Andy Harries

At 70 years old, Andy Harries has this physical status:

Andrew "Andy" Harries, born 7 April 1954, is the founder and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, a UK-based production company that formed in 2007.

He has made television dramas spanning four decades including The Royle Family, Cold Feet, Prime Suspect and Cracker's revivals, as well as the BAFTA-winning television play The Deal. In 2006, he received an Academy Award nomination for his role as producer of The Queen, which saw Helen Mirren win Best Actress for her role, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented him with the Special Award in Honour of Alan Clarke.

The Royal Television Society awarded a Fellowship on Harries for their contributions to the television industry in 2011.

"One of the UK's most outstanding drama designers" has been portrayed by Broadcast Magazine since 2007, Left Bank has produced Wallander, Strike Back, Outlander (TV series), The Replacement, among other famous dramas. They launched The Crown, the first American-British television series created solely for Netflix, in 2016.

Critics and audiences have lauded Peter Morgan's Golden Globe, SAG, Emmy Award winning sequence. Dark River, the company's fourth feature film, was released on February 23, 2018.

Clio Barnard, Ruth Wilson, Mark Stanley, and Sean Bean wrote and directed the film.

It was on display in the Platform section of the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Left Bank Pictures has received numerous industry accolades, including Best Independent Production Company at the Edinburgh Television Awards (2017) and Broadcast Awards (2018).

Early life and education

Andy Harries was born in Inverness, Scotland, on April 7th, 1954, and grew up in Peterborough, England, receiving primary education at West Town Primary School until 1961 and secondary education at the public Oakham School. He aspired to be a war correspondent in Vietnam or an investigative journalist; his heroes were Harold Evans, Jon Swain, and John Pilger. He left college at the age of 17 with poor A Level results and became a trainee reporter on the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. His time on the newspaper heightened his interest in politics, and he wanted to expand his knowledge of it by enrolling at university. He applied to several northern universities to break from his southern middle-class lifestyle, and was accepted at Hull University.

Harries stayed in Hull until he was 21, although they did continue to work at the Evening Telegraph during holidays. He discovered an interest in music journalism at university and found a way to do it by writing Melody Maker reviews.

Personal life

Since 1992, Harries has been married to writer and director Rebecca Frayn. Jack and Finn were identical twins when they were born in 1993, and Emmy Lou were three children.

Harries, who compiled a South Bank Show profile and The Ghosts of Oxford Street, remained good friends with Malcolm McLaren and attended his funeral in April 2010.

Source

Early career (1976–1981)

After leaving Hull, Harries moved to London to work for the Southern News Service news service, contributing diary pieces for the Daily Mail and News of the World from 1975 to 1976. He applied for a job as a researcher for Granada Television in Manchester on the recommendation of a friend. He was not aware of the appeal of television production, and as a result, he was turned away from two interviews before being hired in 1976.

He was hired by the news producer and asked to read the on-air bulletin for the nightly broadcast. He listened to the news for three months before he condensed a six-minute bulletin to three minutes one night. He attributed this to stage fright, which prompted him to talk too fast. The remainder of the production crew were unable to move on to the next news items, leaving Harries in stalemate for several minutes. In a 2007 interview, Harries recalled that Steve Morrison, the bulletin's producer, called him into his office and told him he didn't deserve to be on television and that he would no longer be reading the newspaper. Morrison's words angered Harries to the point that he assaulted the man. He was worried that he was going to lose his career and found him a new job at Granada's London centre, which he took up at the age of 23.

Harries worked as a reporter on the current affairs program World in Action, where he met Paul Greengrass, pursuing his interest in investigative journalism. Although Greengrass was a success in exposing suspected misconduct surrounding Manchester United F.C., the group was convicted. Louis Edwards, the British Singles Chart's chairman, looked at possible anomalies. Greengrass' probe was a success, although Harries admits that his own program "didn't make a single difference" and "didn't make a difference."

Second Granada career (1992–2007)

Harries personally purchased the television rights to An Evening with Gary Lineker, a comedy play written by Arthur Smith and Chris England based on a group of England supporters at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Smith bet Harries £100 that he would not be able to get the movie on television before the next World Cup. Harries tried to sell Smith and England's screenplay to the BBC, Channel 4, LWT, Yorkshire Television, and Central Independent Television to no avail. The BBC wanted to film it as a studio performance, but Harries wanted a full film to distinguish it from the original play, which was still playing at London's West End. Because of his prior involvement with the company, he was reluctant to give the script to Granada. However, he was given the position of comedy director at Granada in 1992, and An Evening with Gary Lineker was created. Harries was furious that Granada's leadership had compelled him to rename so many of the original actors; England was brought back by Paul Merton, leaving Caroline Quentin as the only original actor. The Edinburgh Fringe was instrumental in Harries' early commissions in Granada; he was not keen on traditional comedy and was always looking for alternative comedians. These included Caroline Aherne, Steve Coogan, and John Thomson (although Coogan "got away" from him after the BBC promised to supply his Alan Partridge (shown). Harries commissioned Peter Morgan to write "Mickey Love" in 1993, one of a sequence of short comedies for the Rik Mayall movie "Mickey Presents."

