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Revision as of 09:56, 13 December 2019

File:Paul Atherton at Cleopatra's Needle - photograph taken by Darren Fletcher.jpg
Atherton in 2019

Paul Atherton FRSA (born 20 March 1968) is a London-based filmmaker. He produced and directed The Ballet of Change, a series of four short films (now in the collection of the British Film Institute Archive) that were projected onto London landmarks.[1] [2] [3] [4] His video-diary Our London Lives is in the permanent collection of the Museum of London. [5].

Early life

Atherton was three months old when he was abandoned in a tent at a disused airport in Cardiff but placed with a white foster family shortly after.[6] As a mixed-race child of white foster parents, he has commented publicly on issues of race and adoption on television and in the press.[7][8]

He grew up in the village of Ystrad Mynach in South Wales.[9]

He left home at 15, when he spent time in children's homes[10] and completed his "O" Levels. At 16 he set up home on his own against the wishes of Social Services and started work on a Youth Training Scheme in Howells (department store).[11]

He was appointed the Welsh Young Conservatives Press Officer later that year and focused on addressing the issues of homelessness with a programme working with Sixth Forms in schools in Cardiff.[12]

He is a graduate of Cardiff Business School.[13]

While studying he set up a gift delivery company specialising in silk lingerie called "A Touch of Silk" in 1994 which became Vogue Magazine's Valentine gift of choice the following year.[14][15]

Career

In 2002, Atherton got his start in filmmaking with a four-week apprenticeship at British cookery channel UK Food and UK Style.[16] He set up his own production company Simple TV Production in 2004.[13]

Then in 2005, Atherton served as producer of Silent Voices, a television docudrama about domestic violence, which premiered on the Community channel (UK) and was later reissued as a DVD to raise funds for the National Centre for Domestic Violence.[17][18]

The Ballet of Change

File:The Ballet of Change- Piccadilly Circus, London.jpg
The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus was the first movie to be shown on the Coca-Cola billboard in November 2007

The Ballet of Change is a series of four films (approximately 4 minutes) produced & directed in 2007 by Paul Atherton.[19] [20] Funding was provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.[19] Atherton got permission to premiere each films at the landmark in question (Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and London Bridge.) Music specially written for the films was available for download from a website, and many of the 600 people who watched the screening in Piccadilly Circus brought MP3 players with them for this purpose. Atherton said that his purpose in creating the films was to make available to a wider audience the images hidden in archives, so that more people could engage with London's history. The film about Piccadilly Circus was the first film ever shown on the Piccadilly Circus Coca-Cola billboard.[13]

Colour Blind 2009

File:Robert Cavanah in Golliwog Make-up - Colour Blind 2009.jpg
Robert Cavanah in Golliwog Make-up in Colour Blind (2009)

In 2009 Atherton produced the short film Colour Blind 2009 directed by Amanda Baker [21] which premiered at the British Urban Film Festival the same year. Starring Wil Johnson and Robert Cavanah it explores the issue of skin colour and sterotyping through the eyes of its protagonists. [22]





Our London Lives

Paul Atherton & his son Charles Atherton-Laurie on the Ice Rink of Somerset House in their video diary Our London Lives

In 2016 Atherton's video-diary, tracking sixteen years of his son's visits from his home in South Wales to see him in London, was edited down from over 300 hours of footage to a 77 minute film. Entitled Our London Lives the film screened as part of the exhibition "Recording A Life" in the Show Space area of the Museum of London. After the exhibition the film was taken into the museum's permanent collection.[5] [23]

The movie examines Atherton's relationship with his son Charles, who lives in Cardiff and was shot in an attempt to prove that London can be a good place to bring up a child, contrary to some opinions that the city was isolating and anti-family.[24]

Recent career

In January 2017 he was a judge at the Muybridge Short Film Festival,[25] which was screened in the Rose Theatre, Kingston.

