving in a space-age car, seductively and rhythmically shifting the gearstick as she drives, before eventually dancing in a clipped pulsating style in front of a group of male dancers all wearing red plastic headgear. The video is well known for its tight choreography as well as for featuring Minogue in a deceptively revealing white costume with a plunging neckline and wide open front. The video was quickly picked up by many music video channels and is credited with making the song a number one hit worldwide. The exposure from the video quickly made Shadforth a "must have" director, and the film has been widely mimicked and parodied. She also directed the award-winning promo film for " The Importance of Being Idle", the acclaimed second single from 2005's comeback album by

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, ''

Don't Believe the Truth ''Don't Believe the Truth'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Oasis. It was released on 30 May 2005 by Big Brother Recordings. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart with first week sales of 237,865, and is the 32nd fastest ...

''. The film was a clever pastiche of 1960s black and white

kitchen sink drama Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" w ...

films, featuring a parade of high-kicking undertakers, led by the Welsh actor

Rhys Ifans Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...

. (The name of the undertaking firm featured in the video is 'Shadforth and Sons'). The band themselves praised the video, and it was said by critics at the time to be the best video

had ever made. It went on to win the award for Best Video of 2005 at the

NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of ...

in early 2006, and the song itself went to Number 1. In 2016, "Lights" by

Hurts Hurts are an English musical duo formed in Manchester in 2009, consisting of singer Theo Hutchcraft and multi-instrumentalist Adam Anderson. They have released five studio albums: ''Happiness'' (2010), ''Exile'' (2013), ''Surrender'' (2015), ' ...

following a drunkenly amorous Theo Hutchcroft through the ups and downs of a night on the tiles and featuring intricate dance routines, and "Old Skool" by

Metronomy Metronomy are an English electronic music group formed in 1999. As of 2021, the band consists of Joseph Mount (vocals, keyboards and guitar), Oscar Cash (keyboards, backing vocals, guitar and saxophone), Anna Prior (drums and vocals), Olugbenga ...

featuring

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born 13 July 1970) is an Irish actress, writer, director, comedian and producer who co-wrote and starred in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009) and ''Catastrophe'' (2015–2019). She also created the HBO comedy ...

as a twitchy, alien 70's housewife, both directed by Dawn, were nominated for 6 awards collectively at the UKMVA's. "Lights" by Hurts also won Dawn a special achievement award at the 2015 1:4 Awards.

Film & Television

In 2017 Shadforth directed '' The Big Day'', a short film written by Kellie Smith produced as part of the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

I-Write scheme by Michelle Eastwood. The film went on to win the

British Independent Film Award The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

(BIFA) for Best British Short Film at the 2018

. She followed this with acclaimed work on long-form TV drama, beginning with ''

'' in 2017, for which she was nominated for Breakthrough Talent at the 2018 BAFTA Awards. In 2018 she directed episode 3 of the adaptation of Phillip Pullman's epic saga

His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), ''The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and ''The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follows ...

. In 2019, Shadforth directed the mini-series ''

'', written by playwright

Lucy Kirkwood Lucy Ann Kirkwood (born October 1983) is a British playwright and screenwriter. She is writer in residence at Clean Break. In June 2018 Kirkwood was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in its "40 Under 40" initiative. Early life ...

, a drama examining themes of power and consent following the life of a working mother within the UK adult entertainment industry, for Channel 4 and Netflix. The show starred

Hayley Squires Hayley Squires (born 16 April 1988) is an English actress and playwright, best known for her work in the Ken Loach film ''I, Daniel Blake''. Squires has also appeared in ''Call the Midwife'' (2012), '' Southcliffe'' (2013), ''Complicit'' (2013), ...

and featuring among others

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil ...

, Sienna Kelly,

Kerry Godliman Kerry Anna Godliman (born November 1973) is an English actor and comedian best known for her roles in ''Derek'', '' Bad Move'' and '' After Life''. Early life Godliman was born in Perivale, West London, and trained at Rose Bruford College in ...

and

Joe Dempsie Joseph Maxwell Dempsie (born 22 June 1987) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Chris Miles in the E4 teen comedy-drama '' Skins'' (2007–2008) and Gendry Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2013; 2017–2019). Dempsie's e ...

. It garnered rave reviews and was nominated for five BAFTA awards in 2021 including Best Miniseries. Squires won an

International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sc ...

for her performance in the show. Shadforth followed this with '' Mood'', written by Nicôle Lecky for

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

and

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

in 2021, shot in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

during the pandemic. The show combines fantasy music sequences with comedy drama and was critically well received. In 2022 directed all episodes of a Christmas special of ''

I Hate Suzie ''I Hate Suzie'' is a British dark comedy drama television series created by Lucy Prebble and Billie Piper. It was produced by Bad Wolf in association with Sky Studios, with Prebble serving as showrunner. All episodes were written by Prebbl ...

'', the show created by

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...

and

Lucy Prebble Lucy Prebble (born 1981) is a British playwright. She is the author of the plays ''The Sugar Syndrome'', '' The Effect'', ''ENRON'' and '' A Very Expensive Poison''. For television she adapted ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' and co-created ''I H ...

and produced by Badwolf for

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO ...

which was received to universal acclaim and 4 and 5 star reviews across all press. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/dec/20/i-hate-suzie-too-review-amy-winehouse-and-caroline-flack-haunt-this-astounding-show https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2022/12/20/hate-suzie-review-tv-drama-raw-honest-cant-look-away/ https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/i-hate-suzie-too-cast-review-billie-piper-b2249046.html

Selected director videography

References

External links

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1516369/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Official site
at Black Dog Films (US)/RSA *
Dawn Shadforth
at th
Internet Music Video DatabaseDawn Shadforth
a
Clipland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadforth, Dawn English music video directors People from Essex 1973 births Living people Female music video directors