Sam Collyns
Executive Producer and Director
About Me
SAM COLLYNS - Executive Producer and Director.
I am an Executive Producer and Director whose documentaries have been shown across the world – winning BAFTA, EMMY, GRIERSON, RTS, AMNESTY, RFK, and DUPONT awards.
My work has spanned current affairs, contemporary history, documentary, and the arts.
This ye... Read More
I am an Executive Producer and Director whose documentaries have been shown across the world – winning BAFTA, EMMY, GRIERSON, RTS, AMNESTY, RFK, and DUPONT awards.
My work has spanned current affairs, contemporary history, documentary, and the arts.
This ye... Read More
SAM COLLYNS - Executive Producer and Director.
I am an Executive Producer and Director whose documentaries have been shown across the world – winning BAFTA, EMMY, GRIERSON, RTS, AMNESTY, RFK, and DUPONT awards.
My work has spanned current affairs, contemporary history, documentary, and the arts.
This year I directed Theresa May: The Accidental Prime Minister, for ITV; and was the Executive Producer on Skint: The Truth about Britain's Broken Economy with Tim Harford for Channel4; last year I directed The MI5 Spy and the IRA, Peter Taylor's headline grabbing scoop for BBC Two about the man who helped make the Good Friday peace agreement possible; and The Hooded Men: Britain's Torture Playbook for BBC NI, "excellent...jaw-dropping...moving...beautifully shot", The Irish Times;
Last year I Executive Produced The Return: Life After ISIS, about Shamima Begum and other 'ISIS brides', directed by Alba Sotorra Clua and shown on Sky Docs as well at film festivals around the world, from SXSW and HotDocs, to Sheffield, and Barcelona, where it won the Audience award. It was nominated for best Doc at the RTS Programme awards and won the Gaudi prize. "This is a film that makes you interrogate yourself more than any other I can remember", The Guardian. "Compassionate, Essential Glimpse Into the Aftermath of Radicalization", Variety.
in 2022, I was Executive Producer on Assassins of Iraq, for PBS Frontline and BBC Arabic.
Last year I also directed Peter Taylor: Ireland After Partition for BBC Two - “Thought-provoking and enlightening… ” - Daily Telegraph; “Fascinating film… the most remarkable and heartbreaking footage”, The Guardian; 5 Stars, The Daily Mail; Documentary of the Week, The Times: “A triumph… Peter Taylor is a fair and trusted guide…he illuminated his storytelling with considered journalism. The range of his films is extraordinary too.”
Before that, I directed ‘The Day Mountbatten Died’, BBC Two. “excellent, painstaking…superb documentary” Times. “a respectful masterpiece” Guardian “Essential viewing for our leaders” Telegraph.
In 2018 I directed ‘The UN Sex Abuse Scandal’ ‘for Channel 4 and for PBS Frontline – and ARTE. The film won the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Journalism award for Television – International. It was nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Investigation, and shortlisted at the Griersons for both the best International Documentary and the Current Affairs awards.
I was Executive Producer on ‘Escape From Isis’ which won the 2016 International Emmy for Current Affairs for Channel 4 and PBS Frontline. The film also won a string of other awards including the RTS for International Current Affairs.
That year I was also the Exec on the film that won the RTS best Domestic Current Affairs Award - ‘Kids in Crisis’ with ERICA STARLING for Channel 4’s Dispatches.
As PD, I directed the Grierson award-winning BBC Two series ‘Secret Iraq’, described by The Sunday Times as “Excellent …Informative and exciting in equal measure – this is proper documentary television”; and Secret Pakistan.
Among other highlights, I was Ronachan’s executive producer on Germany’s New Nazis, a BBC Panorama special, and Britain’s Great Adoption Scandal, an Exposure special for ITV.
In a career that has spanned twenty years at the BBC and a further ten in the independent sector, I have won BAFTAs and Grierson awards as Executive Producer and Director.
My work has been shown on all the UK’s main channels – as well as international broadcasters such as PBS Frontline, Al Jazeera, ARTE and ABC Australia.
I was a producer on BBC 1’s flagship current affairs strand, Panorama, before going on to produce two BBC landmark series presented by Peter Taylor about the Irish Troubles: ‘Loyalists’ and ‘Brits’. Together with ‘Provos’, these formed what a Guardian editorial described as a “towering trilogy” ; I executive produced the Grierson award winning ‘SAS: Embassy Siege’ before returning to Panorama as deputy editor during the Iraq War.
After leaving the BBC, I ran Mentorn’s current affairs department for five years.
