Ian Clark is an English film director and screenwriter.

Early life

Ian Clark was raised in

Disley Disley is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is located on the edge of the Peak District in the Goyt valley, south of Stockport and close to the county boundary with Derbyshire at New Mills. The population at the 2011 Census ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, the son of Monica Clark (née Holt), a teacher and lecturer and Michael (Mick) Clark, an IT Manager. He was educated at Poynton High School, Cheshire, and later went on to study Fine Art at

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

and Graphic Design and Animation at

Staffordshire University , mottoeng = Dare to know , type = Public , endowment = £70 million (2015) , administrative_staff = 1,375 , chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford , vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones , ...

. It was at university that he started to develop an interest in film making.

Career

In 2002 he made his second short film, ''Def'', which was produced with funding from Short Circuits Commissions in Yorkshire and premiered at the

Leeds International Film Festival The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is the largest film festival in England outside London. Founded in 1987, it is held in November at various venues throughout Leeds, West Yorkshire. In 2015, the festival welcomed over 40,000 visitor ...

in October 2002.The film won best short film in Leeds and went on to win the Grand Prize at PiFan in South Korea and the Jury Prize at the

New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...

as well as many other awards.''Def'' tells the story of Tony, a deaf boy from Yorkshire who dreams of becoming a rapper. While the other kids on his estate make fun of him and his friend Mike, Tony retreats into a fantasy of performing as deaf M.C, ‘Ice Finga'. During 2006 and 2007 he studied at the National Film and Television School and completed an MA in Directing Fiction. He attended the 2008 Edinburgh Film Festival as a Skillset Trailblazer where his graduation film ''Outcasts'' premiered. ''Outcasts'', a road movie with a difference in which “a gang of outcasts hit the road to take on the world”, won awards at festivals around the world including the

FujiFilm , trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals. The offerings from th ...

Short Film Competition,

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Student Awards and Look & Roll Disability Film Festival,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. It was also selected for

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...

’s Film Festival in the Sky where

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

, one of the judges, commented “ ''Outcasts'' was so brave – the kind of balls and bravery only seen at the film school.” On graduating from the NFTS he was mentored by the director Chris Smith as part of Guiding Lights, "Europe’s most prestigious film mentoring scheme". Majority funded by Creative Skillset, the programme supports upcoming filmmakers and professionals through high-level mentoring, complemented by a range of training and networking activities. In 2009 his short film ''Jenny and the Worm'', produced with funding from Film London's Digital Shorts scheme, premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...

. The film went on to win a number of awards at festivals round the world, including a Jury Special Mention at the

Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (French: ''Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand'') is an international film festival dedicated to short films held annually in Clermont-Ferrand, France. History I ...

. In 2011 he wrote and directed ''The Facility'' (originally titled ''Guinea Pigs''), starring

Aneurin Barnard Aneurin Barnard (; ; born 8 May 1987) is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for playing Davey in ''Hunky Dory'', Claude in '' The Truth About Emanuel'', Bobby Willis in '' Cilla'', Tim in ''Thirteen'', King Richard III in '' The White Quee ...

Oliver Coleman Oliver Coleman (born 17 March 1983), is a British actor. He attended Bedales School in Petersfield, Hampshire. He has two brothers and a sister, Daisy Coleman. Biography Coleman portrayed Toby in '' The Line of Beauty'' (2006) and Henry P ...

, Steve Evets,

Skye Lourie Skye Lourie (born 15 December 1990) is a New Zealand-British actress. Born in New Zealand and raised in Tuscany, Lourie attended Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and Hurtwood House. Skye Lourie is best known for portraying Elizabeth ...

, Alex Reid, Nia Roberts & Amit Shah. The film is a micro-budget British medical-horror film centered on seven volunteers in a

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

that goes horrifically wrong. It was the first film made by the Vertigo School Project, a joint venture by

Vertigo Films Vertigo Films is a British television and film production company based in London, England. Vertigo Films has been responsible for the production and distribution of ''Bronson (film), Bronson'', ''StreetDance 3D'', and ''Monsters (2010 film), ...

and the

NFTS The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...

, designed to allow NFTS students to create feature films. ''The Facility'' premiered at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

on 23 June 2012 where it was selected to be part of the "Best of the Fest" programme. The film was released by

Momentum Pictures Momentum Pictures is a film distributor and a subsidiary of Entertainment One, itself part of Hasbro. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading in ...

in May 2013. In 2012 he directed ''Fox Hollow Farm'', an episode of

Paranormal Witness ''Paranormal Witness'' is an American paranormal documentary television series made by a British production company which described itself as "true tales of supernatural hauntings and explanation-defying paranormal experiences, which are brought ...

, Season 2 for Raw TV and the

Syfy channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

. It was first screened on 26 September 2012 in the USA and on 6 December 2012 in the UK.This was followed by two episodes of a

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 ...

