Stephen A Shill (born 1957) is a British television and film director, actor, screenwriter and television producer.

Early life

Shill was born in 1957 in Buckinghamshire, England. He attended Keswick Grammar School in

Keswick, Cumbria Keswick ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Allerdale Borough in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically, until 1974, it was part of Cumberland. It lies within the Lake District National ...

, England in the 1970s.

Career

He studied Fine Art at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, was a member of Impact Theatre Co-operative, and, after they disbanded, made theatre work under his own name. After completing the BBC Drama Director's Course he began his television directing career with episodes of '' EastEnders'' and '' Casualty'' for the BBC. Shill created the idea for Granada TV's ''Ted and Alice'' starring

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show '' French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Sau ...

. He moved to the United States and worked on many successful shows produced by

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cable network Networking cables are networking hardware used to connect one network device to other network devices or to connect two or more computers to share devices such as printers or scanners. Different types of network cables, such as coaxial cable, op ...

HBO, including ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'', ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...

'', ''

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

'', '' Carnivàle'', ''

Deadwood Deadwood may refer to: Places Canada * Deadwood, Alberta * Deadwood, British Columbia * Deadwood River, a tributary of the Dease River in northern British Columbia United States * Deadwood, California (disambiguation), several communiti ...

'' and ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne T ...

''. He directed the pilot episode of

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

's ''

The Tudors ''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...

'' and served as a regular director and executive producer throughout the first

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

. He has also directed episodes of Showtime's '' Brotherhood'' and ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British web series ''Diary of a Bad Man'' * Dexte ...

''. Shill directed all eight episodes of

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...

's '' The Kill Point''

mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

and also served as an executive producer. Shill directed and co-executive produced the 2008 ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original '' Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series '' Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'' TV movie that served as a pilot for the 2008 follow-up series. Shill has also directed numerous episodes of memorable network programs, including three programs of the ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...

'' series, '' Night Stalker'', ''

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing co ...

'', '' Commander in Chief'', '' Dragnet'', '' ER'' and ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

''. Shill joined the HBO western drama ''Deadwood'' as a director for the first season in 2004. The series was created by

David Milch David Sanford Milch (born March 23, 1945) is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including ABC's '' NYPD Blue'' (1993-2005), co-created with Steven Bochco, and HBO's ''Deadwood'' (2004- ...

and focused on a growing town in the American West. Shill directed the episode "Jewel's Boot Is Made for Walking". He returned as a director for the second season in 2005 and also wrote an episode. Shill directed the episode "New Money" and wrote and directed the episode "Something Very Expensive". Shill and the writing staff were nominated for a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

for Outstanding Drama Series at the February 2006 ceremony for their work on the second season. Shill directed the theatrical feature '' Obsessed'' starring

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, and Ali Larter. The film opened at number one in the United States of America in April 2009, taking almost $70m at the box office and becoming

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

' second biggest opening weekend in their history. In 2010, Shill directed the miniseries Ben Hur and the first-season episode "Painkiller" for the legal drama series ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in ...

''. That same year, he received an ''

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

'' for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for ''

: The Getaway''. Shill had acting roles in the films '' The Last Temptation of Christ'', ''The Missing Reel'', '' Kinsey'' and '' Being Human''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shill, Steve Alumni of the University of Leeds Place of birth missing (living people) English television directors Living people People educated at Keswick School English male film actors English male television actors 1957 births