Colin Callender
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Executive
Colin Callender
Colin Callender an Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA award winning film and television producer and a Tony Award and Olivier Award winning theater producer, who founded the New York and London based production company Playground in 2012.
Callender began his career as stage manager at London's Royal Court Theater working with David Hare and Sam Shepard. He won his first Emmy for his work as producer of the television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby for Channel Four in England.
Under his Playground banner, Callender has produced over 90 hours of prime time television garnering 16 Emmy nominations, 26 BAFTA nominations and 12 Golden Globe nominations, including winning a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries.
These include the Golden Globe and BAFTA award-winning six-part miniseries Wolf Hall directed by Peter Kosminsky starring Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and Claire Foy for the BBC and Masterpiece PBS, Richard Eyre's acclaimed adaptation of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser for the BBC starring Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins. Other productions include Kenneth Lonergan's award-winning adaptation of E.M. Forster's Howards End for the BBC and Starz, Heidi Thomas's adaptation of Little Women for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS, Richard Eyre's acclaimed adaptation of King Lear starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson for BBC and Amazon Prime Video.
Most recently Callender has produced the critically acclaimed re-make of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small which played on the UK's Channel 5 and Masterpiece PBS to record-breaking audiences.
As the long-time president of HBO Films, Callender was responsible for an unprecedented award- winning slate of movies and miniseries, including Mike Nichols' celebrated adaptation of Angels in America starring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson, the Tom Hanks produced John Adams starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, and Gus van Sant's Elephant, winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
On Broadway Callender's recent productions include: the Tony and Olivier-Winning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Nora Ephron's Tony nominated Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut, Harvey Fierstein's Tony-nominated Casa Valentina, the Tony Award-winning revival of musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jez Butterworth's The River starring Hugh Jackman, the critically-acclaimed production of Macbeth starring Ken Branagh at The Park Avenue Armory in New York, and the Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen.
Callender is a Trustee of the New York Public Theater and the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He received a knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in the 2016 New Year's Honours list for his services to British film, theater and television in the US.
Callender began his career as stage manager at London's Royal Court Theater working with David Hare and Sam Shepard. He won his first Emmy for his work as producer of the television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby for Channel Four in England.
Under his Playground banner, Callender has produced over 90 hours of prime time television garnering 16 Emmy nominations, 26 BAFTA nominations and 12 Golden Globe nominations, including winning a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries.
These include the Golden Globe and BAFTA award-winning six-part miniseries Wolf Hall directed by Peter Kosminsky starring Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and Claire Foy for the BBC and Masterpiece PBS, Richard Eyre's acclaimed adaptation of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser for the BBC starring Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins. Other productions include Kenneth Lonergan's award-winning adaptation of E.M. Forster's Howards End for the BBC and Starz, Heidi Thomas's adaptation of Little Women for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS, Richard Eyre's acclaimed adaptation of King Lear starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson for BBC and Amazon Prime Video.
Most recently Callender has produced the critically acclaimed re-make of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small which played on the UK's Channel 5 and Masterpiece PBS to record-breaking audiences.
As the long-time president of HBO Films, Callender was responsible for an unprecedented award- winning slate of movies and miniseries, including Mike Nichols' celebrated adaptation of Angels in America starring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson, the Tom Hanks produced John Adams starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, and Gus van Sant's Elephant, winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
On Broadway Callender's recent productions include: the Tony and Olivier-Winning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Nora Ephron's Tony nominated Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut, Harvey Fierstein's Tony-nominated Casa Valentina, the Tony Award-winning revival of musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jez Butterworth's The River starring Hugh Jackman, the critically-acclaimed production of Macbeth starring Ken Branagh at The Park Avenue Armory in New York, and the Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen.
Callender is a Trustee of the New York Public Theater and the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He received a knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in the 2016 New Year's Honours list for his services to British film, theater and television in the US.
