John Battsek
Biography:
John Battsek has probably produced more feature documentaries than anybody in the UK. His most famous is 'One Day in September' (1999), the Oscar-winning feature length doc about the tragic events of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. (As also featured in Spielberg's new movie, 'Munich'.)
At this year's Sundance Festival, John launched three new feature documentaries, 'My Kid Could Paint That', 'Crossing The Line' and 'In The Shadow of the Moon', securing distribution deals worth more than 4 million dollars.
In 2006, John's film about the New York Cosmos soccer team, 'Once In A Lifetime' was released to ecstatic reviews by Miramax and Pathe, with a book and soundtrack album released alongside.
John has also produced 'Live Forever' (2001), 'Game Of Their Lives' (2002), 'State of Mind' (2003), 'Peace One Day' (2004), Once In A Lifetime (2006) and two movies - 'The Serpent's Kiss' (1996) and 'Lila Says' (2004).
As well as their feature documentaries, Passion Pictures is regarded as one of the leading animation studios in Europe, with 40 workstations at it's Central London base making it one of the biggest computer character studios in Britain (38 of which will no doubt soon be working on The Age of Stupid, if Franny gets her way.)
REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS
"A Passion for the Truth" - Variety
"John Battsek on Once In A Lifetime" - Film Network
"Interview with John Battsek" - Tiscali film and TV
"Live Forever Q &A" - Contact Music
CRUDE DIARY ENTRIES
Franny pitches The Age of Stupid to Mr B
Frightening funding evening
John hates the rushes
VIDEO
The Age of Stupid: EPK interview
PICTURES 
Stuff done:
- "My Kid Could Paint That", 2007, Executive Producer: The story of a precocious 4-year-old artist. Premiered at Sundance 2007. Sold to Sony.
- "Crossing the Line", 2006, Executive Producer: The clandestine life of a US serviceman who defected to North Korea at the height of the Cold War. Premiered at Sundance 2007. Sold to Think Film.
- "Once in a Lifetime- The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos", 2006, Producer: The story of the American Dream colliding with the Global Game. Premiered at Berlin 2006. Sold to Pathe and Miramax. Soundtrack, album and book released.
- "In the Shadow of the Moon", 2006, Executive Producer: Exploring the history of the US space programme. Premiered at Sundance 2007 where it won the World Cinema Audience Award. Sold to Think Film.
- "Black Sun", 2005, Producer: A poetic meditation on an extraordinary life without vision. Premiered at Sundance 2007. Sold to BBC & HBO. Limited theatrical release. BAFTA-nominated.
- "Live Forever", 2003, Producer: Charts the rise and fall of Britpop via the heroes of this 90s music scene. Soundtrack album and book released
- "The Game of Their Lives", 2002, Executive Producer: The story of the 1966 North Korean football team who knocked tournament favorites, Italy, out of the World Cup finals in England.
- "One Day in September", 1999, Producer: The tragic story of the 11 Israeli athletes who died at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Won the 2000 Academy Award for Best Documentary and the Emmy for Best Historical Documentary.
Quotes:
- News of The World: Thrilling. You'd be absolutely crazy to miss one of the best documentaries in years
