Neil Blair is an English literary agent, television producer, and film producer.

Early life

Neil Blair studied law at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

Career

In 1990, after graduating from college, Blair joined the litigation team at the global law firm

Linklaters Linklaters LLP is a British multinational law firm, headquartered in London. Founded in 1838, it is one of the four ' Magic Circle' law firms known for their corporate and financial expertise. It currently employs about 3,100 lawyers in 31 of ...

. He later joined

Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, where he became Head of Business Affairs, Europe, worked on productions such as '' Band of Brothers'' and ''

Eyes Wide Shut ''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Dream Story'' () by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's setting from earl ...

'', and helped acquire the film rights for

J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 600&nb ...

’s ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series. In 2001 he left to join the

Christopher Little Literary Agency Christopher Little Literary Agency was a literary agency in London. It closed in 2021 following the death of its founder, Christopher Little. Its clients included Darren Shan, A. J. Quinnell, Cathy Hopkins, and Wladyslaw Szpilman. The agen ...

. In 2011, Blair left Christopher Little Literary Agency to found The Blair Partnership. J.K. Rowling joined his client list after 15 years with the Christopher Little Literary Agency. Blair is the Chairman of the Board and a Director of

Pottermore Wizarding World Digital is a digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company. It offers news, features, and articles as well as new and previously unreleased writing by J. K. Rowling regarding the Wizarding World. The site feat ...

and Chairman of the production companies Brontë Film and Television, founded to develop and produce projects commissioned from J.K. Rowling’s novels, and Snowed-In Productions, founded to work on non J.K. Rowling projects.

Charitable work

Blair is Chairman of J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity Lumos. He is a UK ambassador for

The Abraham Initiatives The Abraham Initiatives is a non-profit organization based in Lod (Israel), New York City and London. Named after the common ancestor of both Jews and Arabs, Abraham. According to its website, it "strives to fulfill the promise of full and equa ...

and a board member of

JW3 JW3, also known as Jewish Community Centre London, is an arts, culture and entertainment venue, an educational facility and a social and community hub in north London. It is located at 341–351 Finchley Road, London, and opened on 29 Septembe ...

. In 2017, he and his wife, Debra, supported the construction of archive space and a reading room on Exeter College’s Cohen Quadrangle to help preserve 30,000 rare books, including important Judaica such as the Soncino Bible, the earliest full text bible ever printed.

Personal life

Blair has said that books and being Jewish "are very close to my heart". He is a fan of

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

and

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Neil English Jews Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British literary agents