Nigel Sinclair

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Nigel Sinclair
Born31 March 1948
Corbridge, Northumberland, England
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
OccupationFilm producer
SpousePatricia Sinclair

Nigel Sinclair, CBE (born 31 March 1948) is a Scottish producer of Hollywood films.[1]

Early life

Sinclair was born in Corbridge, Northumberland, England. His family moved to Galloway, in southwest Scotland, a few years later where he grew up. He went to boarding school at Monkton Combe School in England. In 1966, he attended Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating in 1969. After a short stint working as a researcher for the Department of Criminology, University of Cambridge, he qualified as a lawyer with the London firm then known as Denton, Hall and Burgin. He practiced law in London and subsequently in the Middle East until 1980. In 1979/1980, Sinclair attended Columbia University School of Law in New York and obtained a LAM in International Legal Studies, and qualified for the State Bar of California. In 1989, Sinclair founded his own firm, Sinclair Tennenbaum & Co., in Los Angeles. He practiced entertainment law until he retired from that practice in 1996 to found Intermedia with Guy East.

Film career

In 2014, Sinclair founded documentary, television and film company White Horse Pictures alongside East with partners Nicholas Ferrall, Cassidy Hartmann and Jeanne Elfant Festa.[2] With White Horse Pictures, Sinclair has produced a series acclaimed documentaries, including Ron Howard's The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years and Pavarotti, The Apollo (exec) directed by Roger Ross Williams, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart directed by Frank Marshall, and Amy Poehler's documentary directorial debut Lucy and Desi.

Prior to launching White Horse Pictures, Sinclair was the CEO and co-chairman of Exclusive Media, a global independent film company that financed, produced and globally distributed feature films and documentaries. With Exclusive, Sinclair produced Parkland, starring Zac Efron, Billy Bob Thornton and Paul Giamatti; Snitch, starring Dwayne Johnson; and End of Watch, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera.

In addition, Sinclair was executive producer on Ron Howard's epic action-thriller Rush, set in the spectacular world of Formula 1 auto racing. Along with Michael Shevloff and Paul Crowder, Sinclair also produced the documentary 1, the authorized history of Formula 1.

At White Horse, Sinclair's latest productions include a feature adaptation of Conn Iggulden's Emperor series about Julius Caesar's early years and a biopic about The Who drummer Keith Moon. The latter of the two projects will be produced with Exclusive.

Previously, Sinclair served as executive producer on George Clooney's The Ides of March, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the Academy Award-winning documentary feature Undefeated, produced by Exclusive Media's documentary production arm Spitfire Pictures. Sinclair also served as an executive producer on the Hammer Films production and box-office hit The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Sinclair's other film credits include Peter Weir's The Way Back, starring Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris; Sliding Doors, starring Gwyneth Paltrow; Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Alan Parker's The Life of David Gale, starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet.

Prior to co-founding Exclusive Media, Sinclair and Guy East (who is also co-chairman of White Horse Pictures), founded Intermedia Films in 1996, which grew to become one of the world's leading independent film companies. After their departure in 2002, Sinclair and East then founded Spitfire Pictures, which was merged with Hammer to form Exclusive Media in 2008.

Under the Spitfire Pictures label Sinclair produced (along with Olivia Harrison) the award-winning George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Martin Scorsese's biographical film about the life of George Harrison, which won an Emmy. He also produced the Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home, also directed by Scorsese, which won an Emmy, two Grammy Awards, a Peabody Award and a DuPont.

In 2012, Sinclair won his second Grammy for Foo Fighters: Back and Forth and in 2007 he was nominated for a Grammy for Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who. Sinclair won his first Grammy in 2006 for No Direction Home.

His company Spitfire Pictures had been involved with Tongal since 2013, working with the company to crowd-source a documentary. According to the Los Angeles Times, Tongal users will submit pitch ideas, with Spitfire selecting the top five, and awarding one the winning idea before distributing the final project.[3]

Personal life

In 1981, Sinclair married Pat Craig and together they have one child in addition to Pat's two children. Sinclair now has four grandchildren.

Sinclair is active in a number of charities including the Santa Monica-based charity k9 Connection. Sinclair is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and BAFTA, having served on the board of directors for BAFTA LA many times. Sinclair's principal hobby is as an amateur musician playing guitar and collecting guitars.

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year Film Credit
1988 The Blue Iguana Executive producer
1989 Kill Me Again Executive producer
Fear, Anxiety & Depression
1990 Daddy's Dyin': Who's Got the Will? Executive producer
A-Ge-Man: Tales of a Golden Geisha Executive producer
1992 Minbo Executive producer
1993 Daibyonin Co-executive producer
1998 Sliding Doors Executive producer
Hilary and Jackie Executive producer
Clay Pigeons Executive producer
Playing by Heart Executive producer
1999 Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? Executive producer
2000 Love's Labour's Lost Executive producer
Where the Money Is Executive producer
Up at the Villa Co-executive producer
Company Man Co-executive producer
2001 Enigma Executive producer
The Wedding Planner Executive producer
Blow Dry Executive producer
2002 K-19: The Widowmaker Executive producer
The Quiet American Executive producer
Dark Blue Executive producer
2003 National Security Executive producer
Masked and Anonymous
The Life of David Gale Executive producer
Basic Executive producer
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Executive producer
2004 Mindhunters Executive producer
Suspect Zero Executive producer
2009 Possession
2010 The Way Back
Let Me In Executive producer
2011 The Resident Executive producer
The Ides of March Executive producer
2012 The Woman in Black Executive producer
End of Watch
So Undercover
2013 Snitch
Parkland
Rush Executive producer
Begin Again Executive producer
2014 The Quiet Ones Executive producer
A Walk Among the Tombstones Executive producer
The Woman in Black: Angel of Death Executive producer
2015 Dark Places Executive producer
2023 Haunting of the Queen Mary Producer
Documentary
Year Film Credit
2005 No Direction Home
2007 Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who
2008 The Who at Kilburn: 1977
2010 The Last Play at Shea
2011 Foo Fighters: Back and Forth
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
2013 1
2015 A Faster Horse
2016 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
2019 The Apollo Executive Producer
Pavarotti
2020 The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
2022 Lucy and Desi
Miscellaneous crew
Year Film Role
1996 Mojave Moon Business affairs
Thanks
Year Film Role
1990 Wild at Heart Special thanks
Hamlet
1991 K2 With special thanks to
1992 1492: Conquest of Paradise The producers wish to express their special thanks to
1995 Braveheart The producers wish to thank
1998 The Land Girls Thanks

Television

Year Title Credit Notes
2005 American Masters Executive producer Documentary
2014 From Dusk till Dawn: The Series

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2022 Peabody Awards Documentary Lucy and Desi Nominated [4]

References

  1. ^ The New York Times
  2. ^ Vlessing, Etan (13 December 2022). "Nigel Sinclair Gets New Role as White Horse Pictures Reorganizes". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. ^ Raughnder, Ryan (22 September 2013). "Spitfire Pictures partners with Tongal to crowd-source documentary". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ^ "83rd Peabody Award Nominees".

External links