Simon James Collier

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Simon James Collier is a theatre producer and writer in Europe. Born in Nottingham in 1967, he began his professional life as a picture editor on over 400 books and periodicals, working for organisations such as The Reader's Digest, Longman and Nelson publishers. He then went to work in Hollywood’s film industry, working on TV specials with the likes of Dudley Moore, Jack Lemmon and Bea Arthur.

On his return to England he wrote and published a series of noted children’s books, a number of which were optioned for television, worked for The Walt Disney Company and became an Entertainment Correspondent for the BBC. He co-founded and became CEO of the award-winning Okai Collier Company, and by the end of 2007 had produced over thirty theatrical productions. He adapted two of his novels into well-received musicals for the youth market while also producing celebrated productions of My Matisse, Carnaval, Preacherosity, Elegies, Postcards from God: The Sister Wendy Musical, The Dorchester, and Passion, along with the European Premiere’s of both Purlie (Nominated for four What’s On Stage 2005 Awards, including Best Off West End Production and Best Musical Revival) and Ruthless! (Winner of five Musical Stages 2002 Awards, including Best Musical Production.)

In 2002 Collier was responsible for The Service of Remembrance, Thanksgiving and Hope for World AIDS Day at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. He also conceived, developed and produced Rowland Lee’s Crusaid Requiem (2003) at St. Martin in the Fields. From 2003-2004 he was the General Manager/Executive Director of London’s Bridewell Theatre.

2005 saw Collier present an inventive showcase of new work, the Inspiration Innovation Integration Season at Hackney Empire, London, become Artistic Consultant to Jermyn Street West End Studio Theatre and produce his first documentary - The 411. He also created and was the Project Director of a number of award-nominated social investment projects with organisations such as Southern Housing Foundation, St. Barnabas, The Cedar Centre and The Mudchute, encouraging youth creativity within the community.

In 2008 Simon is slated to produce four new productions at Hackney Empire, including: A Mother Speaks, a contemporary drama about UK gun crime, The Sister Wendy Musical, The Smilin' State, a look at the disintegration of American society and Normal, the story of Peter Kurten, the Vampire of Dusseldorf. In 2009 will collaborate with Sasha C. Damjanovski on both the stage and film productions of Project Snowflake, a sci-fi comedy/drama set in 2059.

Simon has been Chair, Trustee, Consultant or Director of numerous Charities including; The Globe Centre, BILAN, Crusaid, Dil Save, U Turn and Urban Theatre.

[edit] Documentaries

  • 411: The Bottom Line On Amhurst Road
  • The Timber Wharves Gang
  • BBC Asian Network: Spotlight
  • Get The Message Music Video Project

[edit] External links

The Okai Collier Company [1]
SJC Productions [2]

[edit] Trivia

  • Simon was responsible for Postcards From God: The Sister Wendy Musical West End Debut
  • His novel, Mr. Dark, was originally developed for television with animation legends Cosgrove Hall responsible for such shows as Duckula and Danger Mouse
  • Simon has written over fifteen children's books
  • He has been developing his hugely popular Towards The Light Fantastic series as a radio drama.