Steven Knight (born 1 April 1959) is a British screenwriter, film director and film producer. Knight wrote the screenplays for the films ''

Closed Circuit Closed circuit can refer to: *Closed-circuit television *Closed-circuit radio *Rebreather – breathing sets * ''Closed Circuit'' (1978 film), a 1978 Italian film * ''Closed Circuit'' (2013 film), a 2013 British thriller film *An electric circuit ...

'', '' Dirty Pretty Things'', and '' Eastern Promises'', and also wrote and directed the films '' Locke'' and '' Hummingbird'' (a.k.a. ''Redemption''). Knight is also one of three creators of '' Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'', a game show that has been remade and aired in around 160 countries worldwide, and has written for BBC's '' Commercial Breakdown'', '' The Detectives'', ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'', '' See'' and '' Taboo''.

Early life and education

Knight's father was a blacksmith. He attended The Streetly School (now The Streetly Academy) as a teenager, in Streetly, Walsall, in the West Midlands. He then went on to study English at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

(UCL) where he is an Honorary Fellow. His first experience of writing was in preparing property descriptions for an Estate Agent.

Career

Screenplays

Knight is best known for screenplays he wrote for the films '' Dirty Pretty Things'' and '' Eastern Promises''. His work on the screenplay for ''Dirty Pretty Things'' earned him the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for '' Best Motion Picture Screenplay'' and London Film Critics Circle award for ''British Screenwriter of the Year''. The screenplay was also nominated for several other awards including the

Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

and the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. Knight also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 film ''

,'' which was directed by John Crowley and which starred Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall. Knight also wrote a draft of a screenplay based on the book '' Shutter Island'' written by Dennis Lehane, but the draft that was used for the movie of the same name was written by

Laeta Kalogridis Laeta Kalogridis ( ) is an American screenwriter and television and film producer of Greek descent. She has written scripts for ''Alexander'' (2004), '' Night Watch'' (2004), ''Pathfinder'' (2007) and ''Shutter Island'' (2010). She also served ...

. Recent films based on screenplays that Knight has written include '' The Hundred-Foot Journey'' directed by

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Academ ...

, based on the book of the same name by Richard C. Morais, and starring

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom ...

, '' Seventh Son'', an adventure story starring Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harington and Jason Scott Lee, as well as the film '' Pawn Sacrifice'', based on U.S. chess champion

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

, with Tobey Maguire playing Fischer in the film. He also wrote the screenplay of '' World War Z II.'' Knight wrote the script for the 2021 dramedy '' Locked Down'', about a couple ( Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor) attempting a high-stakes jewellery heist during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Knight also wrote the script for the film '' Spencer'', starring Kristen Stewart as

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

Directing

In addition to his writing, Knight has directed three films: '' Hummingbird'' (2013), starring Jason Statham, '' Locke'' (2014), starring Tom Hardy, and '' Serenity'' (2019) starring Matthew McConaughey, Diane Lane, and Anne Hathaway. ''Locke'' won a British Independent Film Award in 2013 for Best Screenplay. Knight has directed several episodes of the TV series for which he also frequently wrote, '' The Detectives''. In 2022, Knight was the co-director of the Opening Ceremony for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which took place on 28 July 2022.

TV series

Knight also created the TV series '' Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (along with Mike Whitehill and David Briggs) and also is the creator of the TV series ''Show do Milhão '' and ''All About Me''. Knight created the television series ''

'' and has written for TV series including, BBC's '' Commercial Breakdown'' (with Jimmy Carr), '' The Detectives'', '' Comedy Playhouse'' (the episode "Wild Oats" in 1993), ''Frankie's On...'', ''Auntie's Big Bloomers'', Taboo, and ''

Canned Carrott ''Canned Carrott'' is a comedy stand-up and sketch-show by Jasper Carrott. It gave rise to a spin-off series, and made the names of regular contributors Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. Two of the regular sketches were "Wiggy" and "The Detectives" ...

''. He also created and co-wrote ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...

'', a dark adaptation of the Dickens story for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in the UK and FX in the US, starring Guy Pearce as Scrooge and Andy Serkis as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Filmography

Film

Television

Themes

Knight's writing sometimes involves "groups of men who are probably not the easiest people to fit into conventional society."

Personal life

Knight has three children. He is an ardent Birmingham City fan.

Awards and nominations

Recognition

He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to drama, entertainment and the community in Birmingham.

References

External links

* *Steven Knight's

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Garrison TailorsThe Making of Locke: An Interview with Writer/Director Steve Knight, Part 1
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PostMovie.netThe Making of Locke: An Interview with Writer/Director Steve Knight, Part 2
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PostMovie.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Steven 1959 births Alumni of University College London Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners British male television writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English film directors English film producers English male screenwriters English television directors English television producers English television writers Film directors from London Film producers from London Living people Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands