The Football Club: Artist in Residence has been nominated for a Grierson Awards in Best Arts category. The Football Club takes portrait artist Tai Schierenberg on a behind-the-scenes journey through the trials and tribulations of a turbulent season at West Bromwich Albion Football Club, during which they fire three managers, a chief executive and a chairman and are, eventually, relegated.
4.6 million watch The Murder of Jill Dando
The reviews are in, as are the viewing figures. The Murder of Jill Dando on BBC One received 4.01 million viewers last night, with a 20% share of all viewers, beating the slot average of 3.4 million. Source - https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/ratings/bbc1s-jill-dando-doc-tops-4-million/5138283.article
BBC Breakfast Appearance
BBC Breakfast invited me on to talk about my latest film, The Murder of Jill Dando. We talked about Jill’s career and the shockwaves that news of death sent on the entire nation. #TheMurderOfJillDando aired on 2nd April 2019 is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
THE MURDER OF JILL DANDO - PRESS
Guardian - LUCY MANGAN
“The Murder of Jill Dando took us – quietly, carefully and unsensationally – through what remains an extraordinary, and unsolved, case. The programme wisely decided to keep out of the way and gave us an hour that was all the more moving for its spareness.”
The Times - JAMES JACKSON
4 STARS
“Plowright’s documentary brought back all those feelings with a level of restraint …”
“An anti-sensationalist retelling of a story that has provoked no end of sensationalism. If the film did anything, even with its sober recap of the twists and turns of the inquiry, it was simply to remind us how this murder case was as deeply strange as it was shocking.”
The Independent - SEAN o’GRADY
4 STARS
“This sensitively produced documentary … the producer and director of the film have made a fitting and balanced tribute to [Jill, something she deserves”
Daily Telegraph - CHRIS HARVEY
4 STARS
“The strength of the film was in director Marcus Plowright’s sensitive interviews with friends, colleagues and family, as well as with the oft-criticised and clearly still rankled detectives. Given that the film had to serve as both tribute and re-examination of the crime, it was lucid and powerful. But there remained an impression that there was more to say.”
The Football Club: Artist in Residence WINS! Broadcast Awards 2019
Last night The Football Club won Best Specialist Factual Programme at the Broadcast Awards 2019. We were up against Blue Planet and Grayson perry: Rites of Passage. One judge said they were amazed that “two subjects I had no interest in totally blew me away”. Team picture below. Big thank you to Channel 4 for making it all possible and a well done to all the team! Good night and good luck. MP
Storyvault Films Team Photo, Broadcast Awards 2019
THE FOOTBALL CLUB - PRESS
Broadcast Magazine
“It manages to be about failure, masculinity, creativity and community at the same time.. it gets my vote for the sheer ambition is pours into a commercial hour” - editor Chris Collins
Chris Curtis, Editor-in-chief: The Football Club: Artist in Residence (Channel 4)
Queer Eye, Bodyguard or the sexy Sabrina reboot? Nah, you’re all right – I’ll take a Tony Pulis ob-doc. Well, not quite. The Football Club: Artist in Residence gets my vote for the sheer ambition it pours into a single commercial hour. It manages to be ‘about’ failure, masculinity, creativity and community all at the same time, through the prism of football.
Artist Tai Schierenberg is the unlikely outsider slowly being accepted into world of West Bromwich Albion, and relishing it – much to his surprise.
He takes on the combined role of portrait painter, narrator and gentle interrogator to hear manager Pulis confront the inevitability of his sacking.
And he prompts Premier League players to give interviews in which they behave like actual human beings – no mean feat considering the stymied TV appearances that characterise top level footballers.
At a time when Britain’s divisions seem deeper than ever, it captures ordinary people articulating what it means to belong to something bigger than themselves. Long live the beautiful game.
GENERATION GIFTED - PRESS
The Telegraph, FEB 2018 by Gerard O'Donovan
”Impressively directed by Marcus Plowright and Luke Sewell, Generation Gifted was at its best highlighting how money isn’t the only, or even the biggest, obstacle poverty puts in place. The experiences of Anne-Marie and Shakira, less intensely focused than Jada, demonstrated how it corrodes confidence and self-esteem, the limits it places on horizons, plus the fear of failure and paralysing pressure to succeed it can impose”.
