Daniel John Cannon (born 5 October 1968) is a British
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 ...
and
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
producer,
director and
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
, known for executive producing the 15-season
''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' series franchise (and directed multiple episodes including the series pilot), and simultaneously executive producing the ''
CSI: Miami'' and ''
CSI: NY'' spin-offs.
From 2014 to 2019, for the show's duration, Cannon executive produced, wrote and directed
FOX's ''
Gotham'', which won the 2014
Critics Choice Award for
Most Exciting New Series and received 11
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
nominations (one win).
In July 2019, his newest television production, ''
Pennyworth'', which Cannon co-created and executive produced with
Bruno Heller, premiered on
Epix, concluding in November 2022 on
HBO Max
Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...
.
As a TV entertainment figure
and a rare
TV pilot director who also works as a key writer, Cannon has directed 15 television pilots, 12 of which have been ordered to series, including: ''
Training Day
''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers followed over a 24-hour period ...
'' (2017), ''
Gotham'' (2014), ''
The Tomorrow People
''The Tomorrow People'' is a British children's science fiction on television, science fiction television series created by Roger Price (television producer), Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV (TV network), ITV Network, th ...
'' (2013), ''
Nikita'' (2010), ''
Dark Blue'' (2009), ''
The Forgotten'' (2009), and ''
Eleventh Hour'' (2008). At one time, Cannon had five television series on-air, while acting as executive producer.
Feature film directorial credits include ''
Geostorm'' (2017),
''
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1998), ''
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...
'' (1995), and ''
The Young Americans'' (1993).
Career
Early career
Cannon began making films at the age of 16 in 1984, and started a youth experimental theatre group at 33 Arts Centre making video dramas with a number of other directors in different roles, including cameraman. A major influence was the centre's video maker, Dermot Byrne, with whom Cannon worked on a number of projects. Aged 23, he met musician
David Arnold
David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films (1997-2008), as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), ''Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998), '' Shaft'' (2000), '' 2 Fast 2 F ...
who played in a band that rehearsed there. Cannon convinced Arnold to compose soundtracks for his and other people's videos. Arnold's first professional score was for Cannon's debut feature 'The Young Americans'.
In 1987, he won 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 ...
''Young Filmmaker of the Year Award'', by Alan Parker, with a 40-minute short called ''Sometimes''. 1988-1990 he attended the
National Film and Television School. His intermediate film, 'Play Dead' was screened on Channel 4 while his graduation film ''Strangers'' (1990) appeared 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 ...
.
1990s
Cannon worked on commercials for James Garrett and later RSA, and made his debut feature ''
The Young Americans'' in 1993. His second film, the big-budget
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
feature ''
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...
'', released in 1995, was a commercial disappointment and was not well received critically. In 1998 he directed two features, the teen slasher film ''
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'' and he directed
Ray Liotta,
Anjelica Huston and
Jeremy Piven in ''
Phoenix''.
2000s

Cannon's immersion into primetime television began when he was hired by
Jerry Bruckheimer to produce and direct the pilot episode of ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' in 2000. Cannon is credited with creating the look and visual style of the ''
CSI'',
which ran for 15 seasons, earning a total of 39
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
nominations and spawning three spinoff shows. He went on to write and direct many episodes of the flagship series, while overseeing the production as executive producer. Simultaneously, he also executive produced both ''
CSI: Miami'', which premiered in 2002 (and directed the pilot of), and ''
CSI: NY'' (2004).
Stemming from his personal passion and experience with the sport of football, in 2005, Cannon directed the film ''
Goal!''.
In 2006, he returned to television with the
CBS television pilot
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...
, ''Capital Law'', about a group of legal associates trying to make partner at a powerful
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
–based law firm.
In 2007, Cannon co-created
TNT's
crime drama
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
series starring
Dylan McDermott called ''
Dark Blue'' and directed the pilot episode. The following year he produced and directed 'The Eleventh Hour' for CBS, which ran for one season.
In 2010, Cannon joined
The CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
action series ''
Nikita'', as director and executive producer. It successfully ran for four seasons on the network.
In 2011, he executive produced and directed the pilot
FOX crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
/
mystery series ''
Alcatraz
Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fo ...
'' along with
J. J. Abrams for
WBTV.
In 2016, Cannon was brought on to direct reshoots for the feature film ''
Geostorm'', in an attempt to help save the studios over budget production.
In 2017, Cannon replaced feature film director
Antoine Fuqua for a TV version of Fuqua's film ''
Training Day
''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers followed over a 24-hour period ...
'',
starring
Bill Paxton, based on the 2001
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...
feature film. He stayed on as the show's executive producer.
From 2014 to 2018, Cannon executive produced the television series ''
Gotham'', for which he directed the pilot of,
along with writing and directing several episodes during the series' five-year run. Under Cannon's creative guidance, the show has been nominated for 11
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
s,
and in 2017 won its first Emmy for Outstanding Special and Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.
In 2018, it was announced that ''Gotham'' would produce its fifth and final season, which premiered in 2019.
Partnering with his ''Gotham'' writer-producer partner
Bruno Heller,
Cannon is currently producing ''
Pennyworth'', a Batman-esque prequel set in 1960s London,
which documents the early years of Batman's butler
Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, originally Alfred Beagle and commonly known simply as Alfred, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman.
Alfred is ...
. Cannon executive produces and writes along with Heller, and has directed multiple episodes, including the series premiere, which have aired on
Epix.
Filmography
Television
Film
Awards and nominations
Personal life
Cannon has two daughters. He plays football regularly with
Hollywood United F.C., a local Los Angeles club team consisting of mostly celebrities and former professional footballers, who play socially against other local teams for friendly matches and charity events.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Danny
English television directors
English television producers
English television writers
English film producers
English film directors
Hollywood United F.C. players
People from Luton
1968 births
Living people
English male television writers
Primetime Emmy Award winners
British science fiction film directors
Action film directors
Men's association football players not categorized by position
Association football players not categorized by nationality