Colin Callender: 'We're Missing the Big Personalities Who Took Big Risks' →

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Welcome to my second edition of The Mavens this week, a series of conversations with some of the smartest people I know in this industry to talk about the state of the business. These are people who have accomplished big things in their time and continue doing so, and who have, notably, built careers with longevity, and more importantly, have the ability to share their thoughts uncensored.

My second Maven is acclaimed, award-winning producer Colin Callender, one of the pioneers of British television and theater. After an early career in the British theatre, his TV breakthrough was the Emmy-winning 1983 adaptation of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Following the massive success of that production, he moved into a top job at HBO, becoming executive producer of the then-cable network’s newly formed East Coast production unit. At HBO, Callender was responsible for shepherding a plethora of hits, including the Emmy-winning miniseries Angels in America from Mike Nichols, Empire Falls with Paul Newman, and John Adams, which held the record for the most Emmys in a single year until last year, when Shōgun surpassed it.

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Colin Callender: The film, television, and theater producer answers 40 of life’s most pressing questions →

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One of only a handful of people to have won multiple Emmy, BAFTA, Olivier, Tony, and Golden Globe awards, Sir Colin Callender, through his work in television, film, and theater, has brought us Wolf Hall, All Creatures Great and Small, John Adams, Angels in America, La Vie en Rose, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the theatrical productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy, and countless other delights. Now the founder of Playground Entertainment has launched Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (currently airing on Masterpiece on PBS). The series stars Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, and its final episode will air on April 27. Herewith, Callender shares his key components to the good life. —Ashley Baker

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Colin Callender: ‘Americans love British TV. We must protect it’ →

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It’s been nearly 40 years since Sir Colin Callender, the prolific British film and TV producer and seasoned media executive, called London his home. And it shows: he very much fits the mould of an American tourist.

Nowadays, when he’s on business in the UK, the Manhattanite likes to take his meetings from a dingy booth at the back of an old-fashioned pub in Mayfair. His favourite order? A thickly battered portion of fish and chips with a pint of Guinness.

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Playground Entertainment promotes Scott Huff, David Stern to joint MDs →

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New York- and London-based production company Playground Entertainment has promoted Scott Huff and David Stern to joint MDs, giving them oversight of day-to-day operations as founder and executive chairman Colin Callender continues to focus to corporate strategy, coproductions and talent relationships. Huff and Stern will be charged with accelerating the growth of the transatlantic company, which has produced projects including BBC Two drama Wolf Hall, BBC/Starz crime series The Missing and Amazon’s King Lear adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins.

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Variety 500 - Colin Callender →

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Callender originally mounted “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” as a two-night, five-hour-plus stage spectacular in 2018, but when he returned the show to Broadway’s Lyric Theatre in December 2021, the version for post pandemic had been pared down to a still spectacular three and a half hours. That “single play” version has since opened in Melbourne, Toronto and Tokyo, while the original two-parter continued on in Hamburg, Germany, and London’s West End. An Emmy winner for 1982’s “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby,” Callender in 2022 launched new seasons of TV shows he produced: “Dangerous Liaisons” (Starz), starring Lesley Manville and Carice van Houten; Peter Kosminsky’s “The Undeclared War” (Peacock/Channel 4), with Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance; and James Herriot’s “All Creatures Great and Small” (Masterpiece on PBS/Channel 5).  

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‘Harry Potter’ producer has quite a packed ‘Callender’ →

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After producer Colin Callender opened “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” on Broadway, he didn’t have much time to reflect on the raves.

Days later, he was at the US premiere of his PBS and Masterpiece miniseries “Little Women,” which stars newcomer Maya Hawke, daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, as well as Angela Lansbury, Michael Gambon and Emily Watson. (Maya’s also just been cast in the next season of “Stranger Things.”)

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Producer Colin Callender On His Next Chapter, Converging Theater, Film & Television And Taking On Harry Potter →

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Colin Callender‘s first producing effort, a nine-hour TV adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s stage production of The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby launched UK’s Channel 4 and won him his first Emmy in 1983. After a stint as an independent producer in his native Britain, Callender joined HBO where he shepherded films and miniseries like Angels In America, John Adams, Maria Full Of Grace and American Splendor to the tune of 104 Emmy Awards, 29 Golden Globes, 3 Oscars, and top awards at the Sundance Film Festival. Since leaving HBO in 2008, he has kept a low profile.

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