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Paul was
born in London in 1969 and moved to Stevenage in 1975. It
wasn't long before he was shooting Super 8 films, becoming
by the age of 15 a prolific maker of short films.
After
leaving school he immediatley began making music videos for
local bands. Over the following years he shot promo's for
Fire Records, Bluebeat Records, Unicorn Records, P.M.I., culminating
in 1987 with the 60 minute concert video The Legendary
Laurel Aitken live at Gaz's Rockin' Blues.
Paul went
on to make another four short films before producing, in 1990,
Danny Cannon's Play Dead at the National Film and Television
School. When the 55 minute film was screened on Channel Four
it received an audience of 3 million - the highest ever achieved
by a U.K. student film. Danny Cannon later remade Play
Dead as the feature film The Young Americans.
In January
1991 Paul embarked on the feature film The
Frontline - a crazy endeavour, shot at weekends over
a period of six months on a budget of £8,000. Although nearly
destroying Paul financially and mentally, upon it's release
in 1993, it received much acclaim;
"Paul
Hills does not so much create a hell on the screen as show
exactly the kind of hell we live in". Manchester Film
Festival
Boston
Kickout - Paul's award winning autobiographical
1996 film, was his first budgeted feature. Screened at over
50 international film festivals, including Cairo and Tokyo,
the film was runner up in audience votes at the London and
San Sebastian Film Festivals, the Bermuda Film Festival making
it the winner. At the Valencia Cinema Jove Film Festival it
won "Best Film" and the lead actor, John Simm "Best Actor".
"Boston
Kickout is an electrifying British debut" Empire Magazine.
"A
must see" Premiere Magazine
"Brilliant"
The Guardian
"One
of the BEST British films I've seen" Danny Boyle.
Since
1998 Paul has been successfully directing commercials including
the award winning Great Escape commercial for Umbro
and more recently the 3 minute advert for market leading Japanese
beauty company Shiseido which plays in entire advert breaks.
Paul has
also continued to direct pop promos. "Company Car", for rock
group Jackie on Assid, having been voted 5th best video
1999 in a Pixelon MTV video poll.
Recently
Paul has directed Channel 5's Urban Gothic episodes Lacuna
and Cry Wolf, the short film f2point8 and the
documentary Good as Gold. He is currently preparing
to shoot the feature film Raving Beauties.
Since
1996 Paul has sat on the Executive committee of the New
Producers Alliance (NPA), becoming Vice-Chair in 1997,
then Co-Chair in 1998 and 2000. Now Paul sits as a Trustee.
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