User:Kobestarr/sandbox

Mat Whitecross
Born	(1977-09-21) 21 September 1977 Oxford, England
Occupations	Director editor screenwriter
Years active	2006–present

Mat Whitecross (born 21 September 1977) is an English film director, editor and screenwriter. He is known for directing The Road to Guantánamo, Ian Dury biopic Sex And Drugs and Rock and Roll, and music documentaries Supersonic and A Head Full of Dreams. Mat has also directed music videos for Coldplay, Take That and Rolling Stones.

Life and career

Whitecross was born and raised on Oxford. His parents were political refugees who were imprisoned in Argentina during the country’s Dirty War. He takes a lot of inspiration from the place where he was raised and from his parent's friends, many of whom are South American immigrants who fled tortures and prison. He began his career working for filmmaker Michael Winterbottom and producer Andrew Eaton at Revolution Films as a runner on the film 24 Hour Party People. Within a few months of starting at Revolution Films, they gave him the chance to shooting and editing for them. His directorial debut The Road to Guantanamo started as a conversation with Winterbottom about the Tipton Three whilst on the shoot for the film 9 Songs. They both agreed that the story was fascinating and worth of a film but due to other commitments, Winterbottom was unable to begin research and preparation and suggested that Mat should start the process. Whitecross and Winterbottom would go on to co-direct and co-write the film that featured Riz Ahmed in his debut acting role.

Recognition

Whitecross’ debut The Road to Guantánamo won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival and Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Editor	Notes
2004	9 Songs	No	No	Yes
2006	The Road to Guantánamo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-Directed and Co-Written with Michael Winterbottom. Won the Silver Bear for Best Director and Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature.
	Scott Walker: 30 Century Man	No	No	Yes
2009	Moving to Mars	Yes	Yes	No
	The Shock Doctrine	Yes	No	Yes
2010	Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll	Yes	No	No
2012	Ashes	Yes	No	No
	Spike Island	Yes	No	No
2016	Oasis: Supersonic	Yes	No	No
2018	Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams	Yes	No	No

Television

Year	Film	Director	Executive Producer	Writer	Notes
2007	Nearly Famous	Yes	No	No	Episode 1.4 - Episode 1.3
2008	Spooks: Code 9	Yes	No	No
2011	Britain's Favourite Christmas Songs	Yes	No	No
2014	Fleming	Yes	No	No	Episodes 1.1 to 1.4 Written by John Brownlow and Don MacPherson
2016	BBC North West Tonight	Yes	No	No	Episode 3 October 2016: Evening Bulletin
	Breakfast Television	Yes	No	No	Episode 3 October 2016 and 26 January 2010
	Lorraine	Yes	No	No	Episode dated 3 October
	North West Today	Yes	No	No
	Sky News: Sunrise	Yes	No	No	Episode dated 3 October
2017	Red Nose Day Actually	Yes	No	No	Co-Directed with Richard Curtis
2018	Vic and Bob's Big Night Out	Yes	No	No	Writers: Bob Mortimer and Vic Reeves

Music Videos

Year	Artist	Title	Notes
1999	Coldplay	Bigger Stronger
2008		Violet Hill, Version 2
		Lost!
		Lovers in Japan
		Lost+ Feat. Jay-Z
2010	Take That	The Flood
	Coldplay	Christmas Lights
2011	Take That	Kidz	Co-directed with Eran Creevy
	Coldplay	Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
		Paradise
	The Rolling Stones	No Spare Parts
2012	Coldplay	Charlie Brown
2014		A Sky Full of Stars, Version 1
2015		Adventure of a Lifetime
2017	Take That	Giants
	The Chainsmokers and Coldplay	Something Just Like This, Tokyo Remix

External links

• Kobestarr/sandbox at IMDb