Visiting Fellowship for Sir Alan Parker
Friday 4 March 2011
Visiting Fellowship for Sir Alan Parker
Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning writer, director and producer, Sir Alan Parker, will be awarded a Visiting Fellowship by Southampton Solent University on Wednesday 9 March.
Before receiving his award from Professor Rod Pilling, Dean of the Faculty of Media, Arts and Society, Sir Alan will be interviewed about his films and career in front of an audience of Film and TV students, who will be hoping to pick up some valuable tips and advice about working in the industry.
Beginning his career as a copywriter, Sir Alan joined Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP) ad agency in the 1960s where he worked alongside creatives such as David Puttnam and Charles Saatchi.
He started directing commercials in the early 1970s and within a few years he had won acclaim for his TV directing debut The Evacuees. His first feature film was Bugsy Malone (1976), starring a young Jodie Foster.
He went on to achieve critical acclaim with screen classics such as Midnight Express (1978), Fame (1980), Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), Mississippi Burning (1988) and The Commitments (1991).
His more recent films include Evita (1996), starring Madonna, Angela’s Ashes (1999) and The Life of David Gale (2003), starring Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey.
During his hugely successful career, Sir Alan has won three Best Director BAFTA’s and been nominated for an Oscar twice.
Sir Alan - a founding member of the Director’s Guild of Great Britain – accepted the Chairmanship of the British Film Institute in 1998 and became the first Chairman of the UK Film Council in 1999. In 2002 he was knighted for services to the British film industry.
Paul Marchbank, Head of the School of Media, says: “Solent University is honoured that Sir Alan Parker is accepting this award. We appreciate his recognition of the University as an institution which produces high level graduates for the film and television industries - areas in which he has excelled in for so long.”
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE MEDIA OFFICE ON 023 8031 9040