Marcus Dillistone is a British film director. A close friend of Sir John Mills, he directed the BBC/Carlton documentary of Mills' life, '' Sir John Mills' Moving Memories''. Dillistone and Mills first collaborated on Dillistone's film ''The Troop'', which had a Royal Premiere at

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

in the presence of The Princess Royal. A copy of the film was requested by a Royal Equerry for screening to The Queen at Sandringham over Christmas. A 35mm film print was donated by

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 ...

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

, and Glory Film Co. Dillistone directed Mills in his last ever screen appearance, ''Lights 2'', in which he played a tramp. Shot at Pinewood Studios, Mills was lit by veteran cinematographer Jack Cardiff, they had last worked together on 'Scott of The Antarctic'. As of 2017 Dillistone was collaborating with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood on the film-to-digital reformatting and restoration of his film The Troop. The Academy selected The Troop as a case study in using its ACES color management methodology; also contributing to the study are Dolby Laboratories, EFilm, Fotokem, and Universal.

Education

Dillistone was educated at The Skinners' School in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and Kent Institute of Art & Design, before gaining an honours degree at University of Staffordshire, specialising in design and film production, where his lead tutor was John Jordan, sound recordist on

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's A Clockwork Orange.

Glory Film Co.

Dillistone set up the company Glory Film Co. to make ''The Troop'' film with help from Paul-Anthony Viollet, a former King's Troop RHA officer. Cinematographer on ''The Troop'' was Alex Thomson (cinematographer). As a result of ''The Troop'', with which

collaborated, Dillistone was commissioned to make a series of films for worldwide release in order to demonstrate Fuji's new motion picture filmstocks. He employed cinematographers including: Oscar-winners Jack Cardiff and Ronnie Taylor, together with Phedon Papamichael, Geoff Boyle NSC FBKSTS, John de Borman, Sue Gibson, Thierry Arbogast, Ron Stanett, and Tony Pierce-Roberts. The films were shot at Pinewood and

Shepperton Shepperton is a village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne district, in north Surrey, England, around south west of central London. The settlement is on the north bank of the River Thames, between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Tha ...

studios, with locations including

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

in East Sussex.

British Film Industry Tribute

In 2001, Dillistone directed a major

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

tribute event held in the Painted Hall in Greenwich. Hosted by The Lord's Taverners, and the

First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...

of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh; participating artists included Sir Roger Moore,

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lord

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...

, Juliet Mills, Hayley Mills, Richard Stilgoe, Sarah Miles, and Dame Kiri te Kanawa.

Olympic Music Production

Experience working on major musical recordings, including work with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, led to Dillistone being employed as Associate Producer Music for the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and closing ceremony. In December 2007, Dillistone was invited by the Governor of Luxor to screen a trailer of his latest film to the former Egyptian President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

and the Prime Minister of Egypt, Ahmed Nazif. This was followed by an Invitation from the Jordanian Minister of Culture to present a film at the 2009 Jordan Festival in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Icehotel

In December 2010, Dillistone completed an Ice Suite for the world-famous Icehotel (Jukkasjärvi), working 200 km north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

in Swedish Lappland at temperatures down to –40 °C. On 2 July 2013, Icehotel announced that he would return to the Arctic to complete a new creative concept: a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

tube terminus built entirely from snow and ice entitled "Mind the Gap (Last Stop on the Northern Line)".

Media appearances

Dillistone has appeared on the BBC (live primetime news) and on ITV, as well as on the radio, including the Robert Elms show on the BBC. His work has also appeared in print in publications that include Paris Match, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Washington Post, New York Times, The Telegraph, Times, Metro, UPI, and The Dallas Morning News.

Philanthropy

Dillistone is also involved in social and charitable film making, being particularly known for films dealing with social and medical matters (his films have garnered a number of British Medical Association awards). Dillistone has supported organisations such as the Riding for the Disabled Association, the British Brain and Spine Foundation, and the Sarah Lamping Memorial Expedition. In June 2011, he was invited to launch the Spinal Injury Patient Film at The Ludwig Guttmann conference - this film garnered a prize at the 2012 Telly Awards. In April 2015 The Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) nominated Dillistone for an award for his philanthropic film work - contributing to better outcomes for SCI patients.

Lectures and academic work

Dillistone has presented papers at the world's two leading broadcast conventions, NAB (USA) and IBC (Europe). He was invited to participate in Quantel's 'Focus on The Future' event in London (2002 He also lectures extensively on film making, including lectures at UCLA, the American University in Washington, D.C. and Staffordshire University (UK). Topics include documentary films, scientific, medical and technical films, and travel films. He has also hosted master-classes in the US, Europe and the Caribbean, on filmmaking, imaging and photography. Dillistone has written articles for several professional publications, including Televisual, AV Magazine, Kodak's magazine and Exposure. He co-authored the academic paper "A comparison of perceptions of quality of life among adults with spinal cord injury in the United States versus the United Kingdom".

Academic Publications

Development and psychometric evaluation of a Fatigability Index for full-time wheelchair users with spinal cord injury. Preferences of adults with spinal cord injury for widely used health-related quality of life and subjective well-being measures. A comparison of perceptions of quality of life among adults with spinal cord injury in the United States versus the United Kingdom.

Royal Society of Medicine

In September 2013, in recognition of his contribution to medical filmmaking, Dillistone was elected a Member of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

. He is a key figure in the development of healthcare knowledge transfer, and on 30 April 2014 gave the keynote lecture at The Royal Society's annual conference on ethics.

Awards

Dillistone's films have won over fifty international awards, including: Winner IVCA Best Direction. Director of: New York Festival Grand Prix Nominee (British Airways); New York Festival Gold Medal; New York Festival Gold Medal; New York Festival Gold Medal; New York Festival Gold Medal International Telly Award; International Telly Award; International Telly Award; International Telly Award; Global Award Winner; BMA Award; BMA Award; BMA Award; IVCA Best Editing Nomination; Berlin Festival Gold Medallist; New York Festival Silver Medal; New York Festival Silver Medal; New York Festival Finalist; Institute of Training & Development Award Winner; IVCA Category Winner; IVCA Category Winner; IVCA Category Winner; IVCA Category Winner; IVCA Best Editing Nomination; IVCA Best Graphics & Animation Nomination; Images Festival Winner; European Multi-Media Award Winner; Writer of: IVCA Category Winner; Telly award - silver; Telly award – silver; Telly award – bronze; Telly award – bronze; SIA Rebuilding Lives Awards (nominee), PM Awards Best Overall TV Commercial; IVCA Award winner Healthcare Advertising Agency Group Award.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillistone, Marcus British film directors Living people Alumni of Staffordshire University People educated at The Skinners' School 1961 births