CREATOR
PAUL MCNEILLY
Paul is an established British character actor with a highly impressive body of work, including over 70 TV and Film appearances to his credit, most notably Friday Night Dinner, Merlin, and Taggart. He is also an experienced playwright, director and producer whose plays have been staged at The Traverse (English Representative at the International Festival), Southwark Playhouse, and eminent fringe venues including The Old Red Lion, and The White Bear. He has staged further shows at Grow in Tottenham, and Matchstick’s Pie House in Deptford. He also ran the Hoxton Film Festival and the Tight Shorts Film Club.
Check out Paul’s profiles
FILMMAKING
He has recently completed three films with Kevin McNally, ‘Daysleepers’, ‘Jack!’ and ‘Lipstick’ (which has, so far, been accepted into 14 film festivals). Another short, ‘The Hatter’ was an award winner at the London International Web and Short Film Festival.
Currently, he also has a feature film in pre-production, an eco-folk-supernatural thriller, ‘The Battle of Rhiannon Wood’, and another short in post-production: ‘The Lightworker’, which will double as a promo for a TV series.
Paul directed the powerful short film ‘Johnny Legbreaker’, for which he was nominated for Best Director at the Watergate Film Festival.
Paul has written and directed an internet series, ‘Arthur Schemmings – The Relentless Rise of a Modern Master’, with Tom Hopper from BBC1’s ‘Merlin’, and Bubble and Squeak’s own Charlie Clapham, from Hollyoaks. The screenplay for ‘Arthur Schemmings’ was selected for Sarah Berger’s ‘Write On’ Screenplay Festival at County Hall, SE1. The first 6 episodes are available online.
ACTING
After leaving the Poor School, Paul made his TV debut in Van der Valk, then quickly followed this with roles in The Bill, Open Fire, Fool’s Gold, The Magician, Soldier Soldier, Thief Takers, Lovejoy and Running Late (written by Simon Gray) for BBC’S Screen One strand.
His breakthrough came playing Les in 11 Men Against 11 for Hattrick Productions on Channel Four, alongside Timothy West, James Bolam, Kevin McNally and Jake Wood. This was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Single Drama and won the RTS and British Comedy Award for the Best Comedy Drama.
He appeared opposite Daniel Craig and Malcolm McDowall in Our Friends in the North, which won both a BAFTA and the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Serial.
Paul starred in two series of The Knock alongside ‘The Guv’nor’, Lennie McLean (as his son), and appeared in Lock, Stock The Series on Channel Four. He played Captain Smedley in the BBC2 costume drama about the slave trade, A Respectable Trade, which was nominated for a Bafta for Best Drama Serial.
Paul featured in three episodes of the Emmy award winning series Tenth Kingdom, the biggest US TV production of its time.
Paul appeared in indie feature Saxon where he played the pivotal role of Kevin. The film won Best European Drama at the ECU European Independent Film Festival and was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The following year he appeared in indie feature Zebra Crossing, playing brutal policeman DCI Knowles, which also won Best European Drama at the ECU European Independent Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the Raindance Film Festival.
He played the role of a psychotic transvestite, Auntie to excellent reviews in the horror film Community, which opened the Frightfest Film Festival in 2012.
Other TV and film appearances include Casualty, Holby City, McCready and Daughter, Hotel Babylon, Black Beauty (Warner Bros), Shopping, Mike Bassett – England Manager, and Outlaws (directed by Nick Love).
CASTING
Paul is also heavily involved in productions for other companies. He has either directly cast, or assisted casting 9 feature films, 24 short films, 20 theatre productions and 32 theatrical showcases.
He has recently assisted with the casting of a new feature film, ‘Killer Weekend’ starring Mark Heap, and a short ‘A Guest From The Past’.
He has assisted in the casting of several feature films, including ‘This Is Essex’, ‘Zebra Crossing’, ‘Game Over’, and ‘Community’, along with a pilot for TV ‘Plastic Gangsters’ as well as casting many read-throughs and short films.
STAGE
His latest play ‘The Court of Smiles’, was produced in London by the East London Shakespeare Company in July 2017, followed by a special platform performance in 2019 as part of a new initiative called Canned Aid – conceived and initiated by Paul – whereby audiences are asked to donate food for local food banks rather than pay an admission fee. Performers and contributors also donate their time for the project.
Another Canned Aid production – ‘Confessions of a Day Sleeper’ – a raw study of mental illness and its effects on sufferers and carers – was staged at the Red Lion, in Shoreditch
His play, ‘Bubble and Squeak’ premiered at the London Theatre, for the Lewisham Fringe Festival, November 2013. It was staged at Rolling Stock and The Bridge in Shoreditch to excellent reviews and a last night standing ovation.
Paul’s site specific/ immersive play ‘The Glitch and Turn’, ran for eight years, and enjoyed its latest run to packed houses at Rolling Stock, Shoreditch, and the Old King’s head in London Bridge, in the summer of 2014.
Paul’s second play, ‘Not Gods But Giants’, was selected for Theater Museum Playwright Festival, Convent Garden and had runs at the White and the Red Lion. It was then invited to be England’s representative at the prestigious Traverse, Edinburgh Festival, produced and directed by Paul with his company ‘Thirteen Treasures Theatre Co’.
After producing a successful initial run of his play ‘Egon Schiele‘ at the Duke of Cambridge, directed by Tony James, Paul produced and directed a second well-received three week run at The White Bear, donating all proceeds to St. Luke’s Hospice, Basildon.
His short plays, ‘Cycles’ and ‘Spirals’, were selected for the Bury Festival and the Springboard Festival, Carriageworks, Leeds respectively.
FURTHER TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Paul has also taught, and devised, courses for
The Society of Friends, and at The City Academy,
The International School of Screen Acting,
The Emporium (Brighton),
Farnborough College,
The Compass Theatre,
and APT Drama School.
He is a frequent judge at ELSC’s duologue slam events in East London.