Ben Wheatley
Ben Wheatley is an English filmmaker and screenwriter. Beginning his career in advertising, Wheatley first gained recognition and acclaim for his commercials and short films, before transitioning into feature films and television programmes. He is best known for his work in the thriller and horror genres, with his films frequently incorporating heavy elements of black comedy and satire. His best-known works include the psychological horror films Kill List and A Field in England, the J. G. Ballard adaptation High-Rise, and the action comedy Free Fire.
Wheatley has received numerous accolades for his work, including an Evening Standard British Film Award, five British Independent Film Award nominations, and numerous awards and honours from film festivals including South by Southwest, Karlovy Vary International, Mar del Plata International, Raindance, Toronto International, and Cannes Film Festival.
Early life
Wheatley was born in Billericay, Essex. He went to Haverstock School in North London and it was here during the sixth form that he met Amy Jump, who is now his wife and co-founder of the "Mr and Mrs Wheatley" blog. The couple have a son and live in Brighton.Career
Initially a short film maker and animator, Wheatley moved his work to the internet. His clip "cunning stunt" which shows his friend Rob Hill jumping over a car has had over 10 million views. The hundred or so short animations and games found on the "Mr and Mrs Wheatley" site were noticed by large media companies and Wheatley's work expanded into mainstream media.In 2006 Wheatley won a "Lion" award at Cannes advertising festival for directing the AMBX viral, with The Viral Factory. In July 2006 he directed live-action sections of the TV series Modern Toss,, which was aired on Channel 4. Wheatley has also written and created clips for BBC Two's Time Trumpet and has appeared in and directed sketches for BBC Three's Comedy Shuffle. Between 2007 and 2009 Wheatley directed series 2 of Modern Toss and Ideal series 5 and 6. In 2008, Wheatley co-created and directed the sketch series The Wrong Door for BBC Three.
In May 2009 he directed the feature film Down Terrace in eight days; it won the Next Wave prize at Fantastic Fest in Austin and Best UK Feature at Raindance in London. In 2010 Wheatley completed his second feature, Kill List for Warp X. The film received critical acclaim and won Michael Smiley a British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. The movie holds a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic consensus describing the film as "an expertly executed slow-burn crime thriller that thrives on tension before morphing into visceral horror."
Wheatley's third film was the black comedy Sightseers, released in the UK in November 2012. It was written by its stars, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, with additional material by Amy Jump, and was chosen for the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Wheatley's fourth film, A Field in England was financed through the Film4 talent and ideas hub, Film4.0. It was followed in 2016 by High Rise, an adaptation of the J.G. Ballard novel of the same name.
He has also directed advertisements for Blink Productions and Moxie.
A sci-fi TV series, Silk Road, written and directed by Wheatley, has been announced. It is said to be "in the vein of the Patrick McGoohan TV series The Prisoner," and will be screened on HBO. In 2014, Wheatley directed the first two episodes of the eighth series of Doctor Who, a show he has been a fan of since childhood.
Wheatley wrote and directed Free Fire starring an ensemble cast including Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer and Sharlto Copley. His film Happy New Year, Colin Burstead was made for the BBC 2018 Christmas schedule but will be available on the Iplayer for the entirety of 2019.
In November 2018, Wheatley was announced as the director of a new adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic romance novel Rebecca, a Working Title Films production to be released on Netflix. The film will star Lily James, Armie Hammer, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Filmography
Film
Executive Producer- The Duke of Burgundy
- ABCs of Death 2
- Aaaaaaaah!
- Tank 432
- The Greasy Strangler
- The Ghoul
Television
Music videos
- "Formaldehyde" by Editors
Recurring collaborators
| Actor | Down Terrace | Kill List | Sightseers | The ABCs of Death | A Field in England | High-Rise | Free Fire | Happy New Year, Colin Burstead | Rebecca | Total |
| Alice Lowe | 2 | |||||||||
| Armie Hammer | 2 | |||||||||
| Eileen Davies | 2 | |||||||||
| Enzo Cilenti | 2 | |||||||||
| Gareth Tunley | 2 | |||||||||
| Gemma Lise Thornton | 2 | |||||||||
| Julia Deakin | 2 | |||||||||
| Kali Peacock | 2 | |||||||||
| Keeley Hawes | 2 | |||||||||
| Kenneth Hadley | 2 | |||||||||
| Mark Kempner | 2 | |||||||||
| Michael Smiley | 5 | |||||||||
| Neil Maskell | 3 | |||||||||
| Peter Ferdinando | 3 | |||||||||
| Reece Shearsmith | 2 | |||||||||
| Richard Glover | 3 | |||||||||
| Robert Hill | 2 | |||||||||
| Robin Hill | 2 | |||||||||
| Sam Riley | 3 | |||||||||
| Sara Dee | 6 | |||||||||
| Simon Smith | 2 | |||||||||
| Steve Oram | 2 | |||||||||
| Tony Way | 2 |
Peter Ferdinando and Tony Way also appeared in the Wheatley directed episode of Doctor Who entitled "Deep Breath", with Michael Smiley appearing in the following Wheatley directed episode "Into the Dalek".
| Crew | Down Terrace | Kill List | Sightseers | A Field in England | High-Rise | Free Fire | Happy New Year, Colin Burstead | Rebecca | Total |
| Amy Jump | 5 | ||||||||
| Andrew Starke | 6 | ||||||||
| Claire Jones | 3 | ||||||||
| Jim Williams | 4 | ||||||||
| Laurie Rose | 8 | ||||||||
| Robin Hill | 3 | ||||||||
| Martin Pavey | 7 |