Philip John

Philip John (born in Newport, Wales) is an award winning and multi BAFTA nominated Director and Screenwriter

Philip, played bass with DIY punk band Reptile Ranch. Along with Spike Reptile, Simon Smith and Andrew Tucker, he founded Z-Block Records; a non profit-making collective releasing records by fellow Cardiff based DIY bands, including the Young Marble Giants. Philip also ran a musicians collective at the seminal Grassroots Cafe on Charles Street in Cardiff. Philip dumped the music business following an ill-fated busking-trip to Paris with nine-piece kazoo band performing Motown numbers, and set about equipping himself to work as a film maker.

A graduate of Newport Film School (formerly part of the University of Wales, Newport, now the University of South Wales), Philip won Best Fiction Film at the BP EXPO student film awards for his first short "SURFACE TENSION" and the following year Runner Up Best Screenplay for "DANDO'S BRILLIANTINE" in the FUJI SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS. On leaving film school Philip made a further three short films under various schemes. "SIXTEEN OUNCES" was made as part of an in-house BBC Wales scheme. BBC Wales and Sgrin Cymru collaborated on 'Welsh Rarebits, which produced Philip's controversial and BAFTA NOMINATED short film "SUCKERFISH." Philip's final post graduation short "SISTER LULU" was made under the Channel 4/Sgrin Cymru's Screen Gems. Both "SUCKERFISH" and "SISTER LULU" went on to win international festival prizes, including selection by NEW DIRECTIONS Y2K who sponsored a trip to New York and Los Angeles for the 'best new UK directors'. Philip is now a freelance screenwriter director and MD of his own production company Orange River Ltd, named after the River Ebbw, which, in the 1960s, was one of the most polluted waterways in Europe.

Philip balances his professional career between his cinema development slate and directing network television. His television drama includes Murphy's Law, C4 feature-length comedy Wedding Belles written by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh and primetime series like Being Human, for which he gained a BAFTA nomination as Best Director, Ashes To Ashe and Downton Abbey.

In 2009, Philip, with longtime collaborators actor/producer Jonathan Owen and screenwriter Dean Cavanagh, co-produced SVENGALI, a satire on the Music Biz, released as a series of nine web virals on YouTube and also available as free downloads from iTunes. It stars Jonathan Owen, Roger Evans, Alan Mcgee, Sean Harris and Sally Phillips, Michele Gomez, Ciaran Griffiths, Martin Freeman, Jodie Whittaker, Colin Tiernan, Jordan Long, Paolo Hewitt as well as real life rock legends Boy George, Carl Barat, Maggot and Bonehead. Not to be confused with the film of the same name.

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