About the Filmmakers

 MARTIN McDONAGH (Director/Screenplay)

Martin McDonagh last wrote and directed Six Shooter, which in 2006 earned him the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film, and which starred Brendan Gleeson of In Bruges.

As a playwright, Mr. McDonagh has twice won the Olivier Award – for The Pillowman and The Lieutenant of Inishmore – and been nominated for the Tony Award four times. His other plays include The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lonesome West, A Skull in Connemara, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane. The latter was the first of his plays to be produced, at Galway’s Druid Theatre and London’s Royal Court Theatre.

Born in London to Irish parents, Mr. McDonagh’s works have been translated and staged in 41 countries to date.

GRAHAM BROADBENT and PETE CZERNIN (Producers)

Blueprint Pictures is a London-based film production company established in 2004 by Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin.

Blueprint’s first two productions were both released in 2007. These were Julian Jarrold’s Becoming Jane, starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy, which was cited by Variety as the “independent hit of the summer;” and Gregory Jacobs’ Wind Chill, starring Emily Blunt and executive-produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh. In Bruges is the company’s third production.

Currently in development is Skullduggery Pleasant, based on the first book in Derek Landy’s best-selling children’s horror/fantasy series. Also in development are These Foolish Things, scripted by Deborah Moggach; a film version of Steven Hall’s cult novel The Raw Shark Texts; and a screen adaptation of Danny Wallace’s comic novel Join Me.

Graham Broadbent is one of the U.K.’s most active independent producers, having made 10 films in the last 11 years. Among them is Michael Winterbottom’s Welcome to Sarajevo, which screened In Competition at the 1997 Cannes International Film Festival and was cited by Time Magazine as one of the year’s 10 Best Films. More recently, in addition to the aforementioned Blueprint titles, he has produced Danny Boyle's Millions, which won the 2005 British Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay (Frank Cottrell Boyce), and Pete Hewitt's Thunderpants.

Pete Czernin worked for eight years in Los Angeles, including a period as president of DiNovi Pictures. There, he worked on such movies as Luis Mandoki’s Message in a Bottle, starring Kevin Costner, and Griffin Dunne’s Practical Magic, starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock.

TESSA ROSS (Executive Producer)

Tessa Ross was appointed Head of the U.K.’s Channel 4’s film department, Film4, in 2002. In 2004, her purview was expanded to add that of Channel 4's Head of Drama; as such, she is now Controller, Film and Drama.

Under Ms. Ross's stewardship, Film4 has built an enviable reputation for developing and financing films like Walter Salles’ Academy Award-winning The Motorcycle Diaries (also a Focus Features release); Roger Michell’s Venus, starring Peter O’Toole; Michael Winterbottom’s The Road to Guantánamo; andKevin Macdonald’s Touching the Void and The Last King of Scotland, starring Forest Whitaker in his Academy Award-winning performance.

Film4's releases in 2007 included Shane Meadows' This is England (winner of Best Independent Film at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards); Anand Tucker’s And When Did You Last See Your Father?, starring Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent; Julien Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten; and David Mackenzie's award-winning Hallam Foe. In production or soon-to-be-released are Sarah Gavron's Brick Lane; Asif Kapadia's True North; Lenny Abrahamson's Garage; Duane Hopkins' Better Things; Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely, starring Samantha Morton; Ken Loach’s It’s a Free World; Michael Winterbottom's Genova; Sharon Maguire's Incendiary; Fabrice Du Welz's Donkey Punch; and Mike Leigh’s new film Happy-Go-Lucky.

Previously, as Head of Drama at Channel 4 from 2000 to 2002, Ms. Ross successfully introduced the strategies of risk and innovation. Programs and telefilms she commissioned during and since that time include Shameless; Terry Johnson’s Not Only But Always; Pete Travis’ Omagh; Tom Hooper’s Longford (starring Jim Broadbent and Samantha Morton) and Elizabeth I (which won the top prizes at both the Emmy and Golden Globe Awards); and David Yates’ Sex Traffic, which won eight BAFTA Awards.

She segued to Channel 4 from the BBC's Independent Commissioning Group, where she was Head of Drama. She held that position from 1993 to 2000, building up an entirely new department with an annual output of 120 hours of film and television drama. Among the works that she commissioned and executive-produced at the BBC ICG were Stephen Frears’ Liam and Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot, which was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Prior to joining the ICG, Ms. Ross spent three years as Head of Development for British Screen. There, she was responsible for commissioning and developing screenplays as well as executive-producing a series of short films funded with Channel 4. She has also worked as a script editor for BBC Scotland's television drama department; and as a literary agent at Anthony Sheila Associates.

