| May Miles Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 January 1959 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Occupation | Filmmaker, film director, screenwriter |
| Spouse | Owen Miles Thomas |
| Awards | Festroia Festival Internacional de Cinema, Portugal 2004, Best Director and Best Cinematography, Solid Air |
| Website | |
| http://www.elementalfilms.co.uk/ | |
May Miles Thomas is a multi award-winning Scottish film director, screenwriter and pioneer of digital cinema. In 2000 she made the UK's first end-to-end digital feature film One Life Stand.[1]
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The ground-breaking full-length feature film, One Life Stand, was shot on miniDV in black and white on a micro-budget. It was written, directed and edited by May Miles Thomas and won acclaim for its script, performances and production.[2]
It won the awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Performance at the BAFTA New Talent Awards and won Best Achievement in Production at the British Independent Film Awards.[3]
May Miles Thomas won the prestigious Scottish Screen Outstanding Achievement Award for the film.[1]
She was also one of the first recipients of a NESTA Fellowship for the contribution the film made to the artistic and technical development of Digital Cinema.[4] In 2003 the H.M. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom honoured her as a Pioneer to the Life of the Nation for her services to British Cinema.[3]
Born in Glasgow and a graduate of Glasgow School of Art where she studied design and photography, May Miles Thomas worked as production designer, writer, editor, director of photography, producer and director. Her career as a filmmaker began in the mid 80s at BBC Television, where she made the transition from production design to directing music and arts documentaries and music videos.[5] She then moved on to concentrate on writing and directing feature films. In 1995, she formed the company Elemental Films with Owen Thomas.[1]
She followed up the success of One Life Stand with a second feature film Solid Air in 2003. Starring Maurice Roëves and Brian McCardie,[6] the film received plaudits for its 'elegant craftsmanship'.[7]
She won the Creative Scotland Award[8] in 2007 to create The Devil's Plantation[9] an interactive website and multi-media project which examines the secret geometry and ancient paths of Glasgow.[10] The project won the Best Interactive category at the BAFTA New Talent Awards in 2010.
Feature films[11]
Shorts & documentaries[11]
Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, 1997
The Beauty of the Common Tool shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination in the Short Live Action Category.
awarded by Nipkow Programm, Berlin, 1997
BAFTA New Talent Awards, 2000
for One Life Stand
Scottish Screen, 2000
for One Life Stand
British Independent Film Awards, 2000
for One Life Stand
Sundance Institute/NHK International Filmmakers Awards, 2001
for the feature screenplay Ringing the True
Festroia Festival Internacional de Cinema, Portugal, 2003
for Solid Air
awarded by National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, 2000–02
May Miles Thomas honoured for her services to British Cinema
by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, 2003
Scottish Arts Council, 2007
BAFTA New Talent Awards, 2010
Life's too short not to make movies.[12]