I have regularly returned to directing while continuing to executive produce a range of films, from Alison Millar’s Bafta winning investigation ‘The Shame of the Catholic Church’, to her IFTA winning ‘The Disappeared,’ to the award winning Netflix series, ‘The Traffickers’ made by Lightbox and co-executive produced by Simon Chinn. Read Less
I am an Executive Producer and Director whose documentaries have been shown across the world – winning BAFTA, EMMY, GRIERSON, RTS, AMNESTY, RFK, and DUPONT awards.
My work has spanned current affairs, contemporary history, documentary, and the arts.
This year I directed Theresa May: The Accidental Prime Minister, for ITV; and was the Executive Producer on Skint: The Truth about Britain's Broken Economy with Tim Harford for Channel4; last year I directed The MI5 Spy and the IRA, Peter Taylor's headline grabbing scoop for BBC Two about the man who helped make the Good Friday peace agreement possible; and The Hooded Men: Britain's Torture Playbook for BBC NI, "excellent...jaw-dropping...moving...beautifully shot", The Irish Times;
Last year I Executive Produced The Return: Life After ISIS, about Shamima Begum and other 'ISIS brides', directed by Alba Sotorra Clua and shown on Sky Docs as well at film festivals around the world, from SXSW and HotDocs, to Sheffield, and Barcelona, where it won the Audience award. It was nominated for best Doc at the RTS Programme awards and won the Gaudi prize. "This is a film that makes you interrogate yourself more than any other I can remember", The Guardian. "Compassionate, Essential Glimpse Into the Aftermath of Radicalization", Variety.
in 2022, I was Executive Producer on Assassins of Iraq, for PBS Frontline and BBC Arabic.
Last year I also directed Peter Taylor: Ireland After Partition for BBC Two - “Thought-provoking and enlightening… ” - Daily Telegraph; “Fascinating film… the most remarkable and heartbreaking footage”, The Guardian; 5 Stars, The Daily Mail; Documentary of the Week, The Times: “A triumph… Peter Taylor is a fair and trusted guide…he illuminated his storytelling with considered journalism. The range of his films is extraordinary too.”
Before that, I directed ‘The Day Mountbatten Died’, BBC Two. “excellent, painstaking…superb documentary” Times. “a respectful masterpiece” Guardian “Essential viewing for our leaders” Telegraph.
In 2018 I directed ‘The UN Sex Abuse Scandal’ ‘for Channel 4 and for PBS Frontline – and ARTE. The film won the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Journalism award for Television – International. It was nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Investigation, and shortlisted at the Griersons for both the best International Documentary and the Current Affairs awards.
I was Executive Producer on ‘Escape From Isis’ which won the 2016 International Emmy for Current Affairs for Channel 4 and PBS Frontline. The film also won a string of other awards including the RTS for International Current Affairs.
That year I was also the Exec on the film that won the RTS best Domestic Current Affairs Award - ‘Kids in Crisis’ with ERICA STARLING for Channel 4’s Dispatches.
As PD, I directed the Grierson award-winning BBC Two series ‘Secret Iraq’, described by The Sunday Times as “Excellent …Informative and exciting in equal measure – this is proper documentary television”; and Secret Pakistan.
Among other highlights, I was Ronachan’s executive producer on Germany’s New Nazis, a BBC Panorama special, and Britain’s Great Adoption Scandal, an Exposure special for ITV.
In a career that has spanned twenty years at the BBC and a further ten in the independent sector, I have won BAFTAs and Grierson awards as Executive Producer and Director.
My work has been shown on all the UK’s main channels – as well as international broadcasters such as PBS Frontline, Al Jazeera, ARTE and ABC Australia.
I was a producer on BBC 1’s flagship current affairs strand, Panorama, before going on to produce two BBC landmark series presented by Peter Taylor about the Irish Troubles: ‘Loyalists’ and ‘Brits’. Together with ‘Provos’, these formed what a Guardian editorial described as a “towering trilogy” ; I executive produced the Grierson award winning ‘SAS: Embassy Siege’ before returning to Panorama as deputy editor during the Iraq War.
After leaving the BBC, I ran Mentorn’s current affairs department for five years.
I have regularly returned to directing while continuing to executive produce a range of films, from Alison Millar’s Bafta winning investigation ‘The Shame of the Catholic Church’, to her IFTA winning ‘The Disappeared,’ to the award winning Netflix series, ‘The Traffickers’ made by Lightbox and co-executive produced by Simon Chinn. Read Less