In 2017 and 2018, Atherton appeared as a pundit on Colourful Radio, in a show called "Meet the Critics" (presented by British Urban Film Festival founder Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe.) [26][27]

Personal life

in September 2009 Atherton was placed wheelchair bound into a homeless hostel in Brixton, following a three month stay in St Thomas' Hospital due to his disability Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. [28] Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a medical condition characterized by long-term fatigue and other persistent symptoms that limit a person's ability to carry out ordinary daily activities.[29] [30]

He took part in a protest aimed at saving the Art Deco Odeon Cinema in Kensington from demolition with fellow film-maker Paul Wiffen in September 2015[31]

As a freelance journalist [32] in 2016 Atherton wrote an Op-Ed for the The Guardian in an article defending the discipline at Katharine Birbalsingh's Michaela Community School in Wembly [33] [34] and another in 2017 for the Londonist in a tongue in cheek piece, challenging the advantage of Generation X & Baby Boomers over Millennials.[35] [36]

Atherton has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts since 2018.[37]

Atherton took part in the London Launch of Dr. Frances Ryan's book Crippled: Austerity & The Demonization of Disabled People on 3 August 2019 at Unite the Union together with Guardian journalist Aditya Chakrabortty.[38]

He has one son, Charles Sebastian Atherton-Laurie.[39]

