Martin Gooch is a British

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, who directed and shot many comedy shorts. His first feature film ''Death'' which premiered at

Sci-Fi-London Sci-Fi-London (stylised as SCI-FI-LONDON), also known as the London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film or simply SFL, is an annual United Kingdom–based film festival dedicated to the science fiction and fantasy genre ...

2012 in the UK and was a 2012 finalist for Hollywood's Feel Good Film Festival in the US. He was born on 6 September 1972 in St. Albans, England.

Career

After writing and directing several award-winning short films, including ''The Orgasm Raygun'' and ''Arthur's Amazing Things'', both of which featured the British actor

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. He appeared in the '' Carry On'' ...

as the

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, Gooch also directed ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' for

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

, One of his episodes won the Best Onscreen Chemistry award (2007) ITV Soap Awards. ''Hollyoaks'' won Best Soap at the ITV Soap Awards during his tenure, after which he then went on to direct the BAFTA-winning and EMMY-nominated ''Spooks Interactive''. His debut feature film ''Death'' (2012), which won Best Director, features

Linal Haft Linal Haft (born 23 March 1945) is an English actor, best known for playing controlling or manipulative characters in both film and television, most notably his role as businessman Harry Gold in the popular BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 20 ...

Emily Booth Emily Katherine Booth (born 26 April 1976), also known by her stage name Emily "Bouff" Bouffante, is an English actress and television presenter. Early life While she was a student, Booth earned money busking playing the violin and sang on '' ...

Nick Moran Nick Moran (born 23 December 1969) is an English actor and filmmaker. His roles include Eddie the card sharp in ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' and as List of Harry Potter characters#S 2, Scabior in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall ...

, David Wayman,

Sarah Jayne Dunn Sarah Jayne Dunn (born 25 September 1981) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Mandy Richardson on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 1996 until 2021. In November 2021, Dunn was dropped from ''Hollyoaks'' after she ...

, Ben Shockley and Brooke Burfitt and features music from Roger Taylor of Queen and

Paul Humphreys Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the keyboardist and secondary vocalist of the Electronic music, electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he f ...

of OMD. His second feature film ''The Search for Simon'' premièred at the BFI Sci-Fi London Film Festival 2013, and went on to win several awards including Best Film at the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival. It stars

Carol Cleveland Carol Cleveland (born Carol Gillian Frances on 13 January 1942) is an American-English actor, comedian, dancer, and model. She is particularly known for her work with Monty Python. Early life Born in East Sheen, London, she moved to the United ...

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...

Chase Masterson Chase Masterson (born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963) is an American actress, singer and producer best known for her role as Leeta on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. She has appeared in the TV shows ''General Hospital'', ''Sliders'', ...

and Simon Jones, as well as Noeleen Comiskey and Millie Reeves, with Gooch in the lead role. ''The Gatehouse'', his third feature, was picked up for distribution by Lionsgate and won Best Film at the London Independent Film Festival in 2016. In 2017, 25 years after his first visit to Modoc County, California in 1992, working for the US Forest Service, at the age of 19. Gooch returned to Modoc, to shoot his fourth feature film, ''Atomic Apocalypse'' (aka ''Black Flowers''). It was filmed on location in Montana and North California. It had its world premiere at Sitges International Film Festival in 2018 and won Best Sci-Fi Director at World Fest-Houston; it went on to win numerous other awards and nominations. In 2018, Gooch was a winner with the Trinity Challenge backed by ARRI Media and Directors UK and wrote and directed the one-shot short film, ''A Midwinter Night's Dream'', starring Michael McKell, filmed all in one shot using the ARRI Trinity Stabilisation system won Best Fantasy Film at the London Independent Film Festival. Other notable names he has directed include William Mark McCullough, Paul Freeman,

Kevin McNally Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He began his acting career in the BBC TV adaptation of ''I, Claudius'' (1976), but is best known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' fran ...

, Linsey Dawn McKenzie and

. He is a two time BBC New Director award winner, with short films screened all over the world including

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, Edinburgh, London and also on 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 ...

, ITV,

and Channel 5. Gooch's short films include ''Don't Even Think It!'' (written by

Jasper Fforde Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist whose first novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his '' Thursday Next'' novels, but has also published two books in the loosely connected '' Nurser ...

and starring

Pippa Hinchley Philippa Lucy Hinchley (born 7 April 1966) is a British actress from London who played Elaine Fenwick in ''Coronation Street''. She has also been in ''The Bill'', '' Bugs'', ''Doctors'', ''Holby City'' and ''EastEnders''. She appeared in the on ...

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won three Royal Television Society awards, four British Comedy Awards, and four BAFTA nominations for her self-driven semi-autobiographical ...

and Edward Rawle Hicks) and ''The Gravity of Belief'' (starring Alexandria Beck and Paul Ready), which was nominated for best film at the 5th London Short Film Festival, Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival. Gooch has a master's degree in screenwriting from The University of the Arts London, and is working on a TV series based on the legendary ''Fighting Fantasy'' gamebook series with original creator

Ian Livingstone Sir Ian Livingstone (born 29 December 1949) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the '' Fighting Fantasy'' series of role-playing gamebooks, and the author of many books within that ...

. Gooch currently lives in London, England.

Works

* ''The Remarkable Mr. Root'' (1995) * ''The Orgasm Raygun'' (1998) * ''Arthur's Amazing Thing'' (2002) * ''Eddie's Sticky End'' (2003) * ''Don't Even Think It!'' (2006) * ''The Gravity of Belief'' (2008) * ''After Death'' (2012) * ''The Search for Simon'' (2013) * ''The Gatehouse'' (2015) * ''Atomic Apocalypse'' (2019) * ''A Midwinter Night's Dream'' (2018) * ''The Dragon Detective'' (2025) * ''Argh and the Quest for the Golden Dragon Skull'' (2024) * ''A Night of a Thousand Vampires'' (2022) * ''Darkheart Manor'' (2022)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gooch, Martin British film directors British television directors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people