Graeme Campbell (director)

Graeme Neil Campbell (born November 4, 1954) is an award-winning film director, writer and editor.

Life and career

Campbell was born in Montreal, Quebec to William and Thelma Campbell. His body of work lies mostly in films made for television as well as mini-series', although he has transitioned into episodic television in more recent years as well. He earned a BFA from Montreal's Concordia University.^[1]

He has been writing and directing movies and television for over twenty years. He started off making documentaries, but got his first break with the controversial feature, "Murder One" released by Miramax in 1988. Starring Henry Thomas, the film is an uncompromising portrayal of a horrific crime spree gone wrong.

This led to another controversial true crime story “Deadly Betrayal: The Bruce Curtis Story” for NBC about the poisonous friendship between two teens. It caused Scott Watkins of the New York Times to write “Through the creative and brilliant direction of Graeme Campbell, the viewer is taken on a roller coaster ride through hell. Using flashbacks, tense courtroom drama and frighteningly vivid jail scenes, Campbell and cast tell a riveting story.”

Campbell’s gift with actors is evident in such films as Unforgivable starring John Ritter, “directed with a feeling for domestic Gothic by Graeme Campbell” according to Lynne Heffley of the LA Times. He has worked with some of the best actors in the business such as George C. Scott, Ellen Page, Rachel McAdams, William Shatner, Mercedes Ruehl, and Elisha Cuthbert among others.

Although known in his early career for his handling of dark subject matter, he has directed films in many genres, lately many uplifting ones. He has a passion for music and music stories which has led to Out of Sync a musical comedy for VH-1 and nearly half of the episodes of Instant Star for The N over the last four seasons. “There aren’t many good dramas for teenagers. No, The O.C. doesn’t count, people. Instant Star does.” Palm Beach Post. He won a Gemini Award for the episode "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and has been nominated for two others as well as two Director's Guild of Canada Awards. Campbell has also written for and acted in the show. He credits his teenage children for keeping his worldview young; in keeping with this vein, he directed the two part Degrassi: The Next Generation special starring Kevin Smith.

His four hour mini series Everest recently aired on CBC, and his latest film "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving" premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October.

Graeme Campbell lives in Toronto with his wife Gina, and two teenage children, Max and Emilie.

Filmography^[1]

References