Mark Herman (born 1954) is a British film director and screenwriter, best known for writing and directing the 1996 film '' Brassed Off'' and the 2008 film '' The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas''. Film critic Paul Wells offers this assessment of Herman's work in the 2019 book ''Directors in British and Irish Cinema'': "Herman has attracted little critical attention but his preoccupation with the underdog and personal and social injustice makes him a pertinent commentator on the decline of the English working class and its strategies for survival."
Early life
Herman was born in
Bridlington
Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...
,
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...
aged 25, then going on to study
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...
at Leeds Polytechnic for 3 years. At the end of the first year he had to choose between illustration, printmaking, graphics or film for the final 2 years. He applied to the
illustration
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...
,
printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...
, and
graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...
parts of the course, however he wasn't accepted into any of them, so had no choice but to pick
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 ...
. It was there in the film part of his graphic design degree, that he started doing animation.
He then progressed to the National Film and Television School. At NFTS he recognised the superior talents of people like his neighbouring classmate
Nick Park
Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is an English filmmaker and animator who created '' Wallace & Gromit'', '' Creature Comforts'', '' Chicken Run'', '' Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy ...
, and other classmates like Tony Collingwood, so decided to move away from
animation
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
and towards
live-action
Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...
Herman made his live-action directorial debut with his NFTS graduation film, '' See You At Wembley, Frankie Walsh (1986)'', which he also wrote. It won the Foreign Student Film award at the Student Film Awards. He spent the next few years writing for the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, and for the ITV series '' The 10%ers''. In 1989, he made a short film, ''Unusual Ground Floor Conversion'', which played in cinemas before
Mel Smith
Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and filmmaker. He worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. Smi ...
’s ''
The Tall Guy
''The Tall Guy'' is a 1989 British romantic comedy and the feature film debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Mel Smith.Blame It on the Bellboy'' (1992), made for the
Hollywood Pictures
Hollywood Pictures Company was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was ...
unit of
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
, a comedy of mistaken identity starring
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...
Patsy Kensit
Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...
Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Alcott Pinchot (; born May 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Balki Bartokomous on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC sitcom ''Perfect Strangers (TV series), Perfect Strangers'' (1986–1993). He also perform ...
. It failed at the box office, and with most critics. However,
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...
in the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called it “effervescent fun. Mark Herman, a film school graduate who both wrote and directed this comedy, has concocted a witty mistaken-identity plot and done an able job of keeping it in motion.”
Next, Herman wrote and directed the critically acclaimed '' Brassed Off'' (1996), following the members of a
colliery
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...
brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...
, still struggling to survive a decade after the miners' strike. The film won the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy at the
Evening Standard British Film Awards
The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by London's '' Evening Standard'' newspaper. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent", judged by a panel of "top UK critics". Each ceremony ...
in 1997, as well as the Best Screenplay award from the Writers Guild of Great Britain; it also won the César for Best Foreign Film in 1998. It has become a classic, ranked at #85 in 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, ...
’s 1999 list of 100 best British films of the 20th century. A stage adaptation by Paul Allen was first performed in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
in 1998, and has been revived frequently since then.
In '' Little Voice'' (1998), adapted by Herman from
Jim Cartwright
Jim Cartwright (born 27 June 1958) is an English dramatist, born in Municipal Borough of Farnworth, Farnworth, Lancashire. Cartwright's first play, Road (play), ''Road'', won a number of awards before being adapted for TV and broadcast by the B ...
's play ''
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
''The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'' is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright.
Production history
Sam Mendes directed the first production at the Royal National Theatre that transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in London's ...
'',
Jane Horrocks
Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in the stage pl ...
reprises the title role of a harried young woman whose only escape lies in the memory of her father and in imitating the singers he admired. The film also starred
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...
,
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn ( Bottle; born 20 February 1946) is an English actress. Known for her character work and versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, as well as n ...
(who was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performanc ...
),
Jim Broadbent
James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972, he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television. He has received various accolades ...
, and
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...
.
Derek Elley
Derek Elley (born ) is an American film and music critic and author, best known as the resident film critic for '' Variety'' until his departure in March 2010. With over 1200 reviews to his credit as of December 2014 on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', he spe ...
in '' Variety'' called ''Little Voice'' “a small picture with a big heart” and cited Herman’s “smooth direction.”
'' Purely Belter'' (2000), adapted by Herman from Jonathan Tulloch's novel ''The Season Ticket'', is the story of two teenage boys trying to get together enough money for a couple of
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Since the formation of the club in 1881 ...
season tickets. Herman cast two unknown boys in the lead roles, and their performances were praised by critics, while the film was largely ignored. As Michael Thomson wrote in his
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
review, “Indeed Chris Beattie and Greg McLane, both newcomers, are wonderfully unforced and amusing as the two lads, but they would have benefited from characters which were fuller in a film that was richer.”
