Simon Channing Williams (10 June 1945 – 11 April 2009) was a British film producer. After having worked as a production assistant and producer of TV films and TV series in the 1970s and early 1980s, he and

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

formed the film production company Thin Man Films in 1988.Duedil: Thin Man Films Limited
Linked 2013-05-27 This company has produced all of Mike Leigh's films since then, among them the double Oscar-winning ''

Topsy-Turvy ''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. T ...

'', the Oscar-nominated ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal ...

'' and the Palme d'Or-winning '' Secrets & Lies''. In addition to his collaborations with Mike Leigh, he also produced other films, including teen suicide drama

New Year's Day (2001 film) ''New Year's Day'' is a 2001 comedy-drama film starring Andrew Lee Potts, Bobby Barry, Jacqueline Bisset, Anastasia Hille, Michael Kitchen, Sue Johnston, Ralph Brown and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. It was written by Ralph Brown and directed by Suri ...

in 1999. He co-produced

Nick Love Nick Love (born 24 December 1969) is an English film director and writer. His credits include the films '' The Football Factory'', '' The Business'', '' Goodbye Charlie Bright'', ''Outlaw'', '' The Sweeney'', a 2009 remake of football hooligan ...

's first film ''

Goodbye Charlie Bright ''Goodbye Charlie Bright'' is a 2001 comedy-drama film directed by Nick Love and starring Paul Nicholls, Roland Manookian and Danny Dyer. The film is also known by the U.S. title ''Strong Boys''. Plot Charlie drifts through life as he and h ...

'' in 2000, and the same year he formed Potboiler Productions with producer Gail Egan (who also works closely with Mike Leigh and has been involved in the production of several of his films). Through Potboiler Productions Channing Williams produced

Douglas McGrath Douglas Geoffrey McGrath (February 12, 1958 – November 3, 2022) was an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Tony Award, and Primetime Emmy Awa ...

's ''

Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'', or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'', is the third novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his ...

'' and

Fernando Meirelles Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (; born 9 November 1955) is a Brazilian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-directing the film ''City of God (2002 film), City of God'', released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the Un ...

' Oscar-winning ''

The Constant Gardener ''The Constant Gardener'' is a 2001 novel by British author John le Carré. The novel tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose activist wife is murdered. Believing there is something behind the murder, he seeks to uncover the t ...

''. Channing Williams died aged 63, in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

on 11 April 2009, five years after being diagnosed with cancer. Leigh paid tribute saying "His great phrase was 'let's just get on with things' and right almost to the last he was still working. He was a very extraordinary big man and he will be missed universally." Leigh dedicated his 2010 film '' Another Year'' to the memory of Simon Channing Williams.Text in end credits of ''Another Year'': "In loving memory: Simon Channing Williams, 1945 – 2009, Producer" Following Channing Williams' death, Mike Leigh started to collaborate with producer Georgina Lowe, who in 2011 took over Channing Williams' half of Thin Man Films. ''

A Most Wanted Man ''A Most Wanted Man'' is a thriller/ espionage novel by British writer John le Carré, published in September 2008 by Hodder & Stoughton in the United Kingdom and in October 2008 by Scribner in the United States. A young Chechen ex-prisone ...

'' was dedicated to both

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character actor, character roles—eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical productio ...

and Simon Channing Williams in the closing credits.

References

External links

*
Thin Man Films: Simon Channing Williams biography
1945 births 2009 deaths Deaths from cancer in England English film producers People from Marazion 20th-century English businesspeople {{UK-film-producer-stub