Tom Kingsley
Tom Kingsley (born 18 November 1985 in London, England) is an English film director. He is best known for co-directing Black Pond, a 2011 feature film starring Chris Langham and Simon Amstell.[1] He first made his name directing music videos and adverts.[2] He was shortlisted for Best New Director at the 2010 Music Video Awards, and his work has been nominated for the 2012 BAFTAs,[3] the 2011 British Independent Film Awards,[4] the Guardian First Film Award,[5] the Evening Standard Film Awards,[6] and the Raindance Film Festival.[7]
Tom Kingsley | |
---|---|
Born | London, England | 18 November 1985
Education | Eton College |
Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College (University of Cambridge) |
Occupation | Film director |
Years active | 2009–present |
Education
Kingsley was educated at Eton College, a boarding independent school for boys in Eton in Berkshire, followed by Gonville and Caius College at the University of Cambridge, where he studied English,[8] and was a member of the comedy group Footlights, directing the Footlights Revue "Wham Bam" at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe.[9]
Life and career
Kingsley made his first feature-length film when he was 12 years old - a 70-minute James Bond spoof called Black Eye. In 2008, he joined Blink, the Soho-based production company, after sending them a DVD containing several of his short films.[10] Following a short apprenticeship, he began directing music videos and commercials. Kingsley's work was well received in the industry press[11][12][13][14][15][16] and led to his being shortlisted for the Best New Director prize at the 2010 Music Video Awards.
In summer 2009, Kingsley travelled with his long-time collaborator, Will Sharpe, to Japan to direct "Cockroach", a 30-minute short.[17] Buoyed by the experience, in early 2010 the pair began work on a feature-length film: Black Pond, which was shot in August of that year, on a tiny £25,000 budget.[18] Released in November 2011, Black Pond received overwhelmingly positive reviews,[19][20][21][22] though it initially attracted controversy because of the casting of Chris Langham. The film sold out every night of its limited London run, and was shortlisted for a BAFTA, two Evening Standard film awards, a British Independent Film Award, and at the Raindance Film Festival. It received a four-star rating from The Times, The Guardian, the Evening Standard, The List, and Little White Lies.[19][20][21][22] The Independent called it "a funny and very well-observed low budget British movie".[23] It was listed as a film of the year in the New Statesman and the Financial Times.[24][25]
The film led to Kingsley and Sharpe being nominated for Outstanding Debut at the Baftas, and Kingsley as Most Promising Newcomer at the Evening Standard Film Awards.[26]
Filmography
Feature films
- The Darkest Universe (2016)
- Black Pond (2011)
TV series
- Stath Lets Flats (2018)
- Pls Like (2017)
- Ghosts (2019)
References
- Black Pond on IMDB
- Summary of Kingsley's career on PromoNews.tv
- "BAFTA nominations 2012".
- "BIFA nominations 2011". BIFA. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
- Pulver, Andrew (10 January 2012). "Guardian First Film Award 2012". The Guardian. London.
- "Evening Standard Film Awards nominations 2012". Archived from the original on 19 January 2012.
- "Raindance Film Festival nominations 2011".
- "Varsity ('100 Creative Arts' section; page 4)" (PDF). Varsity magazine, University of Cambridge. 20 January 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- "2000". Footlights.org. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- http://www.colonelblimp.com/#artist_tomkingsley
- "Promo News " Blog Archive " Mujeres' Reyerta by Tom Kingsley " Promo News". Promonews.tv. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- "Young Director Award". YoungDirectorAward.com. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- "Promo News " Blog Archive " Don Fardon's I'm Alive by Tom Kingsley " Promo News". Promonews.tv. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- "Promo News " Blog Archive " Darwin Deez's Up In The Clouds by Tom Kingsley " Promo News". Promonews.tv. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- "Promo News " Blog Archive " Gullemots' The Basket by Tom Kingsley " Promo News". Promonews.tv. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- Cragg, Michael (9 March 2011). "New music exclusive: Guillemots – The Basket | Music | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- http://www.tomkingsley.com/shots%20print%20preview.pdf
- RaindanceTV. "Black Pond - Interview". YouTube. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- Peter Bradshaw (10 November 2011). "Guardian review of Black Pond – review | Film". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- "Times review of Black Pond". Blackpondfilm.com. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- Little White Lies magazine. "Black Pond review | film". littlewhitelies.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- "Evening Standard review of Black Pond". thisislondon.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- MacNab, Geoffrey (3 October 2011). "The Independent: Film Reviews". First Night: Black Pond, Raindance Festival, London. The Independent. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- "New Statesman Films of the Year 2011".
- "Financial Times films of the year 2011".
- "Evening Standard Film Awards". Archived from the original on 19 January 2012.