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Brendan Foley (filmmaker)

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Brendan Foley is a Northern Irish writer, film producer and director. Raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he has written feature film and TV series scripts for producers and studios in UK, Hollywood, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Poland, South Africa and Thailand. He wrote and produced the 2005 action-thriller Johnny Was, starring Vinnie Jones, Eriq La Salle and Patrick Bergin. The film won awards including Audience Awards and Best Feature Awards from six film festivals.[1]

His most recent work includes Cold Courage, a TV series thriller for Lionsgate, Viaplay and Luminoir shot in Europe in 2019 and The Man Who Died, a series for Elisa-Viaplay.

Career

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He wrote, produced and directed The Riddle in 2006, starring Jones, Sir Derek Jacobi and Vanessa Redgrave. In September 2007, The Riddle became the world's first feature film to be released as a DVD premiere by a national newspaper. The UK's Mail on Sunday bought UK DVD rights and distributed 2.6 million copies, making the film one of the most widely watched independent films in the UK.[citation needed]

During 2006–07, Foley wrote and directed Assault of Darkness, a satirical horror film set in rural Ireland, starring Jones, Jason Barry and Nora Jane Noone. It was released by Lionsgate in the US on DVD in 2009. Foley co-created and was a writer on Shelldon, a children's environmental animated TV series on NBC (2010–12) and Byrdland (five seasons of animated TV series in Asia with GMM Grammy).[citation needed]

Cold Courage, described as a Nordic Noir series involving Finnish characters in present-day London made by Finnish producers Luminoir for Lionsgate and Viaplay, shot in London, Dublin, Belgium and Finland in 2019. Actor John Simm told Variety that he was attracted to the series by the quality of the writing and the fact that it was a pan-European thriller.

Unproduced work

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In 2015, Foley started developing a new TV detective series for BBC TV, Farmoor (makers of The Fall) and Northern Ireland Screen (UK home of Game of Thrones) and, in 2016, he developed Tunnel Kings, a mini-series on World War II POW ‘escape-artists’ for CBC and Dream Street, Canada. Foley completed pilot scripts for SOS, a new eco-thriller series by Finnish producers Luminoir, and Kvenland, set in the Dark Ages. Previously he wrote the pilot for drama Dr Feelgood for Monday TV (Denmark).[1]

In 2019, Foley was attached to produce an adaptation of Freeman Wills Crofts' Inspector French novels.[2][3]

Books

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Foley has written books for US and UK publishers. Under The Wire, a World War II POW escape drama, which he wrote along with its subject, pilot William Ash, was published by Random House, London and St Martin's Press, New York in 2005 and 2006. It became a best-seller, reaching number one on Amazon UK's history and biography charts.[citation needed] In 2018/19 a related TV series was developed as a future miniseries by CBC in Canada and Northern Ireland Screen.

Foley's next book, Archerfield, a novel, published in 2015, covers 16,000 years of history in one square mile of Scotland.[citation needed]

Other

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He is a member of the Writers Guild (GB), a Fellow of the British Association of Communicators in Business, and was made an honorary life member of the National Union of Journalists in June 2006.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Film

Year Title Credited as
Director Writer Producer Notes
2006 Johnny Was No Yes Yes Executive producer
2007 The Riddle Yes Yes Yes
2009 Assault of Darkness Yes Yes Yes

Television

Year Title Credited as
Writer Producer Notes
2009-2010 Shelldon Yes No 78 episodes
2011 Flying with Byrd Yes Yes 5 episodes
2020 Cold Courage Yes Yes Story editor, 8 episodes
2022 The Man Who Died Yes No 6 episodes
2025 Sherlock & Daughter Yes Yes Creator, executive producer
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References

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  1. ^ a b "Luminoir projects". Nordisk. Nordiskfonds. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  2. ^ White, Peter (2 July 2019). "'Inspector French': 'Agatha Raisin' Producer Free@Last TV Adapting Classic Crime Novels With 'Cold Courage' Writer Brendan Foley". Deadline. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  3. ^ Franks, Nico. "Free@Last options detective series". C21 Media. Retrieved 11 May 2024.