Works

Awards and honours

References

  1. ^ "The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus in British Film Institute Archive". British Film Institue Collection. BFI. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  2. ^ "The Ballet of Change: Trafalgar Square in British Film Institute Archive". British Film Institue Collection. BFI. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  3. ^ "The Ballet of Change: Leicester Square in British Film Institute Archive". British Film Institue Collection. BFI. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  4. ^ "The Ballet of Change: London Bridge in British Film Institute Archive". British Film Institue Collection. BFI. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Collections Online: Our London Lives". Museum of London. Retrieved 25 August 2019. Our London Lives follows filmmaker Paul Atherton's son Charles as he visits London to see his father over 16 years. The film is split into 7 sections each focusing on an aspect of Paul and Charles' time together and their activities in London. Each section of the film starts when Charles is 6 years old (2005) and ends 10 years later when he is 16 (2015).
  6. ^ Western Mail Newspaper (26 March 2013). "Rhymney Valley foster child reunited with social worker that placed him with parents".
  7. ^ Paul Atherton (4 May 2012). "Evening Standard: The Barriers to Adoption". Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  8. ^ Channel 4: 4thought.tv (2011). "Should White Parents adopt Non-White Children". Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2019. Paul Atherton is of mixed-race descent and was adopted by a white family in a small village in South Wales as a baby. He believes that growing up in a white family taught him that skin colour doesn't matter and that so-called 'black culture' does not exist anyway.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ South Wales Echo Newspaper (14 September 2012). "How a Rookie Social Worker Turned My Life Around".
  10. ^ The Big Issue Magazine (2008). "TV Calling".
  11. ^ Observer Magazine (10 September 1987), Youth Training Schemes The Good & The Bad
  12. ^ South Wales Echo (23 February 1989), New Press Officer for Welsh Young Conservatives
  13. ^ a b c Cardiff University Magazine (2008). "A Capital Achievement". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2012. Paul, who set up his own production company, Simple TV Productions, in 2004, got permission to screen a series of four short films, collectively entitled The Ballet of Change, in various locations around the city. Each film tells the history of a famous London landmark – London Bridge, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus – through imagery and specially composed music that viewers could download from the website.
  14. ^ Sun Newspaper (1994), Charles Props Up Naughty Knickers
  15. ^ Vogue Magazine (1995), The Perfect Valentines Gift
  16. ^ Industry News (31 May 2002). "Skillset Arrange a "Lucky Break" at Production Show". One lucky individual was offered a work experience placement at the skillsformedia 'Lucky Break' session at this year's Production Show. Nick Thorogood, Channel Editor on UK Food and UK Style, offered Paul Atherton four-weeks work experience, possibly leading to a job as a researcher.
  17. ^ "Silent Voices (DVD review)". Empire Magazine. A stark uncompromising look at the realities of domestic violence, Charles Harris' unflinching drama knits together seven monologues told directly to camera highlighting the nature and psychology surrounding abuse from completely different perspectives
  18. ^ Hannah Jordan (17 September 2008). "Charities refuse proceeds of DVD". Third Sector.
  19. ^ a b British Film Archive (2007). "The Ballet of Change at British Film Archive".
  20. ^ British Film Archive (2007). "Paul Atherton at British Film Archive".
  21. ^ Sarah Cooper (6 September 2010). "Gaming Writer Rhianna Pratchett Moves Onto First Feature Film". Screen International. Media Business Insight. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  22. ^ British Urban Film Festival (2009). "Colour Blind Film Premieres at British Urban Film Festival".
  23. ^ Anthony S. Baxter (8 February 2016). News [London Life] (Video) (Video). London: London Live News. Event occurs at 00:00-02:38. Retrieved 10 October 2019. Paul Atherton captured moments of his son's first 16 years, during trips to the capital. He's now edited some of it into to a film - #OurLondonLives, which is now being screened at the Museum of London.
  24. ^ Colour Blind - Radio interview with Paul Atherton on Colourful Radio - 26 03 09 - Part 1. YouTube. 31 March 2009.
  25. ^ Paul Hughes (January 2017). "Muybridge Short Film Festival".
  26. ^ Colourful Radio (May 2017). "The new film host on Colourful Radio is Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe".
  27. ^ Colourful Radio (May 2017). "Second series of Meet The Critics with Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe".
  28. ^ Mills, Heather (9–22 July 2010), "Wheels Of Misfortune", Private Eye, no. 1266, London: Pressdram Ltd., p. 28, It was only thanks to an 11th-hour protest by an MP and the Eye that Paul Atherton a 42-year-old tlevision producer, was not ejcted to the streets last week from the Brixton hostel that had been his home since last September. He had been living in the temporary accommodation since his discharge from three months in hospital suffering chronic and debilitating myalgic encephalomyelitis which had left him in a wheelchair
  29. ^ Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy):. London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. 2017.
  30. ^ Guidline 53: Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. 2007.
  31. ^ Mark Blunden (4 September 2015). "Evening Standard: Campaigners in last-ditch bid to save historic Odeon cinema".
  32. ^ Atherton, Paul (2016). "Paul Atherton listed on Journalist Website Muck Rack". Muck Rack. Muck Rack. Retrieved 15 October 2019. Muck Rack enables you to discover the best journalists to pitch on any story based on their profiles in our extensive media database, or through our comprehensive search engine covering the articles they've written and the content they share on social media.
  33. ^ Atherton, Paul (3 August 2016). "Paul Atherton Profile on the Guardian Website". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2019. Paul Atherton is the managing director and producer at Simple (TV) Productions and Q&D Productions
  34. ^ Atherton, Paul (3 August 2016). "Why it's right for a head to demand lunch money - and high standards". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2019. Katharine Birbalsingh has been criticised for a lunchtime isolation policy for unpaid bills. But her drive for discipline should be applauded: ask her pupils (says Paul Atherton)
  35. ^ Atherton, Paul (23 October 2017). "Paul Atherton Profile on the Londonist Website". The Londonist. Londonist Limited. Retrieved 15 October 2019. Articles by Paul Atherton
  36. ^ Atherton, Paul (23 October 2017). "My 50 something friends are far more interesting than boring millennials". The Londonist. Londonist Limited. Retrieved 15 October 2019. Live in London, and your mother (if not your grandmother) is likely to out drink you, out party you and out sex you. Getting old gracefully doesn't exist here.
  37. ^ a b RSA (21 December 2018). "RSA Fellow Paul Atherton".
  38. ^ Disability People Against Cuts (DPAC) (3 August 2019). "Dr. Frances Ryan's Crippled: Austerity and the Demonizattion of Disabled People London Book Launch". Retrieved 25 July 2019. Frances Ryan discusses her searing exposé of austerity's impact on disabled people, alongside Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty and Paul Atherton.
  39. ^ "Our London Lives" (film). United Kingdom: Q&D Productions (Not-For-Profit). 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
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