Stephen Woolley (born 3 September 1956) is an English filmmaker and actor. His career has spanned four decades, for which he was awarded the BAFTA award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in February 2019. As a producer, he has been

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-nominated for '' The Crying Game'' (1992), and has produced multi-Academy Award nominated films including ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

'' (1986), '' Little Voice'' (1998), '' Michael Collins'' (1996), '' The End of the Affair'' (1999), ''Interview with the Vampire'' (1994), and '' Carol'' (2016). He runs the production company Number 9 Films with his partner Elizabeth Karlsen.

Career

Woolley's first

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

as a producer was '' The Company of Wolves'' (1984), but his career began after leaving Dame Alice Owen's School in Islington, London. In 1976 he became an usher at the venue

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

described as “the coolest cinema in London”, The Screen on the Green in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, run by Romaine Hart ( OBE), at a time when its ushers wore hotpants. He then joined the exhibition arm of film collectiv
The Other Cinema
in Charlotte Street in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London an ...

, before going on to own and run his own repertory cinema, The Scala Cinema, on the same premises. As part of his programming, Woolley developed Friday evenings for special events which in March and May 1980 included early live gigs by the pop group

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

, school pals from Dame Alice's, the second being filmed for

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

's youth series ''20th-Century Box''. In 1981 under Woolley's management the Scala relocated to near King's Cross railway station. At the same time he established Palace Video in partnership with Nik Powell, in the early 1980s to distribute the types of cult cinema and international art films that had been the core of his cinema programmes. Palace Video titles included

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

's '' Eraserhead'' (1977),

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...

's ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' (1979), and

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

's '' Fitzcarraldo'' (1982). It later grew into a theatrical distribution company, retitled Palace Pictures, where Woolley was behind the UK releases of French cult film ''Diva'' (1981),

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

's ''

The Evil Dead ''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American independent film, independent supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker ...

'' (1981),

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's ''

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence , also known as , is a 1983 war film co-written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima, co-written by Paul Mayersberg, and produced by Jeremy Thomas. The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post (portrayed by Tom Conti as Lt. Col. J ...

'' (1983),

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

’ ''

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River ...

'' (1984), the Coen brothers' '' Blood Simple'' (1984),

Rob Reiner Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and liberal activist. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic, Mike "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitc ...

's '' When Harry Met Sally'' (1988) – as well as films by

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Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a British film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Mannerist painting in particular. Common traits in his films a ...

, Fassbinder, and Bertolucci. Palace Pictures moved into film production in 1984 with its first feature '' The Company of Wolves'' – directed by

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...

(the first of many films Woolley and Jordan would later make together). Palace Pictures would eventually expand their operations, opening an office in Los Angeles by 1986. Many of Palace Pictures projects were first supported by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, and Woolley also helped establish many first-time directors including

Michael Caton-Jones Michael Caton-Jones (born Michael Jones; 15 October 1957) is a Scottish director and producer of film and television. Biography Caton-Jones grew up in Broxburn, near Edinburgh. He moved to London and squatted in Stoke Newington. He attend ...

and Richard Stanley. In 1987, the company decided to set up making American-based films, starting with ''

Shag Shag or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family Persons * Shag (artist), stage name of the American a ...

'', which was funded by

Hemdale Film Corporation Hemdale Film Corporation (known as Hemdale Communications after 1992) was an independent American-British film production company and Film distributor, distributor. The company was founded in London in 1967 as the Hemdale Company by actor David He ...

with a $4.6 million budget, as well as the first miniseries and its horror picture, which became the "firsts" for the entire Palace Pictures organization. Woolley established an association with

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

, which distributed a number of Palace films in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, including ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

'' (1989), '' A Rage in Harlem'' (1991), '' Hardware'' (1990) and '' The Crying Game'' (1992). Woolley had established his reputation with a series of low budget but high production value releases, but began developing more ambitious projects. After some box-office disappointments and the recession which weakened Nik Powell's parent company in 1992 Palace Pictures was forced to close. A year later, The Scala Cinema's twelve-year lease expired simultaneously as its defeat in a court case caused by an illegal screening of '' A Clockwork Orange'', whose screening rights had been withdrawn in the UK by

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

in 1971, and the financial collapse of Palace precipitated its closure in 1993. Woolley and Powell went on to found Scala Pictures, where they made ''

Backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a pi ...

