Marcus Dillistone is a British film director. A close friend of

Sir John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

, he directed the BBC/Carlton documentary of Mills' life, ''

Sir John Mills' Moving Memories ''Sir John Mills' Moving Memories'' is a British documentary film featuring 16mm color home movies shot by the actor Sir John Mills. It documents his life between 1946 and 1969, directed and edited by Marcus Dillistone and produced by his son ...

''. Dillistone and Mills first collaborated on Dillistone's film ''The Troop'', which had a Royal Premiere at BAFTA in the presence of

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...

. A copy of the film was requested by a Royal Equerry for screening to

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

at Sandringham over Christmas. A 35mm film print was donated by

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 the ...

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

, and

Glory Film Co. Glory Film Co. was established to produce the cinema film 'The Troop' which had a Royal Premiere at BAFTA in the presence of The Princess Royal. Shot in 35mm CinemaScope the film features The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery and has a narrative ...

Dillistone directed Mills in his last ever screen appearance, ''Lights 2'', in which he played a tramp. Shot at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

, Mills was lit by veteran cinematographer

Jack Cardiff Jack Cardiff, (18 September 1914 – 22 April 2009) was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to f ...

, they had last worked together on 'Scott of The Antarctic'. As of 2017 Dillistone was collaborating with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood on the film-to-digital reformatting and restoration of his film The Troop. The Academy selected The Troop as a case study in using its ACES color management methodology; also contributing to the study are Dolby Laboratories, EFilm, Fotokem, and Universal.

Education

Dillistone was educated at

The Skinners' School The Skinners' School (formally The Skinners' Company's Middle School for Boys and commonly known as Skinners'), is a British Grammar School with academy status for boys located in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Established in ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and

Kent Institute of Art & Design The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone C ...

, before gaining an honours degree 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 , ...

, specialising in design and film production, where his lead tutor was John Jordan, sound recordist on

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

Glory Film Co.

Dillistone set up the company Glory Film Co. to make ''The Troop'' film with help from Paul-Anthony Viollet, a former King's Troop RHA officer. Cinematographer on ''The Troop'' was

Alex Thomson (cinematographer) Alexander Thomson BSC (12 January 1929 – 14 June 2007) was a British cinematographer. Biography Born in London, England, he was first offered a job by Bert Easey (1901-1973), who was head of cameras at Denham and Pinewood Studios. He was n ...

. As a result of ''The Troop'', with which

collaborated, Dillistone was commissioned to make a series of films for worldwide release in order to demonstrate Fuji's new motion picture filmstocks. He employed cinematographers including: Oscar-winners Jack Cardiff and

Ronnie Taylor Ronald Charles Taylor BSC (27 October 1924 – 3 August 2018) was a British cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with directors Richard Attenborough and Dario Argento. Throughout his career, he was nominated for two BAFTA Awards ...

, together with

Phedon Papamichael Phedon Papamichael, ASC ( el, Φαίδων Παπαμιχαήλ, ''Faidon Papamihail''; born 10 February 1962) is a Greek cinematographer and film director, known for his collaborations with directors James Mangold, Alexander Payne and Wim Wende ...

, Geoff Boyle NSC FBKSTS, John de Borman, Sue Gibson,

Thierry Arbogast Thierry Arbogast (born 24 January 1956) is an award–winning French cinematographer. He was born in Paris. He is known for his work with director Luc Besson on such films as '' Léon: The Professional'' (1994), ''The Fifth Element'' (1997) and ' ...

, Ron Stanett, and

Tony Pierce-Roberts Tony Pierce-Roberts, BSC (born 1945 in Birkenhead, England) is a British cinematographer most known for his work on the Merchant-Ivory film productions, ''A Room with a View'' (1986), ''Mr. and Mrs. Bridge'' (1990), ''Howards End'' (1992), and ...

. The films were shot at Pinewood and

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

studios, with locations including

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in East Sussex.

British Film Industry Tribute

In 2001, Dillistone directed a major

British Film Institute 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 to encourage film production, ...

tribute event held in the

Painted Hall The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of "outstanding ...

in Greenwich. Hosted by The

Lord's Taverners The Lord's Taverners is the UK's leading youth cricket and disability sports charity. Its charitable objective is to empower and positively impact the lives of young people facing the challenges of inequality.'. It was founded in 1950 by a grou ...

, and the

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...

of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh; participating artists included Sir

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

, Lord

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musical ...

, Lord

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisi ...

Juliet Mills Juliet Maryon Mills (born 21 November 1941) is an English-American actress. She is the daughter of actor Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell and the eldest of three siblings; her younger siblings are actress Hayley Mills and director Jonathan ...

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

Sarah Miles Sarah Miles (born 31 December 1941) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in films '' The Servant'' (1963), '' Blowup'' (1966), ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), ''The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing'' (1973), '' White Mischief'' (1987) and '' ...

, and

Dame Kiri te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

Olympic Music Production

Experience working on major musical recordings, including work with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, led to Dillistone being employed as Associate Producer Music for the Athens

2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 starting at 20:45 EEST (UTC+3) at the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal ...

and closing ceremony. In December 2007, Dillistone was invited by the Governor of Luxor to screen a trailer of his latest film to the former Egyptian President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

and the

Prime Minister of Egypt The prime minister of Egypt () is the head of the Egyptian government. A direct translation of the Arabic-language title is "Minister-President of Egypt" and "President of the Government". The Arabic title can also be translated as "President of ...

