- Frank Cottrell Boyce
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Frank Cottrell Boyce Born 23 September 1959
LiverpoolOccupation Writer Frank Cottrell Boyce (born 23 September 1959[1]) is a British screenwriter, novelist and occasional actor, known for his children's fiction and for his collaborations with film director Michael Winterbottom.
Contents
Life and career
Cottrell Boyce was born in 1959 in Liverpool[1] to an Irish Catholic family.[2] He was an undergraduate at Keble College, Oxford and then completed a doctorate in English, also at Oxford University. Prior to his career as a screenwriter, he wrote criticism for the magazine Living Marxism. As a result there was supposedly always a copy of the magazine on sale in the newsagent set of long-running British soap Coronation Street, while Cottrell Boyce was on the writing staff of that programme. After he met Winterbottom, the two collaborated on Forget About Me.
Winterbottom made five further films based on screenplays written by Cottrell Boyce, Butterfly Kiss, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Claim, 24 Hour Party People and Code 46. Their latest collaboration, A Cock and Bull Story, will be their last according to Cottrell Boyce, who asked that his contribution be credited to Martin Hardy, a pseudonym. He told Variety, "I just had to move on ... what better way to walk away than by giving Winterbottom a good script for free?"[3]
Other film directors Cottrell Boyce has worked with include Danny Boyle (Millions), Alex Cox (Revengers Tragedy), Richard Laxton (Grow Your Own) and Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie).
Cottrell Boyce has been praised by, among others, Roger Ebert, as one of the few truly inventive modern-day screenwriters. He has spoken against the "three-act structure" and the "hero's journey" formulas, which are often regarded as axiomatic truths in the business[citation needed][clarification needed].
In addition to original scripts, Cottrell Boyce has also adapted novels for the screen and written children's fiction, winning the 2004 Carnegie Medal for his debut, Millions, based on his own screenplay for the film of the same name. His novel Framed was shortlisted for the Whitbread Book of the Year as well as the Carnegie Medal. He adapted the novel into a screenplay for a 2009 BBC television film. His 2009 novel Cosmic was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.[4]
In addition to Coronation Street, he wrote many episodes of the soap opera Brookside, as well as its spin-off Damon and Debbie.
He wrote and staged his first original theatre production Proper Clever at the Liverpool Playhouse during the city's European Capital of Culture Year, in 2008.
On 18 September 2010, he co-presented the Papal Visit at Hyde Park with TV personality Carol Vorderman.
He is married and the father of seven children.[5]
Novels
Appearances
- March 2010 - Desert Island Discs
Screenplays
- Brookside (1982) TV Series (scriptwriter from c.1984)
- Damon and Debbie (1987) (mini) TV Series
- The Real Eddy English (1989) (mini) TV Series
- Forget About Me (1990) TV
- Coronation Street (1960) TV Series (scriptwriter from 1991)
- A Woman's Guide To Adultery (1993) (TV)
- Butterfly Kiss (1995)
- New York Crossing (1996)
- Saint-Ex (1996)
- Welcome To Sarajevo (1997)
- Hilary and Jackie (1998)
- Pandaemonium (2000)
- The Claim (2000)
- 24 Hour Party People (2002)
- Revengers Tragedy (2002)
- Code 46 (2003)
- Millions (2004)
- A Cock and Bull Story (2006) (as Martin Hardy)
- Grow Your Own (2007)
- God on Trial (2008) TV
- Framed (2009)
Awards
- 2004: Buch des Monats des Instituts für Jugendliteratur/Book of the Month by the Institute for Youth Literature (Germany), Millions
- 2004: Carnegie Medal, Millions
- 2004: Luchs des Jahres (Germany), Millions
- 2004: Eule des Monats (Germany), Millions
- 2005: Branford Boase Award, shortlist, Millions
- 2006: Die besten 7 (Germany), Framed
- 2008: Guardian Award, shortlist, Cosmic
- 2009: Carnegie Medal, shortlist, Cosmic
- 2011: Costa Book Awards, shortlist, The Unforgotten Coat
References
- ^ a b "COTTRELL-BOYCE, Frank", Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2009 ; online edn, Nov 2009 accessed 16 May 2010
- ^ Craig, Amanda (2008-06-06). "Screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce's new children's book Cosmic is his best yet. Amanda Craig meets him". Times Online. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article4079529.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
- ^ Variety
- ^ 2009 Carnegie shortlist
- ^ HarperCollins
- ^ Walker Books. ISBN 978-1-4063-3385-5
External links
- Frank Cottrell Boyce at the Internet Movie Database
- Author's Blog
- WriteAway interview with Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Mother Daughter Book Club.com, Interview with Frank Cottrell Boyce
Categories:- 1959 births
- Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
- British children's writers
- British soap opera writers
- English dramatists and playwrights
- English novelists
- English screenwriters
- English television writers
- Living people
- People from Rainhill
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