Sebastian Henry Thiel (born 31 August 1990) is a film director, writer and producer.

Career

Thiel's filmmaking career began in 2008, after his dreams of playing professional basketball fell through. He founded the production company Upshot Entertainment, which produces short films and comedy sketches and began releasing his self-produced videos on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. His early work led to an endorsement by

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expresse ...

, who named Thiel a Virgin Media Pioneer. In 2012, Thiel was included on the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

s list of the Top 25 under 25 most influential Londoners and his short film ''Illegal Activity'' won the

Screen Nation The Screen Nation Film & TV Awards, formerly the bfm (black filmmaker) Film and TV Awards, was founded in September 2003 by independent film producer Charles Thompson MBE, as a platform to raise the profile of black British and international fil ...

Digital award. Thiel's television debut ''Trap Town'', a documentary that explored the

2011 England riots The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police and ...

, was broadcast on London Live in 2014. In 2017 Thiel directed, wrote and edited,

Just a Couple ''Just a couple'' is a British comedy-drama television miniseries created by Sebastian Thiel. Originally pitched by Upshot Entertainment in 2013, it was then further developed by Big Talk Productions in 2016. The show explores the trials and ...

starring his sister, Frieda Thiel, Michael Salami,

Weruche Opia Reanne Weruche Opia () (born 11 April 1987) is a British-Nigerian actress and entrepreneur. She is the founding CEO of the clothing line Jesus Junkie Clothing. She was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for her performance in the BB ...

and Sean Sagar. The show is broadcast on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...

and is produced by

Big Talk Productions Big Talk Productions Limited is a British film and television production company founded by Nira Park in 1994. Big Talk was acquired by ITV Studios in 2013. Film Filmography Released Upcoming Critical reception Commercial performance ...

. Thiel's first season won him numerous awards, such as favourite comedy production at

and Debut Writer award at The Debbies The show's success also landed him on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

's prestigious new talent hotlist by

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

and Tony hall. In the UK's black film community, Sebastian would commonly be mentioned as one of the few young black directors that has broken into TV in the recent years. Thiel is also known for public speaking and sharing his views on creativity and social entrepreneurship In his teenage years he was a student at The School for Social Entrepreneurs. Thiel teamed up with Entrepreneur

Paul Lindley Paul John Lindley (born 17 October 1966) is a British entrepreneur and children's welfare campaigner. He founded organic baby and children's food brand Ella's Kitchen in 2006, naming it after his daughter, and later launched organic toddler to ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and Musician

Emmanuel Jal Emmanuel Jal (born Jal Jok 1 January 1980) is a South Sudanese-Canadian artist, actor, former child soldier, and political activist. His autobiography, ''War Child: A Child Soldier's Story'', was published in 2009. Childhood Jal was born to ...

on a documentary focussed on

Social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...

in Kenya, this was discussed at One Young World. Thiel's company was also the recipient of the iDEA award presented at Buckingham palace, which helped him take his business to the next step. In Thiel's TedxTalks he expressed how important entertainment is as a tool for change. His beliefs are that we should be aware of what we create, specifically when it comes to filmmaking. Thiel's focus on social issues has mainly been on helping disenfranchised young people. In 2019

John Boyega John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is a British actor and producer. He first rose to prominence in his native Britain for his role as Moses in the sci-fi comedy film '' Attack the Block ...

teased his new collaboration with Sebastian Thiel on

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...

and

Timeout Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

It's a series based on their childhoods. Thiel is signed with WME in Los Angeles and 42 in the UK.

Filmography

* Illegal Activity (2012) * Friday UK (2012) * Fill Me In (2013) * Adots Apprentice (2013) * Trap Town (2014) * The Key (2015) *

(2017) *Dreaming Whilst Black (2021) * Riches (2022) *Supacell

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiel, Sebastian 1990 births Living people British filmmakers British writers British directors