Simon Curtis

Simon Curtis is an award-winning British director and producer of film, television and theatre. He began his career at the Royal Court Theatre, where he was Deputy Director to Max Stafford Clark and director of the Theatre Upstairs. His many productions there included the world premiere of Jim Cartwright’s ROAD, which transferred to the Lincoln Center, New York. Through the 1990s, he worked extensively with BBC Television and Films, where he accrued over fifty directing and producing credits and originated the theatrical anthology strand PERFORMANCE. His other directorial work for British television includes period dramas CRANFORD (BBC/WGBH), TWENTY THOUSAND STREETS UNDER THE SKY (BBC) and DAVID COPPERFIELD (BBC/WGBH); sitcom FREEZING (BBC Comedy/BBC); crime drama THE SINS (BBC); and single films A SHORT STAY IN SWITZERLAND (BBC), MAN AND BOY (BBC), MY SUMMER WITH DES (BBC) and PRINCE OF HEARTS (BBC). His directorial work for US television includes episodes of psychological drama BLACK BOX (Bold Films/ABC), legal drama THE PRACTICE (David E. Kelley Prods/ABC) and sketch comedy TRACEY TAKES ON… (HBO). Alongside his work for television and theatre, Simon has directed five feature films; his sixth DOWNTON ABBEY 3 (Carnival Films/Focus Features) is due to be released later this year. His debut feature MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (David Parfitt/BBC Films/The Weinstein Company) earned Academy Award nominations for Michelle Williams and Sir Kenneth Branagh; his second WOMAN IN GOLD (Origin/BBC Films), starring Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds and Jonathan Pryce, was honoured by Cinema For Peace and the Political Film Society; his third GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Pathé/Pinewood Films) earned a BIFA nomination for Kelly McDonald; and his fourth THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN (20th Century Fox), an adaptation of the 2008 novel of the same name by Garth Stein, starred Kevin Costner, Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried. His most recent film DOWNTON ABBEY 2: A NEW ERA (Carnival Films/Focus Features) received the second-widest UK release of all time. He has been nominated for six BAFTAs and a Primetime Emmy and worked with thirty-six Academy Award winners and nominees, ranging from 1963’s Anne Bancroft to 2024’s Margot Robbie, Carey Mulligan and Paul Giamatti.