Jonathan Figgis is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
film director and producer. He was a co-founder and director of award-winning film production company
October Eleven Pictures
October Eleven Pictures is an Irish production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, com ...
. Having left October Eleven Pictures in 2012, he now heads Figgis Visuals.
Early life, family and education
Figgis's parents are Peter and Anne Figgis.
Figgis has at least two older brothers: Daniel, a former child actor; and
Jason Figgis, who has also been a business partner.
A cousin,
Mike Figgis
Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work in ''Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers o ...
, is an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated writer and director of the feature film ''
Leaving Las Vegas
''Leaving Las Vegas'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having ...
''.
Career
Figgis worked in the animation industry for a number of years, contributing on award-winning independent animated shorts as well as television series for the international market.
He is a full voting member of the
Irish Film & Television Academy
The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...
.
October Eleven Pictures
In 1999, Jonathan and Jason embarked on their collaborative filmmaking careers working on their first
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
, "Pallida Mors".
With the advent of digital technology, the brothers' childhood dreams of making movies materialized as their Dublin-based company, October Eleven Pictures,
was formed in February 2001 (though many sources cite 2002
and Jason has also mentioned forming their collaboration in 2000
). When October Eleven Pictures was established, Jonathan was responsible for sourcing support from post-production houses who offered their services at reduced costs and who have shown great interest and support for their filmmaking ventures.
Jonathan has been a producer or executive producer on a variety of programmes for
Discovery Channel,
Sky One,
RTÉ (Ireland) and
SVT (Sweden), among others. These shows include the feature-length documentary ''The Twilight Hour'', ''Uri's Haunted Cities: Venice'' with paranormalist
Uri Geller
Uri Geller ( ; he, אורי גלר; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other i ...
, and the co-production ''A Maverick In London'' featuring
Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...
,
Steven Berkoff,
Richard E. Grant, and
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespe ...
. There has been much success on the festival circuit with official selections at many international festivals, an
IFTA Award
The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...
nomination in 2003 and won Best Feature Film for ''A Curious Incident In The Life of Uri Geller'' in 2006.
October Eleven Picture's first feature film ''3Crosses'' (released in the US as ''Once Upon a Time in Dublin'')
was completed for Spring 2010 whilst they were preparing for post-production on two feature films (shot Autumn 2007), ''Handheld'' and ''Blood''. ''Blood'' premiered at the
Galway Film Fleadh
The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Irela ...
in 2011.
Figgis Visuals
Jonathan left October Eleven Pictures in 2012 to work on a number of projects including a feature film that he was writing on and off since 2007. Under his new company, Figgis Visuals, this film will be its first release. It was scheduled to go into production in July 2013 with a release in 2014. Jonathan is also working on two documentaries and is writing a book/producing DVDs on self-defence.
Notes
External links
*
October Eleven Picturesentry at IFTN.ie
review of documentary film
review and article on ''Cork Film Festival''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Figgis, Jonathan
Living people
Irish film directors
Place of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)