Barnaby Thompson

Barnaby David Waterhouse Thompson is a British film director and producer. He is best known for producing Wayne's World, Spice World, Kevin & Perry Go Large and An Ideal Husband, as well as co-directing the St Trinians films. He founded Fragile Films and ran the iconic Ealing Studios for fourteen years.

Thompson was born in London to parents who both worked in radio. He went to St. Paul's School and graduated from Oxford University with a degree in theology and philosophy.

Upon leaving university, Thompson and two friends travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, armed only with a book called 'How to Make a Film.' The trio spent three months capturing seventeen rolls of film and, upon their return, sold Refugees of Faith, a documentary about the 3.5 million refugees living in Pakistan, to Channel Four.

Thompson founded World’s End Productions and went on to direct documentaries A Sense Of Wonder (Channel Four/RTE), about the Catholic pilgrimages in the West of Ireland, Singing For Your Supper (BBC/RTE), about a busking festival in Clonakilty, Co.Cork, The Thin Blue Line (ITV), about stress in the Police force, and Kiss The Sky, a film about Jimi Hendrix for the South Bank Show, which won a silver medal at the New York Film Festival. He produced a short film, Dear Rosie, directed by Peter Cattaneo and written by Peter Morgan, which was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA.

Thompson moved to New York in 1990 to join Saturday Night Live’s Lorne Michaels, who had offered him a job running his new movie division. The first film they made together, Wayne's World, starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, was number one at the U.S Box Office for 5 weeks. Further number one movies followed: Coneheads, starring Dan Aykroyd; Wayne's World 2, on which he was also second unit director; and Tommy Boy, starring Chris Farley and David Spade.

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