Barry Spikings

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Barry Spikings (born November 23, 1939 in Boston , Lincolnshire ) is a British film producer .

Live and act

Barry Spikings was born in Boston, England in 1939. His father Maurice was the manager of a farm in Fishtoft near Boston. He took his son to a Boston cinema several times a week from early childhood, which aroused his interest in films at an early age. Barry Spikings first attended the Boston Grammar School. He then began training as a journalist at the Boston Standard . He later worked for Farmers' Weekly magazine. During this time he produced his first short film, which he also directed. In London he then worked for the International Publishing Corporation (now IPC Media), where he made contacts with several Hollywood producers. With Michael Deeley (* 1932) and Stanley Baker , Barry Spikings founded the company Great Western Enterprises, which was active in the entertainment sector and promoted concerts, among other things.

In 1972 Spikings and Deeley bought into the independent production company British Lion Films . Spikings produced his first two full-length feature films for British Lion, the drama The Shame of the Regiment and the successful science fiction film The Man Who Fell From Heaven . As chairman of Shepperton Studios , he increased the profitability of the studios through various measures such as downsizing and working with other companies. This caught the attention of Bernard Delfont , Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EMI Films and Theater Corporation . Delfon wanted to buy British Lion Films and in 1975 the two companies finally merged. Spikings joined the management team at EMI Films and five years later became its CEO. At the same time he was chairman of the British film production company Elstree.

At EMI Films, Spikings reached a high point in his career as a producer. In 1978 he produced the epic anti-war film Who Goes Through Hell , which earned him an Oscar with co-producers Michael Deeley, Michael Cimino and John Peverall . He was also executive producer of the road movie Convoy , which was released in theaters that same year.

After the merger of EMI and Thorn Electrical Industries in 1979, Spikings left England and moved with his wife Dorothy to Malibu Colony, a suburb of Malibu , California . In 1986 he became the co-founder and president of Nelson Holdings. He secured the video rights for the subsidiary Nelson Entertainment of the 1986 company Embassy Pictures and the newly founded film company Castle Rock Entertainment . In the early 1990s he made a few more films such as Bill & Ted's Crazy Journey into the Future .

From him in 2006 University of Lincoln the Honorary Doctorate (Honorary Doctorate of Arts) awarded.

Spinkings is currently a partner in the Californian film production company Spikings Entertainment, with whom he produced the war film Lone Survivor in 2013 .

Awards

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ian Griffiths: A film script for the City In: The Independent , October 20, 1996, accessed January 1, 2014.
  2. ↑ University to honor country-born oscar winner lincoln.ac.uk, September 4, 2006, accessed January 1, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Spikings, Barry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British film producer
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Lincolnshire