The company was founded by Lizie Gower in 1985 and is now run by joint Managing Directors / Executive ProducersSimon Cooper and Medb Riordan. In 1997, director Jonathan Glazer's video Virtual Insanity for Jamiroquai earned 10 nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards, winning four including 'Video of the Year'. Academy Films has produced many TV and online advertisements. Glazer's commercial for Guinness, titled 'Surfer' is Academy's most recognisable commercial. The film was produced in 1998/99 for AMV BBDO and written by Walter Campbell and Tom Carty. The film represented Guinness's endline, 'Good things come to those who wait'. The film won two Black Pencils at D&AD. Academy has produced two feature films, Birth in 2004 starring Nicole Kidman and Lauren Bacall, directed by Glazer, and Opal Dream by Peter Cattaneo in 2006, both produced by Lizie Gower. Commercials aside, Academy produces music videos, light and sound installations, digital work and short films. Among the music videos are Jamiroquai's 'Virtual Insanity', 'Bittersweet Symphony' by the Verve, 'Street Spirit ' by Radiohead and Massive Attack's 'Teardrop'. For its music videos, Academy has won MTV awards, CADS, MVAs and D&AD Pencils for work by Glazer, Martin de Thurah, Walter Stern, Corin Hardy, Us and Seb Edwards. In addition, both Stern and Glazer been given Icon Awards by the UKMVAs. The most recent music video output includes the title track from Jon Hopkins latest album 'Singularity' directed by Seb Edwards, and 'Over & Over & Over' made for Jack White by directing duo, Us. In 2012, Academy partnered with production company Reset in the US. Reset was founded by David Fincher and Dave Morrison. Reset represents Academy directors in the US, while Academy represents Reset directors in the UK.
Academy have won commercial awards from around the world, including Lions at the Cannes Advertising Festival, British Arrows and Arrows Craft, APA Collection, Kinsale Advertising Festival, The Creative Circle, One Show, AICP, Epica, Eurobest, Clios, London International and Yellow Pencils plus two Black Pencils at the D&AD Awards. In 2012 Academy were presented with a special Black Pencil as the third most awarded production company over 50 years of the D&AD.
