Tony Miller (cinematographer)

Tony Miller BSC (born 28 November 1964) is an English director of photography and documentary filmmaker, known for his cinematography and his documentaries including Mustang: the Hidden Kingdom.

Early life

Born in Oxford, the son of a medical professor and concert pianist mother. He studied drama at Bristol University between 1984-87.^[1]

First documentaries

In 1988, aged 23, Miller illegally entered Burma, to direct and film a documentary about human rights violations. The resulting film was one of the first to document the mass killing of students and protestors by the Burmese Junta in 1988 and was broadcast by Channel 4. He followed it up with Dying for Democracy Channel 4, in 1989.^[2]

Throughout the 1990s, Miller filmed over 50 documentaries for BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and the US, these were predominantly anthropological. These included two years spent working closely with the Dalai Lama, directing Mustang: The Hidden Kingdom, a cinema documentary, narrated by Harrison Ford, following an emissary sent by the Dalai Lama to the then closed kingdom of Mustang. A five- and a six-year-old were sent back to be educated with the Dalai Lama. The idea being that they would one day return to Mustang having had a Tibetan education. The film won many international awards including Gold Medal New York Films Festival, Cine Golden Eagle, Banf Festival golden lion and was shown worldwide.^[3]

Mustang 2 is a cinema documentary follow up to the original film. Filmed over the past twenty years, it documents 25 years in the lives of two Tibetan boys and is one of the only documentaries filmed over such a period of time.

In 1991, Miller spent two years filming whales, above and underwater for In the Company of Whales about the life of cetacean expert Roger Payne, and a year in the rainforest of Manu filming the Machiguenga Indians for Spirits of the Rainforest.

Visions of Heaven and Hell, a documentary on the world in 2025, won multiple awards and was nominated for best factual cinematography at the Royal Television Society awards in 1997.

Current work

In the past ten years, Miller has concentrated on filming fiction. Feature films include Infinite Justice, The Honeytrap and I Really Hate My Job. His television miniseries include: The Passion for HBO/BBC, Zen, Public Enemies and Small Island (from the book by Andrea Levy). Miller was nominated for a BAFTA award for cinematography in 2010 for Small Island.

Recently Miller filmed Quirke from the John Banville novel, with Gabriel Byrne, for BBC1.

In 2011, Tony was nominated for a Royal Television Award for best factual cinematography. He is a member of BAFTA, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Miller learnt to fly, after surviving two plane crashes at the hands of other pilots. He holds a commercial pilot license with over 1,500 hours flight time worldwide.

Filmography

Films

• Heartbreak City (2000)
• The Sandman (2000)
• The Honeytrap (2002)
• Killing Time (2003)
• Infinite Justice (2006)
• I Really Hate My Job (2007)

Television

• Bramwell (1998)
• The American (1998)
• The Last Musketeer (2000)
• Gloriana (2000)
• Great Performances Episode "Romeo and Juliet" (2002)
• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (2003)
• ShakespeaRe-Told Episode "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" (2005)
• The Passion (2008)
• In Love with Barbara (2008)
• Survivors (2008) (2008)
• Small Island (2009)
• The Turn of the Screw (2009)
• Public Enemies (2011)
• Zen (2011)

Documentaries

• Mustang the Hidden Kingdom
• Spirits of the Rainforest
• The Meerkats
• Marathon Boy (co-credit)
• Songs of the Sea (co-credit)
• Burma Report
• Dying for Democracy
• The Dingle Dolphin
• Calypso Music
• Gorillas Revisited
• Visions of Heaven and Hell
• Exposure
• Spirit Hunters
• Maasai of the Crater
• HG Wells
• In the Company of Whales
• Marathon Monks of Mount Hei
• Wild Things Elephants
• Cats
• Wagner’s Women
• Schumann
• Baby Its You
• Zoe
• Gloriana
• Naturewatch
• The Gospel of Judas

References