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Colin Callender
Sir Colin Nigel Callender CBE (born May 1952) is a British television, film and theater producer. He is the former President of HBO Films and Founder/Chairman of Playground Entertainment, a production company based in New York and London.
Callender played a key role in shaping the British independent production sector during the birth of Channel Four. He was also responsible for HBO’s unprecedented commercial and critical success, setting new benchmarks for quality film and television production.
Callender was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in London, the son of Lydia and Martin Callender. He has a brother, Neeman, and a sister, Claire.
Callender holds a BA with Honours in Philosophy and Politics from the University of East Anglia.
Callender started in the entertainment industry as a member of Britain's National Youth Theatre and began his production career in 1974 at the Royal Court Theatre in London as stage manager working with directors such as Mike Leigh, David Hare and Sam Shepard. Later he joined Granada Television as a graduate trainee where he worked on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) the Granada co-production with NBC starring Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner and Laurence Olivier.
In 1978 Callender co-founded Primetime Television where he quickly established himself as one of the UK's leading television and film producers. At Primetime he pioneered the pre-selling and co-producing of UK drama with foreign broadcasters. When the UK's fourth network Channel Four was created, Primetime was the first independent production company to be commissioned by the new channel with the television adaptation of the RSC's groundbreaking nine-hour stage play The Life And Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982). It was Callender's first credit as a producer and he went on to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in a category that included other nominees The Winds of War (1983) and The Thorn Birds (1983).
Other Primetime productions included D. H. Lawrence's The Captain's Doll (1983) starring Jeremy Irons for the BBC and ARD Germany, Separate Tables (1983) starring Alan Bates and Julie Christie directed by John Schlesinger.
In 1983, Callender founded The Callender Company Ltd. The company produced Mr. Halpern And Mr. Johnson (1983) starring Laurence Olivier and Jackie Gleeson; Peter Greenway's The Belly of an Architect (1987), which was the official British entry to the 1987 Cannes Film Festival; John Schlesinger's Madame Sousatzka (1988) starring Shirley MacLaine; The Bretts a 13-hour mini-series for Masterpiece Theatre, Prisoner of Honour (1991) starring Richard Dreyfuss. Callender was in the forefront of bringing together talent from the UK and the U.S., which has gone on to become one of the hallmarks of his career.
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Colin Callender
Sir Colin Nigel Callender CBE (born May 1952) is a British television, film and theater producer. He is the former President of HBO Films and Founder/Chairman of Playground Entertainment, a production company based in New York and London.
Callender played a key role in shaping the British independent production sector during the birth of Channel Four. He was also responsible for HBO’s unprecedented commercial and critical success, setting new benchmarks for quality film and television production.
Callender was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in London, the son of Lydia and Martin Callender. He has a brother, Neeman, and a sister, Claire.
Callender holds a BA with Honours in Philosophy and Politics from the University of East Anglia.
Callender started in the entertainment industry as a member of Britain's National Youth Theatre and began his production career in 1974 at the Royal Court Theatre in London as stage manager working with directors such as Mike Leigh, David Hare and Sam Shepard. Later he joined Granada Television as a graduate trainee where he worked on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976) the Granada co-production with NBC starring Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner and Laurence Olivier.
In 1978 Callender co-founded Primetime Television where he quickly established himself as one of the UK's leading television and film producers. At Primetime he pioneered the pre-selling and co-producing of UK drama with foreign broadcasters. When the UK's fourth network Channel Four was created, Primetime was the first independent production company to be commissioned by the new channel with the television adaptation of the RSC's groundbreaking nine-hour stage play The Life And Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982). It was Callender's first credit as a producer and he went on to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in a category that included other nominees The Winds of War (1983) and The Thorn Birds (1983).
Other Primetime productions included D. H. Lawrence's The Captain's Doll (1983) starring Jeremy Irons for the BBC and ARD Germany, Separate Tables (1983) starring Alan Bates and Julie Christie directed by John Schlesinger.
In 1983, Callender founded The Callender Company Ltd. The company produced Mr. Halpern And Mr. Johnson (1983) starring Laurence Olivier and Jackie Gleeson; Peter Greenway's The Belly of an Architect (1987), which was the official British entry to the 1987 Cannes Film Festival; John Schlesinger's Madame Sousatzka (1988) starring Shirley MacLaine; The Bretts a 13-hour mini-series for Masterpiece Theatre, Prisoner of Honour (1991) starring Richard Dreyfuss. Callender was in the forefront of bringing together talent from the UK and the U.S., which has gone on to become one of the hallmarks of his career.