He ordered the Mrs Merton Show from Aherne in 1994 after refusing to accept "the number three position" on Channel 4 and extending his contract with Granada to become the controller of entertainment and comedy. Aherne's second series, which starred a working-class northern family, aired on BBC One from 1998 to 2000. Harries did not approve of the first two episodes because they were shot with a studio audience. He cut these episodes and had them refilmed without a laugh track. In 2006, the Royle family celebrated a one-off special, which Harries characterized as giving him no greater joy. In 1999, Harries from Aherne sponsored Mrs Merton and her son Malcolm, played by Craig Cash; Mrs Merton and Malcolm were based around Mrs Merton and her son Malcolm. Aherne's first significant failure, which Harries attributed to the BBC One schedulers, was Aherne's first critical miss, which Harries criticized.

Mike Bullen, a BBC radio producer and first-time writer, ordered a comedy drama on spec from him in 1995. The Perfect Match, as in Evening with Gary Lineker, was based on football and received scathing feedback. Harries wanted to produce more comedy dramas, based on the popularity of American shows such as Thirtysomething, and they'd sent Christine Langan to work with Bullen. Cold Feet, which was released in 1997 and later bought for a complete series in 1998, was developed by Langan and Bullen. In 2002, it received the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series, which Harries collected with Bullen and Spencer Campbell. Life Begins (2004–2006) and All About George (2005), a Harries executive produced two more Bullen's productions; Bullen's (1996–2006).

Mel and Sue's Casting Couch hosted his first panel show in 1999. Following the success of Channel 4's success, Mel and Sue's first program for ITV was produced. Casting Couch had low viewing numbers and was not recommissioned. It was one of many comedies commissioned by Harries in 1999 that were created by Justin Judd. Dark Ages and My Wonderful Life were among others. In 1997, Judd and Harries began writing Dark Ages, a sitcom set at the turn of the second millennium, but they were unable to make it work with the writer at the time. They suggested it to Red Dwarf writer Rob Grant, who liked the idea and wrote all six episodes. During the 1999 holiday season, Dark Ages appeared nightly. A second series was envisioned; Harries predicted that it would "hit its stride" then, but ITV did not recommission it. Another ratings disaster was My Wonderful Life. Harries chastised ITV Network Centre and publicly sluggish the network, accusing its network's director of channels David Liddiment of 16 years in jail.

Following Sue Hogg's departures and Simon Lewis' resignation, Harries' portfolio was greatly expanded in September 2000. Doctor Zhivago and Henry VIII were among the 2002 commissions. Because ITV will only have enough funds for each hour of the series, Harries' appeal to US broadcaster WGBH to pick up the remaining funds. Harries' brief was expanded to include films following the merger of Granada Films and Granada Productions in 2002.

2003 was a pivotal year for Harries' dramatic output; Peter Morgan came to Granada with the proposal of a drama tracing Tony Blair's conciliation with Gordon Brown before the 1994 Labour Party leadership election. Charles Allen, the country's chief executive, was not keen on completing The Deal, but Harries and John Whiston persuaded him otherwise. ITV initially promised to have it on display but then had to cancel before filming began. The Harries donated it to Channel 4, who received it in less than 24 hours. The Contract was a critical success and was named a Golden Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama. That year, Harries brought back the drama serial Prime Suspect, which had not been seen since the actress Helen Mirren left in 1995. Mirren agreed to return for Prime Suspect: the Last Witness only if it was "about something." It's been two years that it's been back for the seventh and final serial The Final Act, in which Jane Tennison, Mirren's character, confronts her alcoholism in a subpoena. Lynda La Plante, the founder of Prime Suspect in 1989, was critical of the decision to "make [Tennison] a alcoholic," but Harries rebutted, "Lynda was the one who started Jane Tennison heavily, so it is not out of character." Harries was ranked eleven on a list of the most influential figures in British television drama, compiled by industry experts for the Radio Times in 2004.

Mirren's other actors and production staff all responded to her as if she were "like the Queen" during the read-throughs. In the week following Diana's death, Princess of Wales' death, The Deal, which was already in pre-production, was a sequel to The Deal that would place the emphasis on the royal family. Peter Morgan was set to return as the writer, Stephen Frears had been hired as editor, and Harries suggested to Mirren that she play the Queen. Mirren agreed, and the film, co-produced by Granada and Pathé, was released in September 2006. The BAFTA Award for Best Film and Academy Award for Best Picture were among the many awards for which it had been nominated. (the former it was nominated). Despite the film's success, Harries expressed disappointment with ITV for not giving enough credit. In an interview the month before The Queen's was announced, he chastised ITV's leadership for being both complacent and selfish, and expressed disappointment that the drama on the channel was not as good as it once was. He revealed at the end of the year that he did not renew his deal with the company. According to entertainment industry commentators, he might start his own independent production company.

Source