Director Simon Ratigan has joined Chelsea Pictures for his first U.S. representation. He continues to be repped in the U.K. by production company Rogue.
Ratigan recently wrapped his first campaign with Chelsea–Albertsons for Anomaly.
A filmmaker for 20-plus years, Ratigan is known for his work in commercials. He’s also shot award-winning short films, music videos, branded content and, most recently, a debut feature documentary. Collaborating with a host of clients from global brands to local charities, Ratigan has built a reputation as a top-tier director, as well as an accomplished cinematographer and editor of short and long-form films.
On bringing his expertise to the U.S. market alongside Chelsea, Ratigan remarked, “Chelsea is an amazing company with an impressive roster of filmmakers and an enviable track record of work. So, for me, it’s an honor and a thrill to be joining their ranks. Over the years, I’ve been involved in some fascinating projects that have proved not only collaborative and creatively rewarding but also a joy to create. Now, with the experience, support and expertise of Chelsea, I’m excited to be doing the same in the U.S.: directing films that are as unique and joyful to watch as they are to make.”
As a cinematic storyteller with a unique documentary style, Ratigan’s gift for capturing human emotion and the beauty of the everyday has won him plaudits throughout the film and advertising industries, and assorted creative awards. “I’ve been a major fan of Simon’s for years,” said Lisa Mehling, Chelsea owner and president. “His films have such a beautiful aesthetic and he has a gift for making scripted campaigns feel so real, so authentic, and so relatable. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity for Chelsea to establish Simon in the U.S. market.”
Maggie Smith, Star of Stage, Film and “Downton Abbey,” Dies At 89
Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" in 1969 and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey" and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died Friday. She was 89. Smith's sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, said in a statement that Smith died early Friday in a London hospital. "She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother," they said in a statement issued through publicist Clair Dobbs. Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench, with a clutch of Academy Award nominations and a shelf full of acting trophies. She remained in demand even in her later years, despite her lament that "when you get into the granny era, you're lucky to get anything." Smith drily summarized her later roles as "a gallery of grotesques," including Professor McGonagall. Asked why she took the role, she quipped: "Harry Potter is my pension." Richard Eyre, who directed Smith in a television production of "Suddenly Last Summer," said she was "intellectually the smartest actress I've ever worked with. You have to get up very, very early in the morning to outwit Maggie Smith." "Jean Brodie," in which she played a dangerously charismatic Edinburgh schoolteacher, brought her the Academy Award for best actress, and the British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) as well in 1969. Smith added a supporting actress Oscar for "California Suite" in 1978, Golden Globes for "California Suite" and "Room with a View," and BAFTAs for lead actress in "A Private Function" in 1984, "A Room with a View" in... Read More