, ''Ultimate Warfare'' for

Military Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television television network, channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The n ...

and Arrow Media. The films were first screened on 12 February 2013 and 12 March 2013 in the USA and during September 2013 in the UK. In 2014 he directed two TV series for Arrow Media:''See No Evil'', a series of modern mysteries using real surveillance footage and '' Planes That Changed The World''.''See No Evil'' had its world premiere in November 2014 on Slice TV in Canada and was screened in the USA by

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

in February 2015. ''Kelsey Smith'' was the first episode of the series shown in the USA and achieved record breaking viewing figures for the channel . ''Planes That Changed The World'' was premiered in the UK in March 2015 on Quest. In 2015 he produced and directed two episodes of the TV series ''Manhunt: Kill or Capture'' for World Media Rights. The series had its world premiere in August 2015 on

American Heroes Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries pr ...

in the USA. Following the success of the first season of ''See No Evil'', a second one was commissioned from Arrow Media and Clark directed five episodes. The series was premiered on the Investigation Discovery Channel in February 2016. . At the beginning of 2016 Arrow Media was commissioned by

to produce a new TV series: ''American Monster'' (originally titled ''Devil In Disguise'') with Clark directing two episodes. It comprises a series of non-fiction crime dramas that get “closer than ever to some of the country's most shocking and surprising crimes.” The series was premiered on the Investigation Discovery Channel in June 2016. Later in 2016 he produced and directed two

episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek ...

of '' Autopsy: The Last Hours Of...'' for

Potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

, part of

ITV Studios ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcas ...

. The subjects of these episodes were the actor

Corey Haim Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian actor. He starred in a number of 1980s films, such as '' Lucas'', '' Silver Bullet'', ''Murphy's Romance'', '' License to Drive'' and '' Dream a Little Dream''. His role along ...

and the comedian

Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...

. The series was initially screened on the

Reelz Reelz (formerly known as Reelz Channel) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood ...

channel in November 2016. In 2017 a second season of ''American Monster'' was made with Clark directing four episodes. The first episode had its premiere on 9 July 2017 on

. Later in the year he produced and directed two further

of '' Autopsy: The Last Hours Of...'' (season 9). The subjects of these episodes were

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

and the singer Cass Elliot from

the Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

. The episodes were initially screened on the

channel on 25 March 2018 and 22 April 2018 respectively. In 2018 another new series was developed by Arrow Media. ''What Lies Beneath'' is a true crime drama documentary and Clark produced and directed the first two episodes. The programme gives the real-footage murder genre a new twist by using real courtroom footage, CCTV and home movies as well as surrounding news coverage. The series was initially shown on

in September and October 2018. Later in 2018 he directed 2 episodes of season 5 of ''See No Evil''. The series premiered on

in April 2019. In 2019 he directed 2 episodes of a new drama documentary, ''Predator at Large'', for October Studios. The series premiered in April 2020 on Investigation Discovery.

Filmography

Feature Films

* ''The Facility'' (2011)

Television

*''Fox Hollow Farm'' (2012) An episode of ''Paranormal Witness'', Season 2 episode 8 * ''Courage at Sea'', the battle of Leyte Gulf (2013) An episode of ''Ultimate Warfare'', Season 1 episode 5 * ''Midway:Taking Back the Pacific'' (2013) An episode of ''Ultimate Warfare'', Season 1 episode 7 * ''Skylar Neese'' (2014) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Season 1 episode 2 *''Kelsey Smith'' (2014) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Season 1 episode 3 * ''DC3'' (2015) An episode of ''Planes That Changed The World'', Season 1 episode 1 * ''Airbus A380 – Giant of the Sky'' (2015) ) An episode of ''Planes That Changed The World'', Season 1 episode 2 * ''SR – 71 Blackbird – Hypersonic Surveillance'' (2015) An episode of ''Planes That Changed The World'', Season 1 episode 3 * ''Manhunt: Kill or Capture'' (2015) * ''Good Samaritan'' (2016) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Series 2 episode 2 * ''Rick Chance'' (2016) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Series 2 episode 11 * ''Someone to Watch Over Her'' (2016) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Series 2 episode 12 * ''Appalachian Horror Film'' (2016) An episode of ''American Monster'', Series 1 episode 2 * ''Right Before Your Eyes'' (2016) An episode of ''American Monster'', Series 1 episode 6 * ''Chris Farley'' (2016) An episode of ''Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..'' Season 7 episode 1 * ''Corey Haim'' (2016) An episode of ''Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..'' Season 7 episode 2 * ''American Monster'' (2017) Season 2 (4 episodes) * ''Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..'' (2018) Season 9 (2 episodes) * ''What Lies Beneath'' (2018) Season 1 (2 episodes) * ''See No Evil'' (2019) Season 5 (2 episodes) * ''Predator at Large'' (2020) Season 1 (2 episodes)

Short Films

* ''Def'' (2002) * ''Flats'' (2006) * ''Smile'' (2007) * ''Outcasts'' (2008) * ''Jenny and the Worm'' (2009)

Personal life

He is married to the Greek film maker

Katerina Athanasopoulou Katerina Athanasopoulou ( el, Κατερίνα Αθανασοπούλου) is a Greek film maker and animation artist. Early life Katerina Athanasopoulou was born in Athens and studied painting at the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle Univers ...

and lives in London. He has a brother, Richard, who is a teacher.

References

External links

*
Ian Clark at Vimeo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Ian English film directors Living people People from Disley Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of Staffordshire University Alumni of the National Film and Television School Year of birth missing (living people)