Robin Bextor
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Robin Bextor (born 11 October 1958) is an English film and television producer and director. He is the father of the dance-pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
After education in Richmond, Surrey, England, and at the University of Reading, he joined Thames Television and then the BBC, where he produced and directed documentaries,including the RTS award winning film on blind parents and entertainment programmes, including That's Life! and a number of music and comedy shows working with the likes of French and Saunders and Chris Langham. During this time he also made pop promotion videos for such bands as Bad Manners, Bow Wow Wow,Adam Ant and Bucks Fizz.
In the early 1990s, he became head of arts at TWI before joining the Man Alive group as a director working with Desmond Wilcox.
He directed Edward on Edward, a documentary in which Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, told about King Edward VIII. He was next involved in a raft of Royal programming, including the creation of the Crown and Country series and the direction of Windsor Restored.
As director of programmes for Ardent, he steered the company to its first profit, but left to pursue several major projects, including films with Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, and Paul McCartney.
He has since made programmes with his daughter, the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor; the French band Air; The Damned; The Stranglers; and UB40. He directed the cult short film Norfolk Coast, featuring Susannah York and Jean Jacques Burnel. He is majority shareholder of the Soho post production business Vivid, which he co-founded with Neil Patience and his production companies have been responsible for programmes on the England Football team, Test cricket and Fulham FC as well as many arts subjects.
He has won several major TV and film awards, including the Columbus award for The British Schindler, shown on ITV in 2005, a BAFTA and the New York Film Festival best documentary award.
New Wave Pictures, a production company founded by Bextor, is responsible for films featuring 10cc, The Feeling, Kiki Dee,Brian Wilson, and many other contemporary artists and musicians. He is the author of several books including Crown and Country and McCartney:Now and Then with former Beatles publicist Tony Barrow.
He has four children and is married to film and TV producer Polly Mockford.