She has sat on the British Film Institute production board; was an external examiner for the MA in Screenwriting at the Northern Film School; and is now a governor of the National Film and Television School.

JEFF ABBERLEY and JULIA BLACKMAN (Executive Producers)

In August 2002, Jeff Abberley and Julia Blackman established Scion Films. This filmmaking partnership was initiated with the aim of financing and producing British feature films of significance.

In Bruges marks Scion’s fifth collaboration with Focus Features, following David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, which won the top prize [the People’s Choice Award] at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival; Phillip Noyce’s acclaimed Catch a Fire, starring Tim Robbins and Derek Luke; Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice, starring Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley; and Fernando Meirelles’s The Constant Gardener. For the latter film, Rachel Weisz won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award, and Mr. Meirelles was a Golden Globe Award nominee.

Scion’s slate of films in release or due soon also includes Mary McGuckian’s Intervention, starring Jennifer Tilly, Andie MacDowell, and Ian Hart.

The company’s previous projects include Scion’s first collaboration with Blueprint Pictures, Julian Jarrold’s Becoming Jane; Michael Winterbottom’s [Tristram Shandy:] A Cock and Bull Story; Joel Schumacher’s worldwide success The Phantom of the Opera; Antoine de Caunes’s Monsieur N.; Nick Hurran’s It’s a Boy Girl Thing; Mary McGuckian’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Rag Tale; and Richard E. Grant’s Wah-Wah.

Immediately prior to forming Scion, Mr. Abberley and Ms. Blackman together for two-and-one-half years ran the film financing arm of Future Film Group (FFG) which was involved in U.K. film financing, production distribution, and post-production. Mr. Abberley was one of the founding partners of the company and was director of the group with Ms. Blackman, who was also a lawyer for FFG. The company was involved in the financing and production of, among other films, Gurinder Chadha’s sleeper hit Bend It Like Beckham; Fred Schepisi’s all-star Last Orders; Mike Barker’s To Kill a King; Nick Hurran’s Undertaking Betty; and Liliana Cavani’s Ripley’s Game.

Mr. Abberley previously was an advisor on production financing for film and television projects. Ms. Blackman previously was a lawyer who advised on film financing structures and tax issues for clients with film and television projects. Both also recently executive-produced Richard Attenborough’s Closing the Ring.

RONALDO VASCONCELLOS (Line Producer)

Ronaldo Vasconcellos’ most recent project as line producer was Rogue Pictures’ hit action comedy Hot Fuzz, directed by Edgar Wright. He had previously collaborated with the Hot Fuzz team as line producer of their earlier hit Shaun of the Dead, also a Rogue Pictures release.

Mr. Vasconcellos has been working in U.K. film production for over two decades. Among the other features he has line-produced are Agnieszka Holland’s Copying Beethoven; Andrew Niccol’s Lord of War; Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Shane Meadows’ A Room for Romeo Brass, and Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He has also been a producer on telefilms and documentaries; among the latter, Barrie Gavin’s Verdi, A Life in Two Parts, for the BBC via his own Vasconcellos Prods.

He enjoyed a long collaboration with director Ken Russell, beginning as a production assistant on Gothic; becoming associate producer on Salome’s Last Dance; line-producing The Lair of the White Worm and The Rainbow; and producing Whore and The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch, among others.

EIGIL BRYLD (Director of Photography)

Eigil Bryld previously was cinematographer on Julian Jarrold’s Becoming Jane for In Bruges producers Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin. He also shot the same director’s Kinky Boots, starring Golden Globe Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor; and Crime and Punishment (the 2002 telefilm version starring John Simm).

Mr. Bryld graduated from Gwent College of Higher Education, Wales with a higher national diploma in film and video production in 1992. Since then, he has worked as a director of photography on commercials, documentaries, and feature films.

His other feature credits as cinematographer include James Marsh’s The King, starring Gael García Bernal and William Hurt; Hella Joof’s Oh Happy Day; and Scott Burns’ The Half Life of Timofey Berezin.

In 2003, Mr. Bryld won the award for Most Innovating Cinematography at the Madridimagen Festival in Madrid, for his work on Dariusz Steiness’ Charlie Butterfly. In 2001, he received a BAFTA Award for his work on James Marsh’s Wisconsin Death Trip.

MICHAEL CARLIN (Production Designer)

Michael Carlin studied sculpture in Perth and Sydney and practiced as a fine artist before moving to London in the late 1980s to pursue a career in film.

