BAFTA'S Brits To Watch: Director Richard Laxton Presents BURTON AND TAYLOR

By: Oct. 10, 2013
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), in partnership with British Council, has today announced the second edition of Brits To Watch: The Screenings on October 15 in New York and October 17 in Los Angeles. BAFTA is proud to present Richard Laxton with Burton and Taylor - a BBC Drama production, London, co-produced with BBC America. The presentation builds on the successful launch of the Brits To Watch: The Screenings series, with Clio Barnard's The Selfish Giant in July.

'Brits to Watch: The Screenings' will be hosted by BAFTA in New York and Los Angeles and will consist of up to six events, replicated in both cities, over 12 months. On each occasion, a British actor, director, writer or producer on the cusp of an international breakthrough will present a sample of recent work to an exclusive audience of film industry professionals. BAFTA will also arrange a number of follow-up meetings for the individuals to meet with key industry figures in both cities.

Amanda Berry, CEO of BAFTA, said: "British Television is admired the world over, so we are proud to include quality television drama as part of BAFTA's Brits to Watch: The Screenings. I am thrilled we are showcasing Burton and Taylor and its talented director Richard Laxton."

Richard Laxton, director of Burton and Taylor starring Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West in a screenplay by William Ivory, has directed a number of BAFTA-nominated television drama series including Bodies, Outlaws, and Wing and a Prayer. He also directed the BAFTA-nominated single drama Hancock and Joan for the BBC.

Richard directed the pilot of Big Talk's Free Agents for Channel 4 and also The Job Lot, which is going into a second season for ITV. He is currently in post-production for the fourth series of his hugely popular and critically acclaimed comedy series Him and Her for Big Talk/BBC3, starring Sarah Solemani and Russell Tovey for which he directed the pilot and all episodes.

Richard's feature film debut Life and Lyrics, premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival for Universal and he went on to direct his second feature, Grow Your Own written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, for BBC Films/Pathé. An Englishman in New York, directed by Richard and starring John Hurt, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2009 and also screened at Tribeca Film Festival. In the UK the film screened on television and was nominated for three British Academy Television Awards in 2010. Effie Gray is Richard's most recent feature, written by Emma Thompson and starring Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson, Tom Sturridge, Greg Wise and Julie Walters.

Richard Laxton is represented by Jessica Sykes at Independent Talent Group in the UK and by Adriana Alberghetti and Melissa Myers at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

BAFTA's 'Brits to Watch: The Screenings' is endorsed by 'Friends of Brits to Watch: The Screenings', a high-profile group of film professionals including: actors Damian Lewis (Homeland) Tom Hiddleston (Avengers Assemble, Midnight in Paris), Andrea Riseborough (Shadow Dancer, Brighton Rock), Simon Pegg (Star Trek, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness, Men in Black 3), Sienna Miller (The Girl, Interview) and Rebecca Hall (Parade's End, Vicky Christina Barcelona); director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, The World's End); screenwriter John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo, The Aviator); and writer, director and producer Armando Iannucci (Veep, In The Loop).

The series is produced in partnership with British Council with the support of Framestore, Langham Hospitality Group, Soho House and UK Trade & Investment.

Burton And Taylor

BAFTA-winning actors Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter star as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor - Hollywood's most volatile on-again-off-again lovers who famously played out every high and low of their love affairs, multiple marriages and divorces in the public eye. Burton and Taylor made their last stage appearance together in the critically reviled 1983 revival of Noël Coward's stage play, Private Lives. This is the story of their ill-fated reunion, on and off stage.


Further Information



Videos