Crispin "Cris" Cole is a British writer and producer.[1]
Career
editBorn in Wallingford, England, Cole grew up in London and attended Elliott School in Roehampton. After leaving the Elliott School, he worked as a professional guitarist and bass player for the next 15 years,[2] playing in bands including Jimmy the Hoover, The Directions and The Hollywood Killers.
Cole turned to writing and wrote a pilot for Tiger Aspect/BBC, called Embassy, starring Robert Daws. He has multiple other TV credits, including episodes of Night and Day, Twisted Tales and The Bill, feature film credits, including Lovebite (Ecosse Films, 2012) and Pelican Blood[3] (Ecosse Films, 2010), as well as the TV movie The Good Times Are Killing Me (Shaftesbury Films, 2009).[4] He wrote and executive produced the film Ana, released in January 2020, starring Andy Garcia and Dafne Keen.
Cole may be best known as the creator of the award-winning[5] and the BAFTA nominated[6] British TV series Mad Dogs, starring Marc Warren, Max Beesley, John Simm and Phil Glenister. He was the sole writer of all 14 episodes for the four UK seasons for Sky TV, produced by Left Bank Pictures.[7]
Cole was the executive producer and showrunner on the Mad Dogs U.S. television series made by Amazon Studios/Sony Pictures Television.[8] The show was streamed on Amazon in the US, Germany and the UK. Sony sold Mad Dogs to 140 other territories. The series starred Ben Chaplin, Michael Imperioli, Romany Malco, Steve Zahn and Billy Zane.[9][10]
Cole has been an advocate of Ethiopian choreographer Meseret Yirga for over 20 years. In 2019 he headed a fundraising campaign to build a community dance centre in Addis Ababa. Once the money was in place, the Meseret Yirga Dance Centre[11] was built, is now open, and serves people from low income backgrounds and the disabled in the community.
In 2022 Cole created, wrote and exec-produced ‘Rose & Layla’,[12][13][14] a ten part TV comedy drama serial for MBC Studios, starring Egyptian TV and movie icon Yousra and Nelly Karim as two Cairo based private detectives. Shot in Cairo and directed by Adrian Shergold the show was written in English and translated and made in Arabic.
Personal life
editCole is the son of the actor George Cole and actress Eileen Moore.[15] He is married to Christine St. John.[16]
Filmography
edit- Embassy (1997)
- Night & Day (2001)
- Spine Chillers (2003)
- The Bill, 2 episodes (2004–2005)
- Twisted Tales, 1 episode (2005)
- The Good Times Are Killing Me (2009)
- Pelican Blood (2010)
- Mad Dogs (UK) (2011–2013)
- Love Bite (2012)
- Mad Dogs (U.S.) (2015)[17]
- Ana (2020)
- Rose & Layla (2022)
References
edit- ^ "Cris Cole". IMDb.
- ^ "Jimmy The Hoover". All Music.
- ^ Ray Bennett (14 October 2010). "Pelican Blood – Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "The Good Times Are Killing Me". October 2009.
- ^ "Broadcasting Press Guild TV and Radio Awards 2012". Broadcastingpressguild.org. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ "Mallorca based drama, Mad Dogs, nominated for BAFTA". Leftbankpictures.co.uk. 27 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ Ben Marshall (11 May 2011). "Mad Dogs: should a second series be unleashed?". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "Amazon's New Series 'Mad Dogs' Is Unexpected, Weird, and Hilarious". Inverse.com. 27 January 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Leo Barraclough (21 January 2016). "Sony Pictures Television Sells U.S. Drama 'Mad Dogs' to More Than 140 Countries". Variety. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Lisa de Moraes (11 January 2016). "Amazon's 'Mad Dogs' Mulled Donald Trump Mask For Killer – TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
- ^ Jane Coyle (11 January 2021). "Choreographer Meseret Yirga: 'My new centre is using dance to transform lives'". The Stage. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ Rose & Layla (Action, Comedy), Hasan Abul-Roos, Raghad Alfaisal, Tayam Amar, MBC Studios, 2022-12-30, retrieved 2023-11-23
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Vivarelli, Nick (2022-12-05). "Egyptian Superstar Yousra on Working With a British Director and Co-Star Nelly Karim on Oddball Female Detective Duo Series 'Rose & Layla' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ^ "MBC Studios starts production of Arabic TV series 'Rose & Layla'". BroadcastPro ME. 2022-04-22. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ^ "George Cole couldn't heal 45-year rift". Daily Mirror. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ^ "Interview: Cris Cole & Christine St. John – Mad Dogs Writer & Actress". Son of a Stag. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ James Poniewozik (20 January 2016). "Review: On 'Mad Dogs,' an Amazon Series, Male Bellicosity Rules". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-05-20.