INTRO
EXEC FEATURE FILMS FILM DEV TV DEV TALENT TV ABOUT
Tony started working in theatre as a production manager then producer/director whilst reading drama at Exeter University. After university he spent five years as actor/manager of a number of touring and community theatre companies producing and directing shows as varied as a two man version of Dr Faustus and a Miracle Cycle of sixteen new plays performed (on the same day) by hundreds of performers and musicians for the new city of Milton Keynes.
In 1986 Tony started to represent some of his former theatre colleagues as an agent and he also joined Humphrey Barclay Productions where he was a company director and involved with all of HBP's output, including Look Back In Anger with Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson, the successful long running Desmond's for Channel Four, and Surgical Spirit for ITV. Tony was also a director of Hightimes Productions, which controlled the format for Me and My Girl, which starred Richard O'Sullivan and was broadcast by London Weekend Television, running for five seasons.
In 1997 Tony became Business Development Manager for Talent Television, a new independent TV production venture founded by the talent agency International Artists and former LWT Controller of Entertainment John Kaye Cooper. Tony became its Managing Director in 1999. Early successes for Talent TV included being the first indie to produce both the awards ceremonies and TV productions for The BAFTA TV Awards and the 50th BAFTA Film Awards. Another early success was the commissioning by Sky TV of The Villa which ran for four series and pioneered reality TV with the use of surveillance cameras in an entertainment format.
Talent was also known for large scale entertainment programmes including Test the Nation which became a hugely popular part of BBC1's scheduling for five years from 2002 to 2007. It was also a technical tour de force - using leading edge interactive and web technology within a full evening of live TV.
Talent had great success with children's programming too, getting its first commission from the Disney Channel with Inside Clyde, followed by the hugely popular kids reality show Best of Friends which ran for five series on the BBC's CBBC kids channel and BBC1. Talent also worked with the Cartoon Network producing the live-action sequences for its innovative hit format Skatoony, a live-action/cartoon game show.
It was Tony Humphreys who created strong ties with Japanese broadcasters for Talent Television, the fruits of which were a number of HDTV documentary co-productions with NHK and TV Asahi. Tony Humphreys along with Akifumi Takagi were also responsible for taking the Test the Nation format to Japan, where the show was co-produced by TV Man Union and TV Asahi for five years.
Since 2010 Tony Humphreys has focused on feature film production, working with Gateway Films to release Outside Bet and then with Control Films for In The Blood. The Japanese connection continues with his fifth feature – The Disease of the Family - which is in post-production and planned for release in Japan in 2024. Other features in development are The Truffles (AKA - The Whole Truffe), set in the South of France and The Last Party, set in 1960’s Capetown.
Tony is a full voting member of BAFTA, was a judge for the Royal Television Society Awards in 2010 and 2011, a judge for the Rose d'Or Festival in 2010 and 2012, and chairman of the Cambridge International Format Forum in 2009 and 2011.
Tony's connection with the Far East was extended to China on 2014 when he was consultant for Hunan TV for the development and production of their first original celebrity reality format Wonderful Friends. In 2016 Tony accepted a consultancy role as Screen Specialist, Creative Content, for the UK Department of International Trade, helping British film and TV companies increase their international activities and exports, particularly in the USA and China.
Tony continues to act as a theatrical agent representing composers, musical directors and musical supervisors in Musical Theatre and award winning sound artist, sound designer and composer Nick Ryan. For twenty-six years, until recently, he was Chief Executive of the UK arts charity The Discerning Eye which presents the prestigious ING Discerning Eye exhibition at The Mall Galleries, London each year.