Steve Knight's first screenplay, Dirty Pretty Things, was made into a film directed by Stephen Frears. Upon its premiere at the 2002 Venice International Film Festival, the film attracted critical acclaim from around the world. A host of prestigious awards followed, including four British Independent Film (BIFA) Awards, among them Best Screenplay; and Best Film and Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) prizes at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Mr. Knight was also honored with the Humanitas Prize; the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay; the Best British Screenwriter citation at the London Film Critics Circle; and Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Writers Guild of America Award nominations.
Another of his original screenplays was made into a film directed by David Cronenberg: Eastern Promises, also for Focus Features, became one of the most talked-about movies of 2007. The film's star Viggo Mortensen was nominated for every major movie honor, including the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics' Choice Movie Award, and Golden Globe Award. Mr. Mortensen won the BIFA Award for Best Actor, and won one of the film's seven Genie (Canada's Oscars equivalent) Awards, which also included Best Original Screenplay. Mr. Knight was also honored with BIFA Award, Satellite Award, and Evening Standard British Film Award nominations.
The Birmingham, England native attended University College London, where he studied English Literature. Upon graduation, he worked as a copywriter/producer for a Birmingham advertising agency and then as a copywriter/producer at Capital Radio.
In 1988, Mr. Knight and Mike Whitehill started a freelance writing partnership providing material for television. Based at Celador Productions, they wrote for Commercial Breakdown and The Detectives, among other programs.
Mr. Knight co-created, and Celador produced, the television series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The program has won awards around the globe – including a BAFTA Award, National Television Award, Silver Rose of Montreux, and the Queen's Award for Enterprise – and a worldwide following. More recently, he wrote and executive-produced the 1920s-set BBC dramatic series Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy and Sam Neill, to air in the second half of 2013.
He has had three novels published; The Movie House, which won the WH Smith Fresh Talent Award, Alphabet City, and Out of the Blue. Mr. Knight's first stage play, The President of an Empty Room, was directed by Howard Davies and staged at London's National Theatre in 2005.
His screenplay, Amazing Grace, was directed by Michael Apted and starred Ioan Gruffudd as the British anti-slavery activist and politician William Wilberforce. The script earned him a Humanitas Prize nomination.
Mr. Knight's feature directorial debut, the dramatic thriller Hummingbird, a.k.a. Redemption, starring Jason Statham, was released in the U.K. and the U.S. in June 2013; he also wrote the film's original screenplay. His another movie as writer/director is Locke, starring Tom Hardy.
Focus Features
