Lenny Crooks has been appointed Head of the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund from 18 September, it was announced today.
Crooks, currently director of the Glasgow Film Office, the film industry development agency for Glasgow and the west of Scotland, replaces Paul Trijbits whose tenure in running the New Cinema Fund ends this September. Crooks will run the fund for an initial two years, with an option to extend for a further two years.
Financed through the UK Film Council’s share of Lottery funding, the New Cinema Fund is one of the most commercially and culturally successful public funds operating in Europe, with a mission to encourage distinctive voices in British cinema.
As director of the Glasgow Film Office, Crooks has supported the city’s transformation into an internationally recognised creative hub and has also managed a successful public/private investment fund. With 20 years of experience in the film industry, he has been involved in supporting some of the UK’s most exciting filmmakers in getting their films made and distributed internationally including Gaby Dellal’s On a Clear Day, Peter Mullan’s The Magdalene Sisters, Ken Loach’s My Name is Joe, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, and David Mackenzie’s Young Adam.
Announcing Crooks’ appointment, John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council says: “Lenny has an exceptional track-record in finding the most exciting new film talent at the early stage of their careers. He has also been highly successful in helping producers build alliances with European partners.”
Commenting on his appointment Lenny Crooks says, “I am enormously excited about taking on this challenge. Paul, as the outgoing head of the fund, has established an incredible legacy in supporting such a fantastic range of films and nurturing the talent involved. I am looking forward to doing what I can to bring through creatively exciting and challenging filmmakers who can secure an even brighter future for new British cinema.”
Crooks has a strong reputation for supporting filmmakers and his instinct has taken him from backing Andrew and Kevin Macdonald and Mike Hodges whose Shallow Grave became a spectacular international film debut for director Danny Boyle, to Gilles Mackinnon with Small Faces, writer Paul Laverty with Ken Loach’s Carla’s Song, Peter Mullan with Orphans, My Name is Joe and The Magdalene Sisters, and Saul Metzstein and Jack Lothian with Late Night Shopping.
He also supported the co-production partnership between Gillian Berrie’s Glasgow-based Sigma Films and Peter Aalbeck Jensen’s and Lars Von Trier’s Danish production house, Zentropa Films and bankrolled the Advance Party slate which led to the production of Andrea Arnold’s Red Road, winner of the Prix du Jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Paul Laverty who previously won best screenplay at Cannes for Sweet Sixteen also wrote the screenplay for Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winning film, The Wind that Shakes the Barley.