He worked in various capacities on independent films such as Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover; Richard Stanley' Dust Devil; and Iain Softley’s Backbeat; and also designed commercials and music videos for, among other artists, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Elton John, and George Michael.

Mr. Carlin’s first film as production designer was David Evans’ Fever Pitch, adapted by Nick Hornby from his own novel and starring Colin Firth. His subsequent films include Tim Roth's The War Zone; Sandra Goldbacher's Me Without You; Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s The Heart of Me; Dennie Gordon’s What A Girl Wants and New York Minute; and Julian Jarrold’s telefilm Crime and Punishment, for which he won a Royal Television Society Award.

His most recent credits include Kevin Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland, starring Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker; Steve Bendelack’s Mr. Bean’s Holiday, starring Rowan Atkinson; and Saul Dibb’s just-wrapped The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes of In Bruges.

JON GREGORY, A.C.E. (Editor)

Jon Gregory has twice been nominated for a BAFTA Award, for his work on Four Weddings and a Funeral and Alastair Reid’s miniseries Traffik; has twice been nominated for the Australian Film Institute [AFI] Award, for editing John Hillcoat’s The Proposition and Gregor Jordan’s Ned Kelly (also a Focus Features release); was a Genie Award nominee for Sheri Elwood’s Deeply; and won an American Cinema Editors’ [A.C.E.] Eddie Award for his work on David Tucker’s miniseries A Year in Provence.

He has enjoyed multiple collaborations with directors Mike Leigh (on the features Secrets & Lies, Naked, Life is Sweet, and High Hopes as well as the shorts A Sense of History and The Short and Curlies) and Mike Newell (on Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pushing Tin, Donnie Brasco, and An Awfully Big Adventure).   

Mr. Gregory’s notable feature credits as editor also include Hanif Kureishi’s London Kills Me; Richard LaGravenese’s Living Out Loud; and Mark Palansky’s Penelope.

JANY TEMIME (Costume Designer)

Jany Temime has been the costume designer on Alfonso Cuarón’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Mike Newell’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and David Yates’ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The latter two films featured Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes of In Bruges.

Ms. Temime has won a Welsh BAFTA Award for her work on Marc Evans’ House of America; was a British Independent Film Award nominee for Mel Smith’s High Heels and Low Lifes; and was honored with a Golden Calf Award at the 1995 Nederlands Film Festival for Marleen Gorris’ Antonia’s Line, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film.

Her other credits as costume designer include Mike van Diem’s Character, which also won the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film; Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men; Beeban Kidron’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; Agnieszka Holland’s Copying Beethoven; Todd Komarnicki’s Resistance; Werner Herzog’s Invincible; Marleen Gorris’ The Luzhin Defence; Dick Maas’ The Lift; Paul McGuigan’s Gangster No. 1; and Theu Boermans’1,000 Roses,which won the Golden Calf Award for Best Film at the 1994 Nederlands Film Festival.

Ms. Temime’s telefilm credits as costume designer include Theu Boermans’ The Partisans,which brought her a Golden Calf Award at the 1995 Nederlands Film Festival, where the film also was named Best Television Drama.

CARTER BURWELL (Music)

For Joel and Ethan Coen, Carter Burwell has scored the films Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers, and No Country for Old Men. He also composed additional music for the Coens’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which brought him a BAFTA Award nomination; and is beginning work on their newest film, Burn After Reading (also for Focus Features).

Mr. Burwell’s other film scores include Julian Schnabel’s Before Night Falls, which earned him the [Nino] Rota Soundtrack Award at the 2000 Venice International Film Festival; Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich and Adaptation; Bill Condon’s Kinsey and Gods and Monsters, for which he was honored by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; John Lee Hancock’s The Rookie and The Alamo; David O. Russell’s Three Kings; Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine; David Mamet’s The Spanish Prisoner; Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s The Celluloid Closet; and Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.

His work in the theater includes the chamber opera The Celestial Alphabet Event; Ariel Dorfman’s play Widows; Henry Miller’s The 14th Ward; and Mabou Mines’ 1994 production of Mother. Mr. Burwell also wrote music to accompany William Burroughs’ reading of his novel Junky for Penguin Audiobooks.

As a vocalist, accordionist, and synthesist, Mr. Burwell has performed with the Harmonic Choir, Big Joe, and the Litwinski Ensemble in New York City; as well as France, Italy, Germany, and Australia.

Recordings of his work are available on the following record labels; Universal Music, Virgin, Varese Sarabande, Factory, and Les Disques de Crepescule.