Herman’s 2003 film '' Hope Springs'' was his first film since his debut to be made for a major Hollywood studio (
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...
). Herman adapted the screenplay from the novel ''New Cardiff'' by Charles Webb, author of ''
The Graduate
''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American independent romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novella by Charles Webb. It stars Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddoc ...
''. The film starred
Colin Firth
Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Colin Firth, several accolades, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Aw ...
,
Heather Graham
Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award.
After appearing in tel ...
, and
Minnie Driver
Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is a British and American actress and singer. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in the 1995 film ''Circle of Friends (1995 film), Circle of Friends''. She went on to star i ...
, in a story about a British artist who relocates to small-town
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
to get over a failed relationship. Reviews were mixed, with Mark Adams in ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' writing that “somehow it can't make the leap from an enjoyable light film to a movie to remember,” while Neil Smith on the BBC called it “a date movie that's well worth making a date with.”
His most recent work is the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
John Boyne
John Boyne (born 30 April 1971) is an Irish author, novelist, and writer. He is the author of sixteen novels for adults, six novels for younger readers, two novellas, and one collection of short stories. Boyne's historical novel '' The Boy in ...
David Thewlis
David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is an English actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in a variety of genres in both film and television. He has received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and nomin ...
Sheila Hancock
Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has performed on stage in both plays and musicals in London theatres, and is also known for her roles in films and on television.
Her Broadway ...
, and
Rupert Friend
Rupert William Anthony Friend (born October 1981) is a British actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in ''The Libertine (2004 film), The Libertine'' (2004) and ''Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for ...
. The film divided critics strongly, with Ty Burr in ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' writing, “Because its gaze is so level and so unyielding, it stands as one of the better dramatic films made on this subject,” while John Anderson in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' called it “yet another attempt to revisit a sorrowful event in history that should never be forgotten or used for entertainment.” Herman reflected in 2024 that “the challenge there was to tell a story that might pull kids in to want to learn more about the Holocaust. But by making the story accessible to kids, about kids, it had to be unrealistic, a fable even, and therefore upset quite a lot of people. But I didn’t mind how many people it upset, if it encouraged one single kid to learn more, it was worth it.”
Herman is a fellow of Film and Television Production at
York St John University
York St John University (originally established as York Diocesan College), often abbreviated to YSJ, is a public university located on a large urban campus in York, England. Established in 1841, it achieved university status in 2006 and in 2015 ...
,
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the Leeds city centre, city centre and Hea ...
.
Songwriting, Amber & Black, and Hull City AFC
Herman was a schoolfriend of musician Henry Priestman, who like Herman is a
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...
fan.
In February 1983 Priestman as "Harry Amber" and Herman as "Mark Black," together as "Amber and Black," along with the Hull City players themselves, released the song "The Tigers are Back." It was made to raise funds to help pay the players wages, as the effects of Hull City's previous seasons money struggles were still visible. Herman reworded the song "Out of Luck" by Priestman's previous band
Yachts
A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...
, to get the lyrics. The record sleeves and records themselves contained the made up record label logo "Don Records" in tribute to Hull City's then chairman Don Robinson, and the made up issue number "COL001" in tribute to their then manager Colin Appleton.
In June 1983, Herman filmed Hull City's end-of-season tour of Florida, where the players and staff visited
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
, and played the
Tampa Bay Rowdies
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...
who were managed by Rodney Marsh, in the return leg of the Arrow Air Anglo-American Cup. It was directed and edited by Herman, with Priestman composing the music. Herman released the documentary online in 2016 with the title ''A Kick in the Grass''.
Herman co-wrote lyrics for the songs "Ideal World," "Hooverville," and "Sad Songs" for Henry Priestman's band The Christians on their first album, '' The Christians'' (1987), alongside Priestman himself. Priestman had done a football themed song for Herman's film ''See You at Wembley, Frankie Walsh'', and Herman had done the lyrics for it, however the lyrics didn't fit the song, so they were scrapped. However they tweaked the lyrics, which were eventually used for "Ideal World" instead.
On 1 January 2008, midway through Hull City's
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
promotion season, "Amber & Black" released the song "The City's on Fire" on
Myspace
Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
. It was their first Hull City song since 1983. It was later re-released just before
2014 FA Cup final
The 2014 FA Cup final was an association football match between Premier League clubs Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Hull City A.F.C., Hull City at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on 17 May 2014. It was the 133rd FA Cup final overall and the s ...
between Hull City and
Arsenal F.C.
The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. In domestic football, Arsenal h ...
Evening Standard British Film Awards
The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by London's '' Evening Standard'' newspaper. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent", judged by a panel of "top UK critics". Each ceremony ...
César Awards
The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...
Empire Awards
The Empire Awards was an annual British awards ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the local and global film industry. Winners were awarded the Empire Award statuette. The awards, first presented in 1996, were presented by the British f ...