Gareth Neame

Gareth Neame
OBE DL
Neame at an event for Downton Abbey cast and creators, May 2014
Born8 March 1967 (1967-03-08) (age 57)
Occupation(s)Television producer and executive

Gareth Elwin Neame OBE DL (born 8 March 1967) is a British television producer and executive. As an executive at the BBC, Neame presided over the development of the dramas Spooks, State of Play, Bodies, Hustle, New Tricks and Tipping the Velvet. He was executive producer of the historical drama series Downton Abbey and originally proposed the idea to its writer and creator Julian Fellowes.[1] He is a recipient of the Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.

Early life

Neame is the fourth generation of a family whose involvement in cinema and television spanned the past century.[2] His great-grandparents were the photographer and pioneer filmmaker Elwin Neame (1885–1923) and the film actress Ivy Close. Neame's grandfather was the director, producer, cinematographer and writer Ronald Neame CBE, his great uncle was the author and screenwriter Derek Neame (1915–1979) and his father was the writer and producer Christopher Elwin Neame (1942–2011).

He attended the independent Seaford College in West Sussex.[3] He read English and Drama at the University of Birmingham.

Career

Since 2004, he has been CEO of Carnival Films, the British studio which has produced television series such as Poirot, Traffik, Jeeves and Wooster, Hotel Babylon, Whitechapel and Stan Lee's Lucky Man. In 2008, Neame sold the company to NBCUniversal[4] as part of its new international TV studios, producing shows such as The Philanthropist for NBC and the historical drama series Downton Abbey.[5]

Neame executive produced all episodes of the show which has won numerous national and international awards, as well as receiving a Guinness World Record for the highest critical review ratings for a TV show ever. Neame was also honoured by the Producers Guild of America with the David L. Wolper award for outstanding producer of long-form television. The subsequent movie released in September 2019, produced by Neame, was No.1 in the box office in North America and the UK, and is Focus Features' most successful release[6] grossing in excess of $200 million.[7] In August 2015, Neame accepted a BAFTA Special Award in recognition of Downton Abbey's global success, alongside Julian Fellowes and members of the cast.[8] A sequel to the first film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, was released in 2021, with much of the original cast returning. A third film was announced in May 2024 and is due to be released in September 2025.[9]

Other series which Neame has produced at Carnival include Belgravia, Jamestown and The Hollow Crown, a filmed anthology of Shakespeare's history plays. He has collaborated with Sir David Hare on his Worricker trilogy, and produced the BAFTA award-winning series The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies and Any Human Heart. Carnival Films was recognised as best production company at both the Broadcast Awards[10] and Televisual Bulldog Awards in 2012. Neame also produced five seasons of the popular series The Last Kingdom for Netflix, with a spin-off movie Seven Kings Must Die released in April 2023. Also at Carnival Films, Neame has developed and produced The Day of the Jackal (TV series) and Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, and is the Executive Producer on HBO's Emmy Award-winning series The Gilded Age.

Neame was named by GQ magazine as one of the 100 most connected men in Britain in March 2014[11] and in December 2014 was announced by 10 Downing Street as an Ambassador of the GREAT Britain campaign.[12] Neame has also been interviewed as part of the Archive of American Television,[13] and has been listed in the Variety 500 index of most influential business leaders in the global entertainment industry.[14]

Personal life

Neame was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to drama.[15] Neame is also a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Greater London.[16] He holds an honorary doctorate at the University of Birmingham, where he is Honorary Professor in the Creative Industries.[17]

When Neame discovered that a portrait of his great-grandmother Ivy Close – which had been painted by Sir Arthur Hacker after she won the Daily Mirror's contest to find the World's Most Beautiful Woman, exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, and used to fill the newspaper's front page on 4 May 1908 – was in the collection of the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull but not on display because it required restoration, he paid for the necessary work.[18]

Neame is a Life Patron of The Landmark Trust and through his charitable foundation supports causes including Together for Short Lives, music and drama scholarships, youth organisations, conservation and the arts and veterans. He is a Freeman of The City of London and a Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers.[19]

References

  1. ^ Preston, John (16 September 2011). "Downton Abbey uncovered". Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  2. ^ Wilson, Stacey (19 June 2013). "Emmy Roundtable with the Cast and Crew of 'Downton Abbey'" (video interview). The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  3. ^ "news". oldseafordians.org. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  4. ^ Neate, Rupert (21 August 2008). "NBC Universal snaps up Carnival Films". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  5. ^ Philiana Ng (31 July 2021). "'Downton Abbey': What to Expect From the Second Season". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  6. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (17 October 2019). "'Downton Abbey' Becomes Focus Features' Highest-Grossing Pic at Domestic B.O. With $84M+, Unseating 'Brokeback Mountain'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Downton Abbey (2019) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Downton Abbey Receives BAFTA Tribute and Special Award". Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Focus Features & Carnival Films Set to Return to Downton Abbey for Third Feature Film".
  10. ^ "Broadcast Awards 2012". Archived from the original on 11 March 2012.
  11. ^ "GQ and ei's 100 Most Connected Men 2014". GQ. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  12. ^ "HOME". GREAT Campaign. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Gareth Neame". Television Academy Interviews. 22 October 2017. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  14. ^ Ramsay, Derek (8 December 2017). "Gareth Neame". Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  15. ^ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B14.
  16. ^ "No. 63621". The London Gazette. 18 February 2022. p. 3074.
  17. ^ "Downton Abbey producer appointed Honorary Professor".
  18. ^ Youngs, Ian (14 January 2017). "Britain's first beauty queen Ivy Close is back in the frame". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  19. ^ https://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/documents/g19767/Agenda%20frontsheet%2003rd-Dec-2019%2012.30%20Court%20of%20Aldermen.pdf?T=0 [bare URL]