Ant Timpson

Ant Timpson
Timpson at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Come to Daddy in 2019
Born (1966-04-21) 21 April 1966 (age 58)
New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealander
OccupationProducer
Years active1994–present

Ant Timpson (born 21 April 1966) is a New Zealand film producer and director, best known for producing The ABCs of Death series, Turbo Kid, Deathgasm and The Greasy Strangler. He founded and hosts the 48Hours film contest.[1]

Career

In 2003, Timpson founded the annual 48Hours film challenge, a New Zealand-based competition where teams of filmmakers create a short film in 48 hours.[2] Taika Waititi and Te Radar won in the festival's first year.[3]

The film Turbo Kid originated as a submission for the "T" segment in ABCs of Death. Though not selected, Timpson was impressed and approached the filmmakers to expand it into a feature.[4] Timpson got Elijah Wood and his production company, SpectreVision, involved in producing The Greasy Strangler.[5]

In 2016, he won the British Independent Film Awards Discovery Award.[6] Also in 2016, he won a Saturn Award for Best International Film.[7]

Timpson before the premiere of Come to Daddy at the Tribeca Film festival in 2019

In January 2017, it was announced Timpson would produce a new horror anthology, The Field Guide to Evil, consisting of eight directors, each from a different nation.[8] The crowdfunded project is unique in that it will allow backers the opportunity to have equity investment.[9]

In 2019, his debut feature film Come to Daddy premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film has a score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.

His 2024 film Bookworm premiered as the opening film of the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival.[10]

Personal life

Timpson grew up in Auckland and briefly studied at University of Otago intent on being a lawyer before dropping out.[2]

Timpson believes censorship systems are archaic and started a fundraiser for a teacher who was fired for showing one of his films in her class.[1]

He owns the biggest private collection of 35mm films in the Southern Hemisphere.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b McKee, Hannah. "Teacher's conviction upheld after screening Kiwi-produced horror to students". www.stuff.co.nz. Stuff. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Smithies, Grant. "Ant Timpson: Cult connoisseur". www.stuff.co.nz. Stuff. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  3. ^ Saxton, Amanda. "48-Hours film fest will 'celebrate success, crush failures'". www.stuff.co.nz. Stuff. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  4. ^ Debruge, Peter. "Montreal-Born 'Turbo Kid' Gets Rowdy Hometown Welcome at Fantasia". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  5. ^ Collis, Clark. "Elijah Wood talks 'Cooties' and f—ked up Greasy Strangler". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  6. ^ Calvario, Liz. "2016 British Independent Film Awards: Full Winners List". www.indiewire.com. Indie Wire. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  7. ^ Corry, Dominic. "Kiwi film 'Turbo Kid' wins big at Saturn Awards". www.nzherald.co.n. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  8. ^ Galuppo, Mia. "Alamo Drafthouse's Tim League Producing International Horror Anthology 'The Field Guide to Evil'". www.hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  9. ^ Whittaker, Richard. "Film Flam: Neon, Blue Starlite, and Kiss". www.austinchronicle.com. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  10. ^ Carson, Lexi (6 June 2024). "Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival Unveils 'Bookworm' Starring Elijah Wood as Opening Film, Plus Second Wave of Titles (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
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