| David Nicholas Wilkinson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 December 1955 Leeds, Yorkshire |
| Occupation | Chairman of Guerilla Films Limited and Guerilla Books, Film producer |
David Nicholas Wilkinson (born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England in December 1955) is the founder and Chairman of Guerilla Films Limited, a production and distribution company based in London.[1] He is also Chairman of Guerilla Books Limited.
The Nicholas is a middle name and he started to use it when he stopped acting to avoid confusion with John Cleese's agent David Wilkinson.
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Wilkinson grew up in Horsforth, now part of Leeds. At age 14 he started his career as an actor. He was discovered from over 500 boys by Binkie Beaumont in 1970, for the title role in H M Tennant's West End revival production of The Winslow Boy.
He continued acting in theatre plays and television returning to school for short periods. On leaving school he joined Harrogate Rep for a year as an acting assistant stage manager doing everything from sweeping the stage, making the tea and playing all manner of small roles including at 17 a man of 85.
He moved to London in 1974 and played many leading roles in the theatre, television and film productions including the lead in Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration - Ian McKewan's screen debut, directed by Mike Newell; the juvenile lead in Arthur Hopcraft's TV series The Nearly Man directed by John Irvin and playing Stuart Sutcliffe in Richard Marquand's film Birth of the Beatles.
He won a best actor theatre award for playing Alan Strang in Peter Shaffer's Equus.
In 1982 he pioneered, with Keith Williams, the former BBC Head of Drama, the "Reverse Drama Co-Production" with the BBC. This was a new break-through for independent producers working with the BBC
Wilkinson has also set up a small UK cinema/video/DVD/ TV distribution division for some of his own and other producers' films. Since 1998, he has specialised in releasing British & Irish films especially the ones that others consider difficult. Guerilla currently distributes over 60 feature films. In 1996 an American magazine thought Guerilla Films first UK distributor/producer to use the Internet to promote and sell films.
Films include- Adam & Paul',' Taking Sides, Two Men Went To War, Puckoon, Urban Ghost Story, Bob's Weekend, Fakers, Nine Dead Gay Guys, Ruby Blue, The Calling, Special People, Small Time Obsession, Small Engine Repair, Wild Country, Gamerz, Out of Bounds, " The Good Father", Soursweet", "Laughterhouse", " Paper Mask", " We Think The World Of You", " Red Monarch" etc. .
From 1989–1998, Wilkinson had the UK distribution rights to over fifty films from one of France's top independent production company's Les Films du Losange. These films directed by some of France's most eminent filmmakers – Éric Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Roger Planchon etc. However he wound these down to concentrate on British and Irish films.
Wilkinson moved into publishing in 2006. Guerilla Books first publication was Ronald Harwood's Adaptations, which is the first book about screenwriting by someone who has won an Oscar for screenwriting. Other books included Made in Yorkshire, The Rise And Rise of the Independents - a TV History, Charles Dickens's England.
Wilkinson has acted as a consultant to film financiers, producers and others on over 300 feature films in development. A reasonable percentage of these have been produced. Wilkinson has also written numerous articles on the film industry for a variety of books and trade magazines.
He has also appeared BBC Radio 4's Today Programme & Front Row, BBC 5 Live Weekend News and other radio programmes as an expert on aspects of the film industry. He devised, and organises Meet The Experts for new filmmakers, an annual event at the Edinburgh Film Festival. He also regularly appears on film panels for various organisations and educational establishments, over 60 to date and has been a judge at many film festivals around the world
Wilkinson has also produced numerous pop videos