Table of Contents

Foreword by Andy Leyshon, Chief Executive, Film Distributors Association
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Michael Balcon
2. Richard Attenborough
3. David Puttnam
4. Betty Box
5. John Maxwell
6. Muriel Box
7. Efe Cakarel
8. Mickey Pugh
9. Isaac Julien
10. Adrienne Fancey
11. Poppa Day
12. Alma Reville
13. Val Guest
14. Liz Wrenn
15. Karel Reisz
16. Constance Smith
17. Anthony MInghella
18. Hanif Kureishi
19. Julian Fellowes
20. Eve Gabereau
21. Andy Whittaker
22. Maxine Leonard
23. Amma Asante
24. Julian Richards
25. Tim Webber
Conclusion
Index

Promotional Information

An original history of British film, told through the story of 25 mavericks, visionaries and outsiders who shaped the industry.

About the Author

Geoffrey Macnab writes regularly on film for The Independent. He is also a senior correspondent at Screen International. His books include Dennis Davidson: A Life in Cinema (2020), Stairways to Heaven: Rebuilding the British Film Industry (I.B. Tauris, 2018), Ingmar Bergman: The Life and Films of the Last Great European Director (I.B. Tauris 2009), Delivering Dreams: A Century of British Film Distribution (I.B. Tauris 2015), The Making of Taxi Driver, Searching for Stars: Stardom and Screen Acting in British Cinema (I.B. Tauris 2000), Screen Epiphanies (BFI Publishing 2009) and J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry(1993). He lives in London, UK.

Reviews

This collection succeeds admirably in providing profiles of many individuals who are ‘generally overlooked in conventional histories of British cinema’, thereby making a very useful contribution to that history, illuminating some of its obscurities but also its complexity and variety.
*Journal of British Cinema and Television*

I grew up devouring books about the business and the people who work in it. They opened my eyes to so many moving parts of the industry and I have always found the career journeys of filmmakers and studio pioneers, VFX wizards, props masters, distributors and publicists as extraordinary as the films they have brought to the big screen. The British Film Industry in 25 Careers is a must-read for anyone planning to work in this industry, revealing the risk-taking decisions, business and creative instincts, entrepreneurial spirit, and passion for film of so many of my heroes and peers. The UK film industry has much to offer the next generation coming into the business and as documentary specialist distributor Andy Whittaker aptly quotes Mancunian broadcaster and music pioneer Tony Wilson in the book, 'We are on this planet for 50 to 100 years - so just do things. Don't let barriers get in your way'.
*Ben Roberts, BFI Chief Executive*

Geoffrey Macnab’s book is enlightening about many figures we don’t know about who are working in or have worked in cinema. I found the chapter about Betty Box particularly enriching, a trailblazing woman who got equal pay with men from the Rank Organisation in 1954. Read and be amazed!
*Jeremy Thomas, film producer, founder and chairman of Recorded Picture Company*