Kirk Jones (director)

Jones was born in Bristol, England. He grew up in Long Ashton, Bristol and attended Backwell School in the 1970s[3] then going on to Newport Film School (formerly University of Wales, Newport now the University of South Wales) from 1985 to 1987, specializing in directing drama and television commercials. He graduated in 1987 after winning a National Student Film Award and started to work for a London-based production company as a production runner and later as assistant film editor.

Whilst working in the cutting room, he continued to write and direct his own films and, after collecting a Silver award at the Creative Circle Awards for his Mercedes commercial in 1990, he was invited to join Xenium Productions as a director.

His Absolut Vodka film, which he wrote and directed was awarded a Silver in 1991 and Kirk began directing commercials full-time in London and Europe, working for agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty and Mother.

Kirk's producer, Glynis Murray set up Tomboy Films in 1991 and he joined her soon after. Awards at NABS in ‘94 and a Silver at the Creative Circle Awards followed and Kirk continued to direct commercials for clients including The National Lottery, National Westminster Bank, Reebok, & HSBC.

His campaign for Heinz won a Silver Lion at Cannes in ’96 (Best Campaign) and his Reebok campaign won awards at both The Creative Circle and the British TV Advertising Awards in ‘98.

Kirk was nominated for a BAFTA as "Best Newcomer" in 1999 for his first feature film, Waking Ned (1998), which he both wrote and directed.

Proportionate to budget, Waking Ned was the second-highest-grossing film in the world in '99, behind The Blair Witch Project, and won awards in the U.S and Europe. These included: New York Comedy Film Festival for Best Feature, Grand Jury and Critics Prize for Best Feature at Comedy d'Alp in France and Audience Award for Best Feature at Paris Film Festival.

In 2005, Kirk directed his second feature film, Nanny McPhee, for Working Title and Universal Pictures. Starring Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, it was one of the year's ten highest-grossing films in the UK, with $30m, and took $135m worldwide.

In 2008 Kirk wrote and directed his third film, Everybody's Fine. Starring Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell, it is an adaptation of an Italian film and was released through Miramax 2009 and Disney worldwide in 2010.

• Waking Ned (1998)
• Nanny McPhee (2005)
• Everybody's Fine (2009)
• What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016)

• 1998 Critic's choice Award (Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival) for Waking Ned
• 1998 Best Feature Award (New York Comedy Festival) for Waking Ned
• 1999 Sir Tim Award (Marco Island Film Festival) for Waking Ned
• 1999 Public Prize (Paris Film Festival) for Waking Ned
• 2000 Guild Film Award - Gold (Guild of German Art House Cinemas) for Waking Ned

• Kirk Jones at IMDb