Today we’d like to introduce you to Peter Markham.
Hi Peter, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Prior to my career as author, consultant, and educator, I directed Second Unit for Martin Scorsese on GANGS OF NEW YORK (Nominated for 9 Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture), and for Anthony Minghella on THE ENGLISH PATIENT (Winner, 9 Academy Awards in 1997, including Best Picture). As a director in my own right in the UK, I directed TV drama for the BBC and Granada while my film THE CORMORANT, starring Ralph Fiennes, was nominated for a BAFTA Wales Award.
As Head of Directing at the American Film Institute Conservatory, Los Angeles from 2010 to June 2018 and as Senior Lecturer in Directing from 2003-2010, I mentored some 450 new directors, most of whom I selected for the program, many now working as directors but also as writers and producers, a substantial number of whom have achieved outstanding success within the industry, at major festivals across the world, and the Academy. I also inspired dozens of new filmmakers in AFI’s prestigious Directing Workshop for Women, have given courses for the Rising Voices Program, am a Lead Instructor with Sundance Collab, and a UCLA Professional Directors Program Instructor.
My first book WHAT’S THE STORY?—THE DIRECTOR MEETS THEIR SCREENPLAY was published by Focal Press/Routledge in September 2020. My second book THE ART OF THE FILMMAKER: THE PRACTICAL AESTHETICS OF THE SCREEN was published by Oxford University Press in October 2023. My third book THE ZEN OF THE DIRECTOR: MIND AND PROCESS FOR THE FILMMAKER was published by Sticking Place Books in November 2025. My eBook THE SIX WAYS TO LEARN DIRECTING is also now available.
Born in South London, I have lived in the States for over twenty-five years and am married to fashion designer Barbara Tfank.
“The most important teacher I’ve ever had and one of the most essential support systems. I just can’t speak highly enough about him. I think he’s a brilliant mind and an incredibly generous spirit. He’s somebody who cares very deeply not only about his students, in the case of AFI his “Fellows” that were under his tutelage, but also about the medium that he’s teaching. He cares very deeply about cinema and is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about it. I count myself incredibly lucky to have studied underneath him.”
Ari Aster
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t even been a road! Sometimes a mountain, at other moments a stormy sea, on occasions a desert, not often enough a smooth flowing stream, but always a process of learning, which it continues to be. Nobody in my family had ever worked in film. No one had even gone to college, at least for about seven generations, as I’ve discovered. My mother told me that I would never get into film and TV because I didn’t know the right people. There’s a lot of truth in that if you are not born into the privileged classes in England, although if you have the right material, if you had really good material, that can help overcome those obstacles. When I was 18 years-old at grammar school in England there was a visit from professional actors to give us a seminar on Hamlet, the play we were studying for our exam. Because I was kind of rebellious, had long hair, wore all black, that kind of thing, I was chosen to play the antic prince, terrible actor that I am. Afterwards I spoke to one of the visiting actors. Her name was Bessie Love. She had been an American silent movie star! I asked her whether it might be possible for me to get into film, and she said why not, why shouldn’t I do that? That was the first time anybody had given me permission to go ahead. So it was because of the inspiration I took from silent movie star Bessie love that I’m here today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m most proud of the work I do in consultations with other filmmakers. I never tell them what to do, but I try to find out what their intentions are or help them clarify these. Then we can look at what is working and what is not working. This requires a contribution from both sides of the brain. That’s what excites me: the symbiosis of intuition and intellect. James Baldwin said that the purpose of art is to uncover the questions that the answers have hidden. I believe very much in that and I try to find with the filmmaker the questions they want to ask, or even the questions their material is wanting to ask, something that often comes from the artist’s subconscious. I also very much enjoy teaching class, not because I tell filmmakers what they must do or what kind of films they must make, but I try to get them to look at fundamentals and at the questions people have forgotten to ask so that they can find their own way forward, with themselves as artists and with their material as art. Of course I’m proud of the film.I made years ago with Ralph Fiennes in Wales called The Cormorant. I’m very proud of my work on The English Patient with a lot of the desert scapes and the epic shots I was able to create as second unit director. Very proud of my work for Martin Scorsese on Gangs of New York, most of which was about showing details, but then, as the great filmmaker himself said to me, these insert shots are some of his favorite things. This attention to the detail of object and image up on the screen to me is just exhilarating. I must say it’s also a great privilege to be able to work with filmmakers from different generations in class. It’s a gift!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
If I may, can I mention my eBook THE SIX WAYS TO LEARN DIRECTING? This points to where the aspiring filmmaker might look. Most importantly, they should look to their self. Whatever else they do, they should find the critical mentor within their self. They might also of course look to a film school, taking into consideration the many different types of these institutions. They should look to the particular films that excite them and allow the filmmaking in those movies to become a mentor. They can find books written by their favorite directors or by helpful educators, and those books can provide mentorship. There’s any number of online courses and classes too, some of which are very good, others not so good—but it’s up to the student to find what works for them. If they get a chance to “shadow “a director during production that would be great, but those opportunities are hard to find. There’s a bonus way in the e-book, but if I mention that I’ll be giving everything away. As for myself, it’s been very hard to find a mentor. I didn’t come from the sophisticated classes and probably missed the merits of people around me from who I could have learned so much. To tell the truth, I regard my students as my best mentors. They give me my most valuable lessons. Working with Martin Scorsese was incredibly instructive also, as you can imagine. He’s a natural teacher. He can’t help it, just a wonderful educator with every conversation you have with him. I also value some of the educators I met at AFI: Gill Dennis, Frank Pierson, former president of the Academy, and Jim McBride. I like to find mentors too in areas of my reading outside of filmmaking. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein has been very important to me, especially with his book Philosophical Investigations. James Baldwin, and Susan Sontag have been very powerful mentors in their writing and reflections. Yes, it’s very important to look for mentors in every area of life.
Pricing:
- My online live/recorded classes vary in price according to duration.
- I have rates for consultations dependent on the filmmaker and their film.
- My cheapest book is my eBook THE SIX WAYS TO LEARN DIRECTING, at only $8.50 on Payhip..
- Also inexpensive THE ZEN OF THE DIRECTOR. $14 from Amazon or Sticking Place Books.
- Or splash out on THE ART OF THE FILMMAKER—around $40 on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.filmdirectingclass.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filmdirectingclass/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/filmdirectingclass
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-markham-461943168/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@filmdirectingclass6959
- Other: https://petermarkham.substack.com
