Neil Blair is an English literary agent, television producer, and film producer.
Early life
Neil Blair studied law at
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...
.
Career
In 1990, after graduating from college, Blair joined the litigation team at the global law firm
Linklaters
Linklaters LLP is a multinational law firm, headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1838, it is a member of the "Magic Circle" of elite London-headquartered law firms. It currently employs over 5,000 lawyers across 31 offices in 21 count ...
. He later joined
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
, where he became Head of Business Affairs, Europe, worked on productions such as ''
Band of Brothers'' and ''
Eyes Wide Shut
''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Traumnovelle'' (''Dream Story'') by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's sett ...
'', and helped acquire the film rights for
J.K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
’s ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' series. In 2001 he left to join the
Christopher Little Literary Agency
The Christopher Little Literary Agency is a firm of literary agents based in London. Its clients have included Darren Shan, A. J. Quinnell, Pip Vaughan Hughes, Philip Kazan, Pippa Mattinson, Cathy Hopkins, Robert Mawson, Robert Radcliffe, General ...
.
In 2011, Blair left Christopher Little Literary Agency to found The Blair Partnership. J.K. Rowling joined his client list after 15 years with the Christopher Little Literary Agency.
He is the Chairman of the Board and a Director of
Pottermore
Wizarding World Digital is the digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company. It offers news, features, and articles as well as new and previously unreleased writing by J. K. Rowling regarding the Wizarding World. The site featu ...
and Chairman of the production companies Brontë Film and Television, founded to develop and produce projects commissioned from J.K. Rowling’s novels, and Snowed-In Productions, founded to work on non J.K. Rowling projects.
Charitable work
Blair is Chairman of J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity
Lumos. He is a UK ambassador for
The Abraham Initiatives and a board member of
JW3
JW3, also known as Jewish Community Centre London, is an arts, culture and entertainment venue, an educational facility and a social and community hub in north London. It is located at 341–351 Finchley Road, London, and opened on 29 Septembe ...
. In 2017, he supported the construction of archive space and a reading room on
Exeter College’s Cohen Quadrangle to help preserve 30,000 rare books, including important
Judaica such as the
Soncino Bible, the earliest full text bible ever printed.
Personal life
Neil has said that books and being Jewish "are very close to my heart". He is a fan of
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
and
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
.
Filmography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Neil
British Jews
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)