Ian Clark is an English film director and screenwriter.

Early life

Ian Clark was raised in

Disley Disley is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is located on the edge of the Peak District in the Goyt Valley, south of Stockport and close to the county boundary with Derbyshire at New Mills. The popu ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, the son of Monica Clark (née Holt), a teacher and lecturer and Michael (Mick) Clark, an IT Manager. He was educated at Poynton High School, Cheshire, and later went on to study Fine Art at

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

and Graphic Design and Animation at University of Staffordshire. It was at university that he started to develop an interest in film making.

Career

In 2002 he made his second short film, ''Def'', which was produced with funding from Short Circuits Commissions in Yorkshire and premiered at the

Leeds International Film Festival The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is an annual film festival hosted in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest film festival in England outside of London. Founded in 1987, it is held in November in various venues throughou ...

in October 2002.The film won best short film in Leeds and went on to win the Grand Prize at PiFan in South Korea and the Jury Prize at the New York International Children's Film Festival as well as many other awards.''Def'' tells the story of Tony, a deaf boy from Yorkshire who dreams of becoming a rapper. While the other kids on his estate make fun of him and his friend Mike, Tony retreats into a fantasy of performing as deaf M.C, ‘Ice Finga'. During 2006 and 2007 he studied at the National Film and Television School and completed an MA in Directing Fiction. He attended the 2008 Edinburgh Film Festival as a Skillset Trailblazer where his graduation film ''Outcasts'' premiered. ''Outcasts'', a road movie with a difference in which “a gang of outcasts hit the road to take on the world”, won awards at festivals around the world including the

FujiFilm , trading as , or simply Fuji, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the areas of photography, optics, Office supplies, office and Biomedical engine ...

Short Film Competition,

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Student Awards and Look & Roll Disability Film Festival,

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. It was also selected for

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic A ...

’s Film Festival in the Sky where

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...

, one of the judges, commented “ ''Outcasts'' was so brave – the kind of balls and bravery only seen at the film school.” On graduating from the NFTS he was mentored by the director Chris Smith as part of Guiding Lights, "Europe’s most prestigious film mentoring scheme". Majority funded by Creative Skillset, the programme supports upcoming filmmakers and professionals through high-level mentoring, complemented by a range of training and networking activities. In 2009 his short film ''Jenny and the Worm'', produced with funding from Film London's Digital Shorts scheme, premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

. The film went on to win a number of awards at festivals round the world, including a Jury Special Mention at the

Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (French: ''Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand'') is an international film festival dedicated to short films held annually in Clermont-Ferrand, France. It is the ...

. In 2011 he wrote and directed ''The Facility'' (originally titled ''Guinea Pigs''), starring

Aneurin Barnard Aneurin Barnard (; ; born 8 May 1987) is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Davey in '' Hunky Dory'', Claude in '' The Truth About Emanuel'', Bobby Willis in '' Cilla'', Tim in '' Thirteen'', King Richard III in '' The White Queen'', Will ...

, Oliver Coleman,

Steve Evets Steve Evets (born Steven Murphy; 26 July 1959) is an English actor and musician, who found fame for his leading role in the 2009 film ''Looking for Eric''. Personal life Born in Salford, Lancashire, Evets joined the Merchant Navy after leavin ...

, Skye Lourie, Alex Reid, Nia Roberts & Amit Shah. The film is a micro-budget British medical-horror film centered on seven volunteers in a

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

that goes horrifically wrong. It was the first film made by the Vertigo School Project, a joint venture by

Vertigo Films Vertigo Films is a British independent TV and Film production company founded in 2002 by Allan Niblo and James Richardson and joined a few years later by current CEO and partner, Jane Moore. The company has produced and distributed over 50 fe ...

and the NFTS, designed to allow NFTS students to create feature films. ''The Facility'' premiered 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 ...

on 23 June 2012 where it was selected to be part of the "Best of the Fest" programme. The film was released by

Momentum Pictures Momentum Pictures was a film distributor owned by Entertainment One, a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Prior to 2013, it was a brand of Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United Kingdom, and was one of the leading ...

in May 2013. In 2012 he directed ''Fox Hollow Farm'', an episode of Paranormal Witness, Season 2 for Raw TV and the Syfy channel. It was first screened on 26 September 2012 in the USA and on 6 December 2012 in the UK.This was followed by two episodes of a

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

, ''Ultimate Warfare'' for

Military Channel The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...

and Arrow Media. The films were first screened on 12 February 2013 and 12 March 2013 in the USA and during September 2013 in the UK. In 2014 he directed two TV series for Arrow Media:''See No Evil'', a series of modern mysteries using real surveillance footage and '' Planes That Changed The World''.''See No Evil'' had its world premiere in November 2014 on Slice TV in Canada and was screened in the USA by

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

in February 2015. ''Kelsey Smith'' was the first episode of the series shown in the USA and achieved record breaking viewing figures for the channel . ''Planes That Changed The World'' was premiered in the UK in March 2015 on

Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. It serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of every nat ...

