Snapper Films welcomes the multi-hyphenated former actor, writer, director and photographer Peter Chelsom to their roster. Peter went from acting at the National Theatre alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins to a directing career in advertising (to which he attributes his steep learning curve in film directing), however, his innate ability to work with actors and bring magic to the screen propelled him to Hollywood.
His debut film, ‘Treacle’, won a BAFTA nomination and invitations to festivals worldwide. His second film ‘Hear My Song’ was the ticket to Hollywood and his third ‘Funny Bones’ (Oliver Platt, Jerry Lewis), swept five European film festivals by winning Best Picture and from there, he made ‘The Mighty’, ‘Serendipity’, ‘Shall We Dance’, ‘Hector and The Search for Happiness’, ‘The Space Between Us’, ‘Berlin, I Love You’, and many more... Peter’s versatility has led him to direct films from any genre as well as in completely different languages. He recently returned to his European roots with his Italian indie film ‘Security’, which reached Netflix’s Top three Worldwide starring Beatrice Gannò and Marco D’Amore. His latest film, A Sudden Case Of Christmas, starring Adrian Dunbar and Danny De Vito was also shot in Italy and is set to hit the screens in December.
His debut photographic exhibition ‘Dream Role’ is currently being shown at Forte Dei Marmi, his pictures capture the stars such as Warren Beatty, Jerry Lewis, Gary Oldman, Rosamund Pike, Jennifer Lopez and many more, alongside ordinary people with the same unnerving candour. Peter describes the aim of his exhibition in one sentence: ‘My aim as a director is to lead actors to the role they are playing, as a photographer is to capture ordinary people in the role that life has dealt them.’
It is clear how much he loves what he does and wants to do as much of it as possible. Peter fits into Snapper’s ethos perfectly and we are delighted to be part of his latest adventure.
"Unquestionably Mr. Chelsom is an odd bird, but he brings a fabulist’s magic to tales no one else could tell" said, Janet Maslin, NY Times