Michael Keillor

Writer/Director

Add to shortlist

Film, TV & Theatre

Agent: Michelle Archer

Michelle Archer

Assistant: Grace Baxter

gbaxter@unitedagents.co.uk

Film, TV & Theatre

Download CV

Michael Keillor grew up in rural Scotland, where the local video store sparked dreams of moviemaking. After law school, travel and a few years on set, Michael finally picked up a camera and started making films of his own. Shorts, ads, pop promos and sketches, Michael shot everything and anything before a Channel 4 commission opened the door to directing projects with Andrew Davies, Peter Moffat, Jed Mercurio, Lucy Kirkwood and most recently David Hare.

Driven by great writing and nail-biting action, Michael kicked off the multi award winning third season of anti-corruption thriller LINE OF DUTY with Danny Mays, delivering a ratings smash for BBC2 and garnering a Scottish Bafta best director nomination.

“It’s stomach-clenchingly tense, visceral, shocking – television best watched in body armour” - Sam Wollaston - The Guardian

Michael then launched JK Rowling’s much-loved detective Cormoran Strike on BBC1 with Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger in STRIKE: THE CUCKOO’S CALLING.

"Vintage and modern, highly watchable and brilliantly cast, Strike is a sure hit" Matt Baylis, The Express

"Great cast, perky dialogue, and considering the creator, a not entirely unexpected degree of wit and imagination" - Barbara Ellen - The Guardian

Revisiting the history of the Tiananmen square massacre drew Michael to CHIMERICA, a four-part adaptation of Lucy Kirkwood's Olivier award-winning play for Playground Entertainment/Channel 4, starring Alessandro Nivola, Sophie Okenedo, Cherry Jones and Terry Chen.

“A strikingly intelligent drama, capturing big ideas without sacrificing story or character, and making the personal political and back again – particularly in the scenes set in China.” - Lucy Mangan - The Guardian

Most recently Michael has delved into domestic politics with ROADKILL, a four-part political drama charting the rise of a corrupt politician, written by David Hare and starring Hugh Laurie and Helen McCrory, due to air on both BBC1 in the UK and PBS in the States in Autumn 2020.

Michael is represented in the US by Phil D'Amecourt and Ryan Draizin at WME, and Attorney Michael Schenkman.

http://www.michaelkeillor.com/

Television

Production	Company	Notes
ROADKILL 2020	The Forge/BBC 1	Director and Executive Producer 4-part Drama. Writer: David Hare. Producer: Andy Litvin Exec Producers: Mark Pybus, Lucy Richer. Starring: Hugh Laurie and Helen McCrory Forceful and charismatic politician Peter Laurence is shamelessly untroubled by guilt or remorse as his public and private life seems to fall apart. As the personal revelations spiral with enemies ever closer to home, Peter expertly walks a high wire between glory and catastrophe, all while seeking to further his own agenda and win the ultimate prize.
CHIMERICA 2018 - 2019	Playground Entertainment/Channel 4	Director 4-part Drama. Writer: Lucy Kirkwood. Producer: Adrian Sturges. Executive Producers: Lucy Kirkwood, Sophie Gardiner, Colin Callender. Starring: Alessandro Nivola and Cherry Jones A photojournalist travels to China with the hopes of finding out who the mysterious man was who was photographed standing defiantly in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square twenty years ago. Adaptation of the Olivier award-winning play.
STRIKE: THE CUCKOO'S CALLING 2017	BBC/HBO/Bronte	Lead Director. Producer: Jackie Larkin Executive Producers: Ruth Kenley Letts, Neil Blair, JK Rowling. Starring: Holliday Grainger and Tom Burke Adapted from the first novel in the Cormoran Strike series of detective novels by JK Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.
LINE OF DUTY III 2015	BBC2/World Productions	Lead Director. 3 episodes. Creator and Writer: Jed Mercurio. Producer: Peter Norris. Executive Producer: Simon Heath and Jed Mercurio. Starring: Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Stephen Graham. Highest-rating BBC2 drama since modern TV ratings began. Nominated, Best Drama Series, Royal Television Society Awards, 2017. Nominated, Best Writer (Drama), Royal Television Society Awards, 2017. Nominated, Best Drama Series, TV Choice Awards, 2016. Nominated, Best Director, Bafta Scotland Awards, 2016. Nominated, Best Drama Series, Broadcast Awards, 2017.
CRITICAL 2014	Sky One/Hat Trick	Director. 3 episodes. Creator: Jed Mercurio. Producer: Chris Hall. Exec Producer: Mark Redhead / Cameron Roach. Starring: Lennie James and Kimberley Nixon.
SILK III 2013	BBC 1	Director. 2 episodes. Creator: Peter Moffat. Producer: Matt Strevens. Executive Producer: Hilary Salmon. Starring: Maxine Peake and Rupert Penry-Jones
MR SELFRIDGE 2012	ITV Studios	Director. 3 episodes, including series finale. Creator and Writer: Andrew Davies Producer: Chrissy Skinns. Exec Producer: Kate Lewis. Starring: Jeremy Piven
YOUNG JAMES HERRIOT 2011	BBC 1/KoCo Media	3 part series about the life of the young Vet. Producer: Alan J. Wands. Writer: Ann McManus and Eileen Gallagher Exec Producer: Cameron Roach. * Nominated for Best Director at British Academy Awards Scotland, 2012. * Nominated for Best Actor for Iain De Caestecker at British Academy Awards Scotland, 2012.
SHAMELESS VIII 2011	Company Television/C4
HOLBY CITY 2011	BBC 1
EASTENDERS: E20 2010	BBC 3	* Rose D'Or Nominee, 2010.
THE BILL 2009	ITV 1
EASTENDERS 2008	BBC 1
DOCTORS 2007	BBC 1
DREAM TEAM 2006	Sky

In Development

Production	Company	Notes
TIGHTROPE 2020	STV/BBC	Executive Producer: Sarah Brown Writer: Rae Brunton A low rent lawyer loses his loose grip on reality
TOO FAR NORTH 2020	WILD MERCURY/BBC	Executive Producer: Derek Wax Writer: David Macpherson Prodigal son returns home to a kick in the teeth.

Short Films

Production	Company	Notes
LIAM & LENKA 2014	Warp Films/BFI	Writer and Director. Love on the run with a girl and a gun. Producer: Ally Gipps. Starring Iain De Caestecker, Katarina Cas. *Edinburgh International Film Festival 2014 Premiere.
MUNRO 2010	BBC, Scottish Screen & Lighthouse Arts	Writer and Director. 15'. Father and son lost in the Highlands. Starring David Hayman, Jamie Michie. * Encounter Short Film Festival, 2009. * Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2010. * Austin Film Festival, 2010.
LABOUR 2009	UK Film Council, Scottish Screen & Digicult	15'. Life, for a young man and an old soul. Starring Michael Socha. * Edinburgh International Film Festival 2010.
HAPPY SLAPZ 2006	Channel 4 'Coming Up' 2005	Writer and Director. 23'. Gang rivalry tears a friendship apart. Starring Daniel Anthony, Josef Altin, Aml Ameen. *Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2006.