David M. Thompson

The founding head of BBC films, David M. Thompson has executive produced some of the best British movies of his time. He started working for the BBC in 1978 as a film programmer and documentary maker, but his first big hit as a producer was the 1985 television film "Shadowlands," starring Claire Bloom. He continued to produce movies for television, then moved more confidently into executive producing for feature films. In 2000, Thompson executive produced the popular film "Billy Elliot," about a young boy who wants to become a ballet dancer, and he moved back to television for the acclaimed wartime movie "Conspiracy." For the big screen, Thompson executive produced "Iris," a biopic about writer Iris Murdoch with Judi Dench and Kate Winslet, and he also produced two key films with the daring Samantha Morton, "Morvern Callar" and "Code 46," a terrific romance co-starring Tim Robbins and directed by Michael Winterbottom. In 2007, he produced David Cronenberg's excellent "Eastern Promises," and in 2009 he executive produced the foul-mouthed comedy "In the Loop" and Jane Campion's delicate "Bright Star," proving that this is a man of real range and taste when it comes to picking films.