Nick Read Filmmaker

NICK READ

Nick Read is a BAFTA & EMMY nominated filmmaker with an extensive background in documentaries.

An award-winning producer, director and cinematographer, he works freelance
and develops projects through his independent production company Red Zed Films.

His recent work - mainly in feature documentaries - combines storytelling craft
with a powerful emotional appeal and distinctive visual style.

MY NAME IS HAPPY
2023-4 Theatrical release/ C4/ Arte

MUTLU KAYA OUTSIDE COURT FRAMEGRAB_edite

BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES

2020 Netflix

AGAINST THE TIDES
2019-20 Theatrical release/ Sky Atlantic

Against-the-Tides_Beth-CU-300dpi_Graded_

BOLSHOI BABYLON

2018 Theatrical release/HBO/BBC Storyville

KILLED FOR A HORN

2018 Amazon/ Fusion

THE CONDEMNED

2016 Festival release/ BBC Storyville

FILMS

Selected filmography

SAYING GOODBYE

SLUMDOG CHILDREN OF MUMBAI

WALKING WOUNDED

LETTING GO

BRITAIN'S MOST WANTED

RETURN TO TIANANMEN

PRISONERS OF KATRINA

BRITAIN'S STREET KIDS

INSIDE ISRAEL'S JAILS

THE SECOND WIFE

THE RETURN OF THE LOST BOYS

COMMERCIAL

Commercial/ short form work

Nick works with commercials producers, ad agencies and brand managers

bringing a documentary sensibility & craft to support their campaigns. Clients include:

Vodaphone, NHS, Vestas, AKQA, Ogilvy. He also makes films for select charities & NGO's:

Rory Peck Trust, The Samaritans, Railway Children, Hunterian Museum & HDdennomore.

Drawing on over 3 decades in the documentary industry, Nick works to support

emerging filmmakers in various capacities:

Mentor to emerging filmmakers & students at National Film & Television School, Film London, Screen Skills and the Watersprite Student Film Festival and many others in a freelance capacity.

As a speaker/ educator Nick has led workshops, lectures and masterclasses at BBC; Sheffield International Documentary Festival; Imperial War Museum: NFTS; Roehampton, Brighton & Cambridge Universities. Nick has also spoken extensively about documentary cinematography at trade fairs & festivals. See here for an interview about his creative approach & use of Canon EOS cameras.

Executive/ consultant producer - Nick supports other filmmakers in an editorial capacity, helping to shape the narrative structure, as well as creating funding and release strategies. Occasionally troubleshooting when appropriate. He is on the advisory committee of the Rory Peck Trust, and am a full member of BAFTA, RTS, Screen Craft Rights and Directors UK.

Consultancy

CONSULTANCY

BIO

I'm based in London with my wife Tina, a psychotherapist. My 2 sons are in the creative industries: Miles is a graphic designer, and my eldest, Tom, a documentary cameraman. Kaspar Hauser the Schnauzer keeps us all young.

I entered the film industry working on student productions at the National Film School. My passion for cinematography & film craft was inspired by working on 16mm as assistant to emerging DoP’s (Oliver Stapleton, Barry Ackroyd, Gabriel Beristain etc). I went on to study cinematography under the late, great Vilmos Zsigmond at the Maine Film & Television School.

Through the 1980’s I worked as a freelance news & documentary cameraman, mainly for the U.S. networks and in the conflict zones of the time: Iran/ Iraq war, Gaza, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Northern Ireland etc. In 1987 I was nominated for Emmy’s for best cinematography for films about human rights in Chile & the Eritrean Civil War.

In 1989 I covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and, weeks later, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. There I uncovered a story that set me on the path to directing and my first commission: Changing the Guard (C4 1990) about the Czech secret police.

Since then I've produced, directed and often shot over 60 full-length documentaries in more than 70 countries with the most highly regarded producers & broadcasters in the UK & US. I've won over 15 awards and been nominated for 5 x BAFTAs, 3 x EMMYS and a Grierson Award. The films I've helped to make have been sold and screened around the world on television, cinema screens and at festivals.

Along the way I've been lucky enough to work with a few of the great & the good (Hunter S Thompson, Tina Turner, Edward Said, Nelson Mandela, George Clooney, Ai Wei Wei etc), and with a diverse cast of prison governors, captains of industry, sports stars, dissidents, dictators, streetkids & serial killers.

What's crucial to me is to establish an empathy with the people in front of camera, and to give a voice to those denied one. I'm a collaborator by nature, and bring a creative vision informed by humour, humility & curiosity.