Phil Hawkins

Phil Hawkins (born December 26, 1984) is a commercial, television and independent film director from Manchester, United Kingdom. His work in feature film includes 'Philip Pullman's The Butterfly Tattoo (2008) and Prancer: A Christmas Tale (2022). He is also known for appearing in the Fox/DreamWorks reality television show On The Lot produced by Steven Spielberg.[1]

Not to be confused with Phill Hawkins.
Phil Hawkins
Born (1984-12-26) December 26, 1984
Manchester, United Kingdom

Career

Hawkins directed his first short film when he was 13, and admits that it wasn't very good. He had no formal education in film and is entirely self-taught. He learned the film-making trade by taking part in a lot of 48-hour film challenges.[2] When he was 17 he gained a place on the BBC's Mentor Project. With a £1000 fund he made a short called The Dotted Line which got him noticed by a TV advertising production company.

His first feature, The Women Of Troy, won Best Director at the New York Independent Film Festival in 2006.

In late 2006, Hawkins was signed by the Dutch production company Dynamic Entertainment to direct the film version of Philip Pullman's novel The Butterfly Tattoo,[3] The independent film won three awards at international festivals, including Best Director at the New York Independent Film Festival in 2008 - the second time Hawkins has won this award.

In mid-2010, Hawkins shot the film Being Sold in just two days. The film went won Best Film and Best Actor for its lead Christopher Dane at the London Independent Film Festival.[4]

In 2013 Hawkins directed the horror film The Last Showing, starring Robert Englund. The film had a budget of £2m and was shot in the north west of England. It had its world premier in 2014 at Frightfest before being released on DVD and VOD.[5] Englund commented: "You know, it’s so great to work for someone as gifted as Phil Hawkins. After a day and a half of working with him. I was like, “Where’s he been all my life?”"[6]

2022 marked Hawkins’ first studio feature film.[7] Prancer: A Christmas Tale was made for Universal, produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis and stars James Cromwell.

Star Wars: Origins

In 2019, Phil wrote and directed the epic fan film Star Wars: Origins to critical acclaim. Jacob Stolworthy of The Independent called it, "a must-watch for any fan."[8] The film took inspiration from the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises,[9][10] with online publication Nerdist describing it as a "mashup."[11]

On The Lot

In 2007, Hawkins was the only filmmaker from the UK selected by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett to appear on the Fox/DreamWorks reality television show On The Lot for filmmakers.[12]

TV commercials

In addition to his film work, Hawkins has directed many TV commercials for a wide range of advertising agencies and production companies worldwide.[13] He’s worked with high profile talent including Christopher Walken.[14]

Filmography
Year Film Credit
2008 Philip Pullman's The Butterfly Tattoo (film) Director
2011 Being Sold Director
2014 The Last Showing Director
2015 The Four Warriors Director
2019 Say Grace Director
2019 Star Wars: Origins Director
2022 Prancer: A Christmas Tale Director

Awards
  • Best Feature Director at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival 2006 for The Woman of Troy[15]
  • Best Feature Director at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival 2008 for The Butterfly Tattoo[16]

References
  1. "Phil Hawkins".
  2. "Interview with Phil Hawkins by Fast Cheap Movie Thoughts". Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  3. PR Newswire report on the making of the Butterfly Tattoo
  4. Philm Company profile of Being Sold
  5. Yahoo News Interview with Phil Hawkins
  6. Den of Geek Interview with Robert Englund
  7. Interview with Hawkins on The Filmmakers Podcast
  8. Independent article about Star Wars origins
  9. LaBonte, Rachel (December 17, 2019). "Star Wars Fan Film Connects Galaxy Far, Far Away To Modern Earth". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  10. Anderton, Ethan (December 13, 2019). "VOTD: 'Star Wars: Origins' Finds Ancient Artifacts From A Galaxy Actually Not So Far, Far Away". SlashFilm. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  11. Diaz, Eric (November 5, 2020). "STAR WARS MEETS INDIANA JONES IN EPIC FAN FILM". Nerdist. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  12. Slashfilm article about On The Lot
  13. Commercials work directed by Hawkins on agent’s website
  14. Making of Jeffsy commercial starring Christopher Walken
  15. NY Film Awards winners 2006 Archived 2014-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  16. NY Film Awards winners 2008 Archived 2013-08-15 at archive.today
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