. In 2015 he produced and directed two episodes of the TV series ''Manhunt: Kill or Capture'' for World Media Rights. The series had its world premiere in August 2015 on

American Heroes Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television television network, channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The ...

in the USA. Following the success of the first season of ''See No Evil'', a second one was commissioned from Arrow Media and Clark directed five episodes. The series was premiered on the Investigation Discovery Channel in February 2016. . At the beginning of 2016 Arrow Media was commissioned by

to produce a new TV series: ''American Monster'' (originally titled ''Devil In Disguise'') with Clark directing two episodes. It comprises a series of non-fiction crime dramas that get “closer than ever to some of the country's most shocking and surprising crimes.” The series was premiered on the Investigation Discovery Channel in June 2016. Later in 2016 he produced and directed two

episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode, a part of a dramatic work * Episodes (TV series), ''Episodes'' (TV series), a British/American television sitcom which premiered in 2011 * Episodes (journal), ''Episodes'' (journal), a geological science journal ...

of '' Autopsy: The Last Hours Of...'' for

Potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

, part of

ITV Studios ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...

. The subjects of these episodes were the actor

Corey Haim Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian actor who rose to fame in the 1980s as a teen heartthrob. He starred in '' Silver Bullet'' (1985), '' Murphy's Romance'' (1985), '' Lucas'' (1986), '' License to Drive'' (1988 ...

and the comedian

Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. He was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' for fiv ...

. The series was initially screened on the

Reelz Reelz (formerly known as Reelz Channel) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood ...

channel in November 2016. In 2017 a second season of ''American Monster'' was made with Clark directing four episodes. The first episode had its premiere on 9 July 2017 on

. Later in the year he produced and directed two further

of '' Autopsy: The Last Hours Of...'' (season 9). The subjects of these episodes were

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

and the singer

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Cass Elliot, was an American singer. She was also known as "Mama Cass", a name she reportedly disliked. Elliot was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the P ...

from

the Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...

. The episodes were initially screened on the

channel on 25 March 2018 and 22 April 2018 respectively. In 2018 another new series was developed by Arrow Media. ''What Lies Beneath'' is a true crime drama documentary and Clark produced and directed the first two episodes. The programme gives the real-footage murder genre a new twist by using real courtroom footage, CCTV and home movies as well as surrounding news coverage. The series was initially shown on

in September and October 2018. Later in 2018 he directed 2 episodes of season 5 of ''See No Evil''. The series premiered on

in April 2019. In 2019 he directed 2 episodes of a new drama documentary, ''Predator at Large'', for October Studios. The series premiered in April 2020 on Investigation Discovery.

Filmography

Feature films

* ''The Facility'' (2011)

Television

*''Fox Hollow Farm'' (2012) An episode of ''Paranormal Witness'', Season 2 episode 8 * ''Courage at Sea'', the battle of Leyte Gulf (2013) An episode of ''Ultimate Warfare'', Season 1 episode 5 * ''Midway:Taking Back the Pacific'' (2013) An episode of ''Ultimate Warfare'', Season 1 episode 7 * ''Skylar Neese'' (2014) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Season 1 episode 2 *''Kelsey Smith'' (2014) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Season 1 episode 3 * ''DC3'' (2015) An episode of ''Planes That Changed The World'', Season 1 episode 1 * ''Airbus A380 – Giant of the Sky'' (2015) ) An episode of ''Planes That Changed The World'', Season 1 episode 2 * ''SR – 71 Blackbird – Hypersonic Surveillance'' (2015) An episode of ''Planes That Changed The World'', Season 1 episode 3 * ''Manhunt: Kill or Capture'' (2015) * ''Good Samaritan'' (2016) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Series 2 episode 2 * ''Rick Chance'' (2016) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Series 2 episode 11 * ''Someone to Watch Over Her'' (2016) An episode of ''See No Evil'', Series 2 episode 12 * ''Appalachian Horror Film'' (2016) An episode of ''American Monster'', Series 1 episode 2 * ''Right Before Your Eyes'' (2016) An episode of ''American Monster'', Series 1 episode 6 * ''Chris Farley'' (2016) An episode of ''Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..'' Season 7 episode 1 * ''Corey Haim'' (2016) An episode of ''Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..'' Season 7 episode 2 * ''American Monster'' (2017) Season 2 (4 episodes) * ''Autopsy: The Last Hours Of..'' (2018) Season 9 (2 episodes) * ''What Lies Beneath'' (2018) Season 1 (2 episodes) * ''See No Evil'' (2019) Season 5 (2 episodes) * ''Predator at Large'' (2020) Season 1 (2 episodes)

Short films

* ''Def'' (2002) * ''Flats'' (2006) * ''Smile'' (2007) * ''Outcasts'' (2008) * ''Jenny and the Worm'' (2009)

Personal life

He is married to the Greek film maker Katerina Athanasopoulou and lives in London. He has a brother, Richard, who is a teacher.

References

External links

*
Ian Clark at Vimeo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Ian English film directors Living people People from Disley Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of Staffordshire University Alumni of the National Film and Television School Year of birth missing (living people)