Ahmed Nazif Ahmed Nazif ( ar, أحمد نظيف, ; born 8 July 1952) served as the Prime Minister of Egypt from 14 July 2004 to 29 January 2011, when his cabinet was dismissed by President Hosni Mubarak in light of a popular uprising that led to the Egyptian ...

. This was followed by an Invitation from the Jordanian Minister of Culture to present a film at the 2009 Jordan Festival in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

Icehotel

In December 2010, Dillistone completed an Ice Suite for the world-famous Icehotel (Jukkasjärvi), working 200 km north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

Swedish Lappland Lapland, also known by its Swedish name Lappland (, fi, Lappi, la, Lapponia), is a province in northernmost Sweden. It borders Jämtland, Ångermanland, Västerbotten, Norrbotten, Norway and Finland. Nearly a quarter of Sweden's lan ...

at temperatures down to –40 °C. On 2 July 2013, Icehotel announced that he would return to the Arctic to complete a new creative concept: a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

tube terminus built entirely from snow and ice entitled "Mind the Gap (Last Stop on the Northern Line)".

Media appearances

Dillistone has appeared on the BBC (live primetime news) and on ITV, as well as on the radio, including the

Robert Elms Robert Frederick Elms (born 12 June 1959) is an English writer and broadcaster. Elms was a writer for ''The Face'' magazine in the 1980s and is currently known for his long-running radio show on BBC Radio London. His book, ''The Way We Wore'', ...

show on the BBC. His work has also appeared in print in publications that include Paris Match, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', Washington Post, New York Times, The Telegraph, Times, Metro, UPI, and The Dallas Morning News.

Philanthropy

Dillistone is also involved in social and charitable film making, being particularly known for films dealing with social and medical matters (his films have garnered a number of

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headqua ...

awards). Dillistone has supported organisations such as the

Riding for the Disabled Association The Riding for the Disabled Association, also known as the RDA is a United Kingdom based charity founded in 1969 focused on providing therapeutic horse-riding, equestrian vaulting and carriage driving lessons to people with developmental and phys ...

, the British Brain and Spine Foundation, and the Sarah Lamping Memorial Expedition. In June 2011, he was invited to launch the Spinal Injury Patient Film at The

Ludwig Guttmann Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewis ...

conference - this film garnered a prize at the 2012 Telly Awards. In April 2015 The Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) nominated Dillistone for an award for his philanthropic film work - contributing to better outcomes for SCI patients.

Lectures and academic work

Dillistone has presented papers at the world's two leading broadcast conventions, NAB (USA) and IBC (Europe). He was invited to participate in Quantel's 'Focus on The Future' event in London (2002 He also lectures extensively on film making, including lectures at UCLA, the American University in Washington, D.C. and Staffordshire University (UK). Topics include documentary films, scientific, medical and technical films, and travel films. He has also hosted master-classes in the US, Europe and the Caribbean, on filmmaking, imaging and photography. Dillistone has written articles for several professional publications, including Televisual, AV Magazine, Kodak's magazine and Exposure. He co-authored the academic paper "A comparison of perceptions of quality of life among adults with spinal cord injury in the United States versus the United Kingdom".

Academic Publications

Development and psychometric evaluation of a Fatigability Index for full-time wheelchair users with spinal cord injury. Preferences of adults with spinal cord injury for widely used health-related quality of life and subjective well-being measures. A comparison of perceptions of quality of life among adults with spinal cord injury in the United States versus the United Kingdom.

Royal Society of Medicine

In September 2013, in recognition of his contribution to medical filmmaking, Dillistone was elected a Member of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

. He is a key figure in the development of healthcare knowledge transfer, and on 30 April 2014 gave the keynote lecture at The Royal Society's annual conference on ethics.

Awards

Dillistone's films have won over thirty international awards: Winner IVCA Best Direction. Director of: New York Festival Grand Prix Nominee (British Airways); New York Festival Gold Medal; New York Festival Gold Medal; New York Festival Gold Medal; New York Festival Gold Medal International Telly Award; International Telly Award; International Telly Award; International Telly Award; Global Award Winner; BMA Award; BMA Award; BMA Award; IVCA Best Editing Nomination; Berlin Festival Gold Medallist; New York Festival Silver Medal; New York Festival Silver Medal; New York Festival Finalist; Institute of Training & Development Award Winner; IVCA Category Winner ; IVCA Category Winner; IVCA Category Winner; IVCA Category Winner ; IVCA Best Editing Nomination; IVCA Best Graphics & Animation Nomination; Images Festival Winner; European Multi-Media Award Winner; Writer of: IVCA Category Winner; Telly award - silver; Telly award – silver; Telly award – bronze; Telly award – bronze; SIA Rebuilding Lives Awards (nominee), PM Awards Best Overall TV Commercial; IVCA Award winner Healthcare Advertising Agency Group Award.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillistone, Marcus British film directors Living people Alumni of Staffordshire University People educated at The Skinners' School 1961 births