George Carey (filmmaker)

Carey was educated at Downside School, a boarding independent school for boys in the village of Stratton-on-the-Fosse in Somerset in South West England, followed by the University of Oxford.[1]

As a director/editor at BBC News, Carey is credited with the creation of the Newsnight current affairs programme in 1980,[2][3] before going on to become Editor of BBC1’s Panorama during the Falklands War.[4] In 1988, he left the BBC to co-found an independent production company with Jenny Barraclough.[5] In 1997, Barraclough Carey Productions was acquired by Mentorn Films, and Carey became Creative Director of the new entity, now known as Mentorn Media.[6] As well as producing a series of prize-winning documentaries (see below), he secured the contract to produce the BBC’s weekly political discussion programme Question Time, and originated Channel 4’s Unreported World strand.[7] In 2005, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Television Society.[8] In 2007, he returned to filmmaking himself, with a five part BBC series on Russia presented by Jonathan Dimbleby,[9] before shooting and directing several individual documentaries with producer Teresa Cherfas. These included Close Encounters in Siberia, A Long Weekend with the Son of God – both for Channel 4 – and Knocking on Heaven’s Door, Hitler, Stalin and Mr Jones, The Spy Who Went into the Cold and Masterspy of Moscow: George Blake,[10] all for BBC Storyville.[11]

He served for four years as a board member for Conciliation Resources, an international non-governmental organization,[12] and for two years as Chairman of Trustees of the House of Illustration.