Dawn Shadforth
Dawn Shadforth | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 October 1973 Billericay, England, UK |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, music video director, visual artist |
| Years active | 1992–present |
Dawn Shadforth (born 11 October 1973) is a British director of music videos, TV, and film and a visual artist. She was originally a fine artist making work with objects, light, video and sound.
Early life
[edit]Shadforth was born on 11 October 1973 in Billericay, Essex, England the daughter of a pharmacist Richard and ceramicist Sue. She graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in sculpture, and in 2018 was with an honorary doctorate from the same institution.
Career
[edit]Early work
[edit]In 1995, Shadforth directed The Friends Tale, a 10-minute experimental docudrama for Channel 4's Battered Britain series. Around the same time she directed The Seven Year Glitch, an experimental film documenting the Warp Records seven-year anniversary tour, screened at onedotzero in London, United Kingdom and Sónar in Barcelona, Spain.
Music videos
[edit]In 1996, Shadforth directed a music video for the track "Hush" by Kurtis Mantronik. The video was filmed in Brooklyn in New York City and Sheffield. It features cameos by Todd Terry, Róisín Murphy, Jason Buckle from the band Relaxed Muscle and DJ Winston Hazel amongst others. In 1997, Shadforth's music video for Sheffield band All Seeing I's single "Beat Goes On" won for Best Dance Video at the 1998 Muzik Video Awards and for Best New Director and Best Editing at the 1999 CAD Awards.
In 1999, she directed a video for Garbage’s "Special" featuring the band dog fighting in futuristic aircraft in the skies above a barren desert planet. The video was awarded Visionary Video at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards.
In 2001, Shadforth made the Kylie Minogue video "Can't Get You Out of My Head". In 2005 she directed the award-winning promo film for "The Importance of Being Idle", the acclaimed second single from the 2005 Oasis album Don't Believe the Truth. A pastiche of 1960s kitchen sink drama films, it starred Rhys Ifans.
In 2016 she directed videos for the single "Lights" by Hurts, and "Old Skool" by Metronomy, featuring Sharon Horgan, which were nominated for six awards collectively at the UKMVA's. "Lights" by Hurts also won Dawn a special achievement award at the 2015 1:4 Awards.[1][2][3]
Film and television
[edit]In 2017 Shadforth directed The Big Day, a short film written by Kellie Smith produced as part of the BFI I-Write scheme by Michelle Eastwood. The film went on to win the British Independent Film Award (BIFA) for Best British Short Film at the 2018 British Independent Film Awards.
She followed this with acclaimed work on long-form TV drama, beginning with Trust in 2017, for which she was nominated for Breakthrough Talent at the 2018 BAFTA Awards. In 2018 she directed an episode of the adaptation of Phillip Pullman's epic saga His Dark Materials.
In 2019, Shadforth directed the mini-series Adult Material, written by playwright Lucy Kirkwood, a drama examining themes of power and consent following the life of a working mother within the UK adult entertainment industry, for Channel 4 and Netflix. The show starred Hayley Squires and featuring among others Rupert Everett, Sienna Kelly, Kerry Godliman and Joe Dempsie. It garnered rave reviews and was nominated for five BAFTA awards in 2021 including Best Miniseries. Squires won an International Emmy for her performance in the show.[4][5]
Shadforth followed this with Mood, written by Nicôle Lecky for BBC Worldwide and AMC in 2021, shot in East London during the pandemic. The show combines fantasy music sequences with comedy drama and was critically well received.
In 2022 directed all episodes of a Christmas special of I Hate Suzie, the show created by Billie Piper and Lucy Prebble and produced by Badwolf for Sky Atlantic[6][7][8]
Selected director videography
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Dawn Shadforth". AP Watt. 13 December 2005.
- ^ "On Track". Creation Magazine. 13 December 2005. Archived from the original on 1 December 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2005.
- ^ "Dawn Shadforth Director Videography". 13 December 2005. Archived from the original on 6 November 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2005.
- ^ "Adult Material review: Porn and prolapses make for perfect drama". The Guardian. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Adult Material gets down and dirty with the porn industry". BFI.org. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ Ramaswamy, Chitra (20 December 2022). "I Hate Suzie Too review – Amy Winehouse and Caroline Flack haunt this astounding show". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ Singh, Anita (20 December 2022). "I Hate Suzie Too, review: a TV drama so raw and honest you can't look away". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "I Hate Suzie Too is pitch-black, utterly unsentimental and beautiful – review". The Independent. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "Goon - Panic (1998)". BFI. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ "Ashley Hamilton - Wimmin' (CD) at Discogs". Retrieved 20 May 2018.
External links
[edit]- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1516369/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
- Official site at Black Dog Films (US)/RSA
- Dawn Shadforth at IMDb
- Dawn Shadforth at the Internet Music Video Database
- Dawn Shadforth at Clipland
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