Residence London Role Filmmaker Nationality British Education New York Film Academy | Years active 2000–present Movies Just Ines Name Marcel Grant | |
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Born 19 July 1961 (age 62) ( 1961-07-19 ) London, UK Occupation Film director, screenwriter, film producer Similar People Daniel Weyman, Caroline Ducey, Barbara Cabrita, Veronica Roberts, Emma Fildes | ||
Marcel Grant OVFL Etobicoke Eagles JV Football Highlight Tape 2015
Marcel Grant (born 19 July 1961) is a filmmaker based in London. He established the independent film production company, Dancing Brave Pictures, in 2004. He has written and directed two feature films Open My Eyes and Just Inès, the made-for-TV Coffee Sex You, as well as featurette What's Your Name 41?
Contents
- Marcel Grant OVFL Etobicoke Eagles JV Football Highlight Tape 2015
- Early life
- Film career
- Directing Credits
- Screenwriting Credits
- Producing Credits
- References
Early life
After attending Reed’s School in Surrey, Grant had various successful ventures as a performer in both the film and music industry, and was strongly involved with the London and New York night club scene and the New Romantic movement of the late 1970s, early 1980s. In 1984, at the age of 23, Grant was named “London's youngest club entrepreneur” by TimeOut magazine for establishing ‘One Nighters’ at Mayfair’s foremost nightclub, Legends. Realising the change of nightlife culture in central London and having friends that were operating ‘warehouse parties’ in the then run down Wapping area, Grant leased Legends for four nights a week – Monday to Thursday. Through his vast network of contacts, he sub-let to club night promoters creating four different ‘one nighters’ in the West End, and attracting London's elite with the most popular being 'Fresh' on Thursdays. This had never been done before.
In the late 80s, Grant moved into property development. Over a period of about six years, he carried out over forty different building projects.
In 1993 Grant started working with Richard Thompson overseeing his many businesses. These included Windsor Race Course, Queen’s Park Rangers premier league football club and the holiday resort Quinta Da Lago in the south of Portugal. At the same time Grant and Thompson developed ‘start up’ media companies. It was during this period that the production company Pagoda was formed. In 2004 Grant left Thompson Holdings, to become an independent film maker.
Film career
Grant first entered the film industry by co-founding the production company Pagoda in the late 1990s. Here, he found critical and commercial success with the 2000 film Gangster No. 1 starring Paul Bettany and Malcolm McDowell. He then established the independent production company, Shipwreck Film, under the title of which he made five short films, one of which was What’s Your Name 41? in 2005. A featurette, What's Your Name 41? stars Con O'Neill as a renowned contemporary artist and Ann Mitchell as his art dealer. The film was shown at various festivals in the UK and abroad, including the Berlin International Directors Lounge, Cannes Short Film Corner and the California Independent Film Festival.
Shipwreck Film then became Dancing Brave Pictures, the company with which Grant has written, directed and produced two feature films: Just Inès and Open My Eyes.
Just Inès stars the French actress Caroline Ducey, famed for her portrayal of a sexually frustrated teacher in Catherine Breillat's controversial 1999 film Romance. Co-starring with Caroline is Daniel Weyman, currently in ITV's Foyle's War. Just Inès had its world premiere at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival in 2010 was then screened at the Cairo International Film Festival and FEST in Belgrade, Serbia.
Open My Eyes began shooting in February 2012 at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland starring Oliver Tobias and Alissa Jung. The film is now complete and due for release in 2016. On 20 March 2016, the film was screened as part of the Dingle International Film Festival features programme.
Grant directed the Electric Cinema's How To Behave, a short film that plays before every feature screening at the iconic Electric Cinema on Portobello Road. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Natalie Dormer, Michael McIntyre, Nigella Lawson, James Corden, Rafe Spall, Emilia Fox, amongst others.