Barney Cokeliss is a multi-award-winning writer/director whose work has been selected by festivals including Sundance, TIFF and Venice.
He has just completed WORLD ON FIRE Series 2 for Mammoth Screen/BBC/PBS Masterpiece as joint-lead director, directing episode 2 and the season finale. The series stars Lesley Manville and Jonah Hauer-King and aired over summer 2023 to positive reviews and viewing figures. The Guardian called it “epic and masterful” and it won its slot on every night of its run on BBC One.
Barney has three projects in funded development as writer/director: a returnable series based on a story by China Miéville for new Banijay drama label Double Dutch; a feature based on a story by double Booker Prize winner Peter Carey; and a feature based on a story by the neuroscientist David Eagleman.
He has also recently delivered the pilot script for an adaptation of the acclaimed YA fantasy novel HEAP HOUSE by Edward Carey for Turbine Studios.
Barney is also an award-winning commercials director, who has helmed over £50M of commercials, shooting in 26 countries for clients including the NHS, Lexus, Credit Suisse (with Roger Federer) and Macmillan Cancer Support. LIKE THE NIGHT, Barney’s film for legendary camera brand Leica, was shot on three continents, won a slew of major international advertising awards, premiered at the Victoria & Albert Museum and was released in UK cinemas. He shoots frequently in France and is a fluent French speaker.
Barney’s short NIGHT DANCING premiered at TIFF and has recently ended a festival run winning over a dozen international awards.
Barney’s previous shorts include the 3D stereoscopic THE FOUNDLING, produced by Ridley Scott Associates, which won the Lumière Award alongside films by Scorsese, Wenders and Spielberg. One reviewer described it as “like David Lynch crossed with David Fincher”. The film was selected for Palm Springs and opened the Krakow Film Festival.
Barney also wrote and directed ‘Queen’s Park Story’, commissioned by the BBC, which premiered at Venice, and was described by The Observer as “the best British drama on television this year”.
Barney’s work reflects his talent for visual storytelling and emotional authenticity. “I’m drawn to projects where I get both to create cinematic impact and deliver something powerfully human”, he says. He marries a deep technical knowledge with an emotive touch with actors.
Barney lives in London. He took a double first in English Literature at Oxford, was a Visiting Fellow at Princeton and trained at the BBC as a Television Production Trainee.