Simon David Miller is a British film writer, director, producer and investor, having also co-founded several technology media companies. His debut feature, the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

feature film, '' Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle,'' was nominated for 3 BAFTAs. He later founded the New Forest Film Festival. Miller has been involved in several technology startups, including PeopleSound, the first music streaming platform, SWOPEX, an online film, music and game exchange, and second-screen pioneer

Beamly Beamly was a social platform based in London, UK and New York City, United States. The company was founded in April 2011 as tBone TV, later renamed to Zeebox, by Ernesto Schmitt and Anthony Rose. It was started as a social discovery and engag ...

Filmography

Feature films

Miller's debut feature, the

feature film, '' Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle'', was released in 2007. The film was nominated for 3 BAFTAs and Miller for the Michael Powell Award. It was warmly received with comparisons drawn to works such as

Big Fish ''Big Fish'' is a 2003 American fantasy drama film directed by Tim Burton. It is based on the 1998 novel '' Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions'' by Daniel Wallace. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange ...

and

The Princess Bride The Princess Bride may refer to: * ''The Princess Bride'' (novel), 1973 fantasy romance novel by writer William Goldman ** ''The Princess Bride'' (film), 1987 American film adaptation directed by Rob Reiner Robert Reiner (born March 6, 1947) ...

, and it was the first feature film in

to gain theatrical release. The film was written in collaboration with Jo Cockwell and several Scottish Gaelic writers and poets, including

Angus Peter Campbell Angus Peter Campbell (; born 1952) is a Scottish award-winning poet, novelist, journalist, broadcaster and actor. Campbell's works, which are written mainly in Scottish Gaelic, draw heavily upon both Hebridean mythology and folklore and the ma ...

Aonghas MacNeacail Aonghas MacNeacail (born Angus Nicolson; 7 June 1942 – 19 December 2022), nicknamed ("Black-haired Angus"), was a contemporary writer in the Scottish Gaelic language. Early life Angus Nicolson was born in Uig on the Isle of Skye on 7 June ...

and

Iain Finlay Macleod Iain Finlay Macleod (born 1973) is a Scottish writer from Adabrock, Ness, Isle of Lewis. He lives on the Isle of Skye. Macleod's first full-length play was called "Homers" and was produced by the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in 2002, directed by ...

. In 2007 as the film prepared for its UK premiere in the Highlands, controversy arose as

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

refused to put forward Seachd as a candidate for Best Foreign Language Film Category at the 2008 Academy Awards. The ensuing controversy led to widespread coverage in the national and international press and the film's producer Christopher Young resigning his membership of BAFTA.

Short films

The short film, ''Foighidinn – The Crimson Snowdrop'' debuted at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

in 2005 and went on to screen at film festivals across the world. The film was the inspiration for Seachd which incorporates several sequences from Foighidinn. Miller's first short film premiered at the

in 2004. Controversy surrounded the film in 2005 when it was incorrectly linked to the death of a child from the school attended by several of the cast.

New Forest Film Festival

Miller is a co-founder of the New Forest Film Festival, with film critic and broadcaster

Mark Kermode Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...

, film professor

Linda Ruth Williams Linda Ruth Williams (born 16 April 1961) is a professor of Film theory, film studies in the department of Communications (of which she is head), Drama, and Film at the University of Exeter, UK. Her special interests include sexuality and censo ...

, writer and illustrator Jo Cockwell, and film historian Mike Hammond.

Other roles

Miller has co-founded and built several media technology start-ups including PeopleSound (an online music store and streaming service), SWOPEX (an online film, music and game exchange) and

(originally

second screen A second screen involves the use of a secondary computing device to provide a different viewing experience for content on another device. The term commonly refers to the use of such devices to provide interactive features, like posts on social me ...

app,

Zeebox Beamly was a Social media, social platform based in London, UK and New York City, United States. The company was founded in April 2011 as tBone TV, later renamed to Zeebox, by Ernesto Schmitt and Anthony Rose (entrepreneur), Anthony Rose. It was ...

) before becoming a social

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based Information technology, digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and service ...

platform and agency. Miller has also worked as an executive in the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

for

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

and EMI. In 2010, Miller competed on TV quiz show '' Eggheads'' as a member of winning team, The Black & White Stripes, representing

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

. In 2018, Miller joined the founding team of brand start-up

The Craftory ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

Early life and education

Miller grew up in Scotland where he attended

Meldrum Primary School Meldrum was a multinational heavy metal band formed by ex-Phantom Blue guitarist Michelle Meldrum. History American guitarist Michelle Meldrum started her first band Wargod with Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan, later going on to form ...

. He attended

Nottingham High School Nottingham High School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private fee-charging day school for boys and girls in Nottingham, England, with an infant and junior school (ages 4–11) and senior school (ages 11–18). There were 1177 stu ...

between 1982 and 1989 and

Salisbury School Salisbury School is an elite all-boys, private college-preparatory boarding school in Salisbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1901 by the Reverend George E. Quaile, former headmaster of St. Austin's Military School in Staten Island, New Yo ...

, USA in 1990. After undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Economics at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

he joined the US investment bank,

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...

. He went on to study at

London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London, United Kingdom, and is situated in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

and the

National Film & Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2024 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repo ...

References

External links

*http://www.simondavidmiller.com – personal website * *http://www.seachd.com – official website for ''Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Simon British film directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People educated at Nottingham High School JPMorgan Chase people