User:Mrpetermartin/Peter Martin (Writer/Producer/Owner Surreal Films)

Peter was a journalist specialising in music and film in the 1980’s, working for the The Face, Sunday Times, Spin, Actuel (Fr), and many of the leading European entertainment magazines. During this time he interviewed such diverse subjects as Madonna, Diego Maradona, Wham! (in China), Federico Fellini, and notably was the only journalist allowed into the legendary Band Aid recording. In 1987 he developed his own magazine for Rupert Murdoch at News International ‘Sky’ on which he later became the Editor.

In 1989 he moved into television, producing features for the award-winning Channel 4 music series ‘Wired’. Moving to Los Angeles in 1990 he developed the world’s first global culture TV series for Fox and the BBC. which went onto be produced as 'Passengers'. At Hollywood Records he made the Grammy nominated documentary ‘Lifers’.

Moving back to England in 1996 David Puttnam hired Peter to set up the National Film & Television School’s new digital production division CREATEC, where he wrote and produced a series of groundbreaking digital films using for artists such as Nick Cave, David Bowie, Peter Greenaway and Nick Knight. 2001 Peter became the Creative Director of Ealing Film Studios. He formed Procreation Films with Sadie Frost, their first film, ‘Come What May’ went into development at Ealing Studios, their second, ‘Pyramid’, written with Simon Aboud, went into development with Ron Rotholz Films. and Peter’s third full screenplay, 'Blood is Sweeter than Honey - the Surreal Life of Salvador Dali' went into development with the International Film Consortium & Buena Onda Films.

2004 Peter was the main writer/producer/backstage Director on the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show for CBS, featuring Gisele, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum Sting, Mary J Blige and 25 Supermodels, that captured 11 million viewers in the US (making it the second most watched US live event next to Superbowl). 2005 Peter was the MD at Europe’s leading music production company Done and Dusted Films where he wrote the screenplay ‘Star 69’, a parody of the music awards industry which multi Emmy and Grammy award-winning Director Hamish Hamilton is slated to Direct.

2006 Peter set up his own production company Surreal Films. Through Surreal Peter has Directed and Produced a number of short art documentaries about the artists Andy Goldsworthy, Vik Muniz and Lee Mingwei. Surreal also Produced Orange/BAFTA’s “60 Seconds of Fame” project, 3 groundbreaking short filmswith Directors Ken Russell, Martha Fiennes and Julia Jason (starring award winning actors Natalie Press and Eddie Redmayne).

Surreal produced a feature length doc The Workshop for Buena Onda Films, which premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, and was released in the UK by Revolver in 2008. Peter also produced 'Extraordinary Garbage' for Almega Projects/02 Filmes, a theatrical documentary that follows the renowned Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and a group of landfill scavengers on an emotional journey from the world’s biggest garbage dump in Rio de Janeiro to the most prestigious auction house in London via the alchemic transformation of everyday trash into high art. The film is Executive Produced by Fernando Mereilles (Director of 'City of God', 'Constant Gardener" and 'Blindness')

Peter co-created Phoo Action with Jamie Hewlett (creator of Tank Girl and Gorillaz) and Mat Wakeham, for the BBC which won a Scottish BAFTA for Best New Drama.

In 2009 Peter set up NETWORK with a number of internationally reknowned Directors to work in the emerging space of branded online content.

For SURREAL he is currently producing a number of feature length docs, including ‘Brand X’ and ‘Weapon of Choice’.

www.surrealfilms.co.uk