THE TIMES, FEB 2018 by CAROL MIDGLEY
“What made this documentary excellent was that it tackled the social mobility crisis not via graphs and studies, but from a child’s-eye view. From here the playing field looked not just tilted, but upended. It wasn’t just that two of the girls had disabled siblings and lived in impoverished households, it was that they thus lacked any self-confidence, which is half the battle. If no one in your family has ever been to university, how much harder it is to visualise the path”.
AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL - PRESS
BROADCAST, JULY 2017
"American high schools have been depicted in hundreds of movies and TV shows - but not many look like South Carolina’s Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.
Swan Films’ four-strong crew spent eight months at the 99% African-American, high poverty index and ‘at-risk’ school, documenting new principal Stephen Peters’ attempt to turn around its reputation. It was time well spent.
BBC Three’s American High School was an exceptional doc series that delivered perfectly for its audience. If
viewers had any preconceived ideas about life in a US school, they were quickly dispelled.
The six-part series - “uplifting and heart-breaking in equal measure”, according to one judge - was a huge
reputational success for the channel, and landed a BBC One repeat.
It focused on the stories of 17 and 18 year-olds as they came to the end of their school lives and contemplated
their futures. Filming for a full school year meant that life-changing events, from teen births to expulsions, were captured.
There was no commentary, with actuality and master interviews combining to give the series an intimate, immediate feel. In an exceptional year for BBC Three docs, this series was the standout."
THE GUARDIAN, NOVEMBER 2016 BY JULIA RAESIDE
"A high-stakes, high-school documentary series of quiet distinction."
"It feels as if the producers have played the long game here, spending time with their subjects over months, gaining their trust, putting them at ease."
"The relationships are incredibly touching but never schmaltzy. The show is a delicately filmed and edited thing, which keeps its distance and allows the emotion to speak for itself. Every participant is treated with careful, considered respect and the skill of the filmmaker (Marcus Plowright) is in drawing real feeling from their situations without resorting to head-patting sympathy. This is helped by Alexander Parsons’ impressive score, mixing tinges of the music the kids listen to with his own emotive arrangements. Six episodes of hope, just when it’s needed."
"Watching this heart-tugging series in the context of Donald Trump’s impending presidency raises the stakes horribly. If some of these students started out at an arguable disadvantage, you’re left to wonder what hope there is of social mobility in a country run by someone born to privilege with no understanding of struggle."
THE OBSERVER, OCTOBER 2016
"A moving look at both the US public school system and what it means to be young and black in America."
MUSLIM DRAG QUEENS - PRESS
THE OBSERVER
"Documentary of the week and one that deserves awards."
THE TELEGRAPH, AUGUST 2015 BY ANITA SINGH
"5 stars, *****"
"It could have been bleak, but this accomplished debut from first-time director Marcus Plowright, narrated by Ian McKellen, was everything a good documentary should be: powerful, often moving and expertly injecting the subject matter with a hefty dose of humour."
"Too many documentaries are of the point and sneer variety – Channel 4 being one of the worst offenders with shows such as Benefits Street. This commendable film did the opposite, and it sparkled."
THE INDEPEDENT, AUGUST 2015 BY AMY BURNS
"A touching insight into the life of Britain's first Muslim Drag Queen."
"The show made headlines even before it was broadcast, with those taking part being offered police protection amid fears about how the Muslim community would react.
And it's this reaction that was at the heart of what proved to be a hopeful – yet heartbreaking – introduction to a group of people who are desperately trying to live their lives within two communities that are completely at odds with one another.
THE GUARDIAN, AUGUST 2015
"Everyone who participated should be credited with bravery."
"Channel 4's controversial documentary about Muslim Drag Queens drew more than 1 million viewers on Monday night."
"The 60-minute documentary, which was narrated by Sir Ian McKellen, drew an average audience of 1.1 million viewers and a 6.9% share of all TV viewing between 10pm and 11pm."