'' (1994), '' Little Voice'' (1998)'', Twenty Four Seven'' (1997), and a series of low budget UK features. Simultaneously, he secured a three-picture deal with

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

and made three films with Jordan after the worldwide box office hit of ''

Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac ...

''. Woolley and Jordan formed a company, Company of Wolves funded by DreamWorks, where '' In Dreams'' (1999), '' The Actors'' (2003), ''

Intermission An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a break between parts of a performance or production, such as for a play (theatre), theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with ...

'' (2003), and '' Not I'' (2000) were produced under this banner. Number 9 films was set up in 2002, with longstanding producing partner Elizabeth Karlsen, whose films include '' Breakfast on Pluto'' (2005), '' How to Lose Friends and Alienate People'' (2008), ''

Made in Dagenham ''Made in Dagenham'' is a 2010 British comedy-drama film directed by Nigel Cole, written by William Ivory, and starring Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone, ...

'' (2010), ''

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'' (2012), '' Their Finest'' (2015) '' The Limehouse Golem'' (2016), and '' On Chesil Beach'' (2017). Woolley's directorial debut, the 2005 film '' Stoned'', was a biopic of

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

Personal life

Woolley is married to fellow film producer Elizabeth Karlsen, with whom he co-founded Number 9 Films in 2002. His niece, Synnøve Karlsen, is also an actress.

Filmography

As filmmaker

*'' Mothering Sunday'' (2021) *''

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

'' (2018) *'' On Chesil Beach'' (2017) *'' The Limehouse Golem'' (2017) *'' Their Finest'' (2016) *'' Carol'' (2015) *''

Hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

'' (2014) *''

'' (2012) *''

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

'' (2012) *''

Midnight's Children ''Midnight's Children'' is the second novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a pos ...

'' (2012) – co-producer *''

'' (2010) – also second unit director *'' Perrier's Bounty'' (2009) *'' Freebird'' (2008) *'' How to Lose Friends & Alienate People'' (2008) *'' Sounds Like Teen Spirit'' (2008) – a documentary *'' And When Did You Last See Your Father?'' (2007) *'' Breakfast on Pluto'' (2005) *'' Stoned'' (2005) – also director *''

'' (2003) *'' The Actors'' (2003) *'' The Good Thief'' (2002) *''Not I'' (2000) – a short *'' The End of the Affair'' (1999) *'' In Dreams'' (1999) *'' B. Monkey'' (1998) *'' The Butcher Boy'' (1997) *'' Welcome to Woop Woop'' (1997) *'' Michael Collins'' (1996) *''

'' (1994) *''

'' (1994) *'' The Crying Game'' (1992) *'' The Pope Must Die'' (1991) *'' A Rage in Harlem'' (1991) *'' The Miracle'' (1991) *'' Crossing the Line'' (1990) *''

'' (1989) *''

'' (1989) *'' High Spirits'' (1988) *'' Absolute Beginners'' (1986) *''

'' (1986) *'' The Company of Wolves'' (1984) – also executive producer *'' The Worst of Hollywood'' (1983) – TV series

As actor

References

External links

Number 9 Films

Stephen Woolley
at the

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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolley, Stephen 1956 births Living people British film studio executives BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award European Film Awards winners (people) British film production company founders Film directors from London English television directors English theatre directors English voice directors Film producers from London English radio producers English record producers Television producers from London English theatre managers and producers English screenwriters British animated film directors British animated film producers English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors English male radio actors English male video game actors English male musical theatre actors English male stage actors English male Shakespearean actors