Norman England (director)

Norman England
Born Norman England
(1959-04-24) April 24, 1959
San Mateo, California, United States
Occupation Film director, actor, writer, photographer
Years active 1994 – present

Norman England (born April 24, 1959) is a film director, actor and film reporter based primarily in Japan. As a reporter he has extensively covered the Millennium Godzilla movies and the new wave of Japanese horror. To date he is the only non-Japanese to have worn the iconic Godzilla suit during production.

He directed his first film The iDol in 2005.

Early life, set reporting, and film subtitling

England was born in San Mateo, California in 1959, and moved to New York City in 1963. From 1978 to 1991, he was a member of the New York City based rock group Proper iD alongside bandmates Lach and Geoff Notkin, who went on to star in the Science Channel reality show Meteorite Men.

He emigrated to Japan in 1993 and soon established himself as a writer of the kaiju movie genre. In 1998, he spent a week on the set of George A. Romero's television commercial for the Capcom video game Resident Evil 2, where he met Anthony Ferranti who introduced him to the editors of Fangoria magazine. In 1999, England became the Japan correspondent for Fangoria, through which he became the first westerner to write about the new wave of Japanese horror movies in the mainstream press. During this time he has also written for publications including Hobby Japan, Japanzine, Starlog, Flix, Japanese Giants, and The Japan Times.

As he is based in Japan, England has been able to spend much time on the sets of the films themselves, often logging days beyond simple reporter visits. He spent more than 100 days on set of the Millennium Godzilla series of movies produced between 1999 and 2004, including the 2001 movie Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack on which he visited the set almost continuously from April to October and became the only non-Japanese to have worn the Godzilla suit while the a movie was actively in production.

During his time reporting, England has taken on small speaking parts and background acting in various movies and TV productions.[1][2]

Since asked by director Yoshihiro Nishimura to create the English subtitles for the film Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, England has been subtitling Japanese films on a regular basis, working for directors such as Shusuke Kaneko, Nishimura, Noboru Iguchi, Hideo Nakata, Tak Sakaguchi and Yukihiko Tsutsumi.

In 2012, England began to write for Eiga Hiho, one of Japan's premier cinema magazines. His monthly column "Grindhouse USA" recounts his experiences working in New York City's Times Square during the 1980s and the cinema culture that existed there before the area's renovation in the 1990s.

Directing career

England began to think about making his own movie after following the production of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack in 2001. He conceived the idea for his debut film The iDol in 2002 and began shooting in 2005. The movie premiered at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal on July 16, 2006.

In 2007 he was commissioned the direct the documentary film Bringing Godzilla Down to Size: The Art of Japanese Special Effects for Classic Media. The documentary received its world premiere at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on August 3, 2008.[3] It was later released as part of Rodan And War Of The Gargantuas DVD set released on September 9, 2008.[4] It most recently played at the Fantasia Festival in Canada on July 26, 2009.[5]

England shot his second narrative film Feed Me in 2008. A low-budget horror short, the film was released exclusively as an internet download in April 2009.[6] Following this he directed the short It's All Good in 2009.[7] It premiered on the SKY PerfecTV! satellite channel on February 28, 2010,[8] and received its theatrical premiere at the Yubari Film Festival on March 26, 2010.[9]

Director filmography

Actor filmography

Upcoming

References

  1. ↑ "IDOL WORSHIP".
  2. ↑ "INTERVIEW: BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE- PART 2".
  3. ↑ "The 8th Annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror & Science Fiction".
  4. ↑ "Rodan & War of the Gargantuas DVD".
  5. ↑ "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size: The Art of Japanese Special Effects".
  6. ↑ "J-horror vs. A-horror in on-line short FEED ME".
  7. ↑ "Filming Begins On Norman England's It's All Good".
  8. ↑ "Sky PerfecTV! listings".
  9. ↑ "2010 Yubari Film Festival Schedule" (PDF).

Japan Times profile article


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