Mike Newell

A University of Cambridge graduate, Newell began directing at age 22, working on numerous plays for TV for both the BBC and ITV. His television feature The Man in the Iron Mask (1977), which was ultimately released as a feature film, served as the springboard to international success. 

He subsequently directed Dance with a Stranger (1984) which won Cannes’ Prix de la Jeunesse, The Good Father (1985) which won the Prix Italia, Enchanted April (1991) which won two Golden Globes and Into the West (1992). In 1994 he made FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, the record-breaking romantic comedy. It went onto to win four BAFTAs including Best Film and Best Director, and it also garnered two Academy Award nominations including Best Picture.

Returning to America, Newell made the mafia thriller Donnie Brasco (1997) starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, followed by such films as Pushing Tin (1999) starring Cate Blanchett, John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie, and Mona Lisa Smile (2003) with Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Newell served as Executive Producer on several projects, including Traffic (2000) and High Fidelity (2000). As the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Newell became the first British Director to helm an installment of the hugely popular franchise.  Newell’s recent feature credits include Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Great Expectations (2012), and most recently The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) for Studio Canal starring Lily James and Michiel Huisman.