David Gleeson
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David Gleeson (born in
Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
) is an Irish film director and writer.


Personal life

A native of
Cappamore Cappamore () is a small town in northeast County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. Location and facilities Cappamore is 20 km east of Limerick city, on the bank ...
, County Limerick, Gleeson is the third generation of his family to enter the film business. His grandfather opened up the Regal Cinema, Cappamore, in the early 1940s, and his father, Eddie Gleeson, took over the business, opening up several more screens across the south west of Ireland, including the Curzon Cinema,
Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, near the border with County Cork, 30 km south of Limerick city. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King John's Castle (Kilmallock), King's Castle (or K ...
, and the Ormond Cineplex,
Nenagh Nenagh ( ; , or simply 'the Fair') is the county town of County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair. Nenagh was the county town of the former county of Nort ...
, County Tipperary. David began his career at the age of nineteen writing and directing non-professional theater in
Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
City with the one-act drama ''Class Control''. A few years later he entered the
North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian ...
industry where he worked for five years, chiefly in the Forties Field on the Forties Charlie platform, followed by two years in the Arctic Circle off the coast of Norway on board the Ocean Alliance. Gleeson met his producing partner and future wife, Nathalie Lichtenthaler, in New York City while attending a film course at the
New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...
where she produced his first short film as a writer/director ''Feels Like Home''.


Career

Gleeson wrote and directed one other short film, ''Hunted'', prior to writing and directing his feature debut, ''
Cowboys & Angels ''Cowboys & Angels'' is a 2003 Irish film directed by David Gleeson. Set in Limerick, the movie stars Michael Legge as Shane and Allen Leech as Vincent, Shane's gay roommate. It was released on May 14, 2003. Plot The story concerns a hapless ci ...
''. ''Cowboys & Angels'', a youth comedy/drama set in his native Limerick, was released in cinemas across Ireland by Buena Vista Int. The film won eight international film awards including Best Screenplay at
Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...
(U.S.) and two Gold Medal Awards at Giffoni (Italy). ''
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 ...
'' commented,
he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
'offers a fresh mix of open-minded intelligence and a heartfelt point of view,' while the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' commented, 'Stack "Cowboys" against most of the fare American studios offer young adults and it's meatier by far'. Gleeson's next film which he also wrote and directed, the crime drama'' The Front Line'', was released in cinemas in 2006 also through Buena Vista Int. ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called it; 'A satisfying blend of crime drama and geopolitical think piece about a Congolese refugee in Dublin, he Front Linesustains high levels of suspense while delivering an emotional wallop.' The
Sunday Independent (Ireland) The ''Sunday Independent'' is an Irish Sunday newspaper broadsheet published by Independent News & Media plc, a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is the Sunday edition of the ''Irish Independent'', and maintains an editorial position midway between ...
commented; 'Gleeson has delivered a terrific film that reminds us what big screens were made for, and it deserves to be a smash.' In 2008, Gleeson signed with
Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency, LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous client ...
and sold his time travel sci-fi spec screenplay 'The End of History' to
Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...
and
Original Film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'', '' Cruel Intentions'' and ''Fast & Furious'' franchises, the ...
. He followed this up with several more spec sales and commissions to studios including
Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...
,
Fox Filmed Entertainment The Fox Entertainment Group (FEG) was an American entertainment company specialized in filmed entertainment owned by 21st Century Fox. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the group's assets were dispersed to various Disney ...
,
Mattel Films Mattel Films is the film production Division (business), division of Mattel originally formed on October 16, 2013, as Mattel Playground Productions as part of Mattel Global Brands, a unified media structural and strategy unit. On March 31, 20 ...
and
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
. In July 2017, Gleeson began principal photography on his third film as writer and director, '' Don't Go'', starring
Stephen Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. Starting his film career as a child appearing in the Cult following, cult horror (genre), horror film ''The Gate (1987 film), The Gate'' (1987), Dorff first rose to prominence ...
and
Melissa George Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian and American actress. She began her career playing Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'' between 1993–1996. After moving to the United States, George made her ...
. The film is based on a screenplay by Ronan Blaney who shares a writing credit with Gleeson. '' Don't Go'' was released in the US through
IFC Films Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent fil ...
on 28 October 2018. In 2013,
Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...
commissioned Gleeson to write ''
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
'', based on his original pitch, about the English writer and author of ''
The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...
'' and ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'',
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
. Fox Searchlight and
Chernin Entertainment Chernin Entertainment is an American film and television production company owned by The North Road Company that is based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on February 24, 2009 by producer and former media executive Peter Chernin, who is ...
produced the biographical film, which stars
Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (; born Wokingham, 7 December 1989) is an English actor. He has received several accolades, including a nomination for a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe nominations, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. ...
and was released in 2019. In January 2019, Gleeson was commissioned by
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 ...
to write ''The Grimm Legacy'', the first in a potential franchise based on the book series by Polly Shulman.


Filmography


Feature films

*''
Cowboys & Angels ''Cowboys & Angels'' is a 2003 Irish film directed by David Gleeson. Set in Limerick, the movie stars Michael Legge as Shane and Allen Leech as Vincent, Shane's gay roommate. It was released on May 14, 2003. Plot The story concerns a hapless ci ...
'' (2003) *'' The Front Line'' (2006) *'' Don't Go'' (2018) *''
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
'' (2019)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, David Irish film directors Irish screenwriters Irish male screenwriters Mass media people from County Limerick 1966 births 20th-century Irish writers 21st-century Irish writers Living people Writers from County Limerick