Tom Hooper Biography

TOM HOOPER won the Academy Award for directing for “The King’s Speech”. The film was nominated for twelve Oscars, more than any other film that year, and won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. “The King’s Speech” won seven BAFTA awards, including Best Film and Outstanding British Film. Hooper won the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director. “The King’s Speech” won the People's Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival, Best British Independent Film at the British Independent Film Awards, The Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film, the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Film and the European Film People’s Choice Award for Best European Film. The film made $414 million worldwide at the box office.

Tom Hooper directed “The Damned United” starring Michael Sheen from a screenplay by Peter Morgan. The film was nominated for Best British film at the South Bank Show Awards following a premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Tom Hooper had an unprecedented run of success at the Golden Globes with his work for HBO, winning the Golden Globe for best movie or mini-series made for television three years in a row. His starring actors and actresses won Golden Globes for their performances three years running.

Tom Hooper’s “John Adams”, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney and executive produced by Tom Hanks, won four Golden Globes and thirteen Emmys - the most Emmys ever awarded to a programme in one year in US television history. Based on the best selling Pulitzer prize winning biography by David McCullough, Hooper directed all nine hours of the mini-series.

Tom Hooper’s "Longford" written by Peter Morgan won Golden Globes for Jim Broadbent, Samantha Morton and for best TV film.

Hooper won the Emmy award for directing "Elizabeth I”. Starring Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons, the HBO/Channel 4 miniseries won three Golden Globes and nine Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries and best actress for Helen Mirren. Hooper was nominated for a Best Director Emmy for helming the revival of ITV's "Prime Suspect - The Last Witness," starring Helen Mirren. He directed Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the BAFTA-nominated film RED DUST. Hooper's TV work includes "Daniel Deronda," which won the Best Miniseries award at the 2003 Banff TV Festival, "Love in a Cold Climate," for which Alan Bates was Bafta nominated, and the multi award-winning ITV comedy drama "Cold Feet." For two years running Hooper directed the one hour specials that won "Eastenders" the BAFTA for best continuing drama series.

He wrote, directed and produced the short film PAINTED FACES aged 18, which premiered at the London Film Festival, was released theatrically and shown on Channel 4. At Oxford University he directed theatre productions with contemporaries Kate Beckinsale and Emily Mortimer, and directed his first TV commercials.

Hooper’s first film "Runaway Dog" was made aged 13 on a clockwork 16mm Bolex camera using 100 foot of film.