May Miles Thomas facts for kids

May Miles Thomas is a talented filmmaker from Scotland. She is known for her work as a film director and screenwriter. This means she helps create movies by guiding the actors and crew, and also writes the stories for them.

About May Miles Thomas

May Miles Thomas was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1959. She went to Hillhead High School and then studied design and photography at the Glasgow School of Art.

May started her career in the mid-1980s at BBC Television. She began by designing sets for shows and then moved on to directing music videos and documentaries about art. Later, she started making music videos and commercials as a freelance artist, meaning she worked for herself.

In 1995, she started her own company called Elemental Films. This company helps produce movies and other projects. Her script, The Beauty of the Common Tool, received special funding and was directed by Owen Thomas.

In 1996, May became a Fellow of the Nipkow Programm in Berlin. This is a special program that helps filmmakers develop their skills. There, she wrote two movie scripts: Ringing the True and One Life Stand. She also attended film workshops in Denmark and Germany to learn more about filmmaking.

Since the late 1990s, May Miles Thomas has focused on writing and directing feature films. She lives in Glasgow with her husband, Owen Thomas. The British Film Institute has even named her one of the top 10 most productive women directors in Britain!

May Miles Thomas's Films

Here are some of the films May Miles Thomas has worked on:

• 1997 The Beauty of the Common Tool (a short film)
• 1999 Colentina (a documentary)
• 2000 One Life Stand (a full-length movie)
• 2003 Solid Air (a full-length movie)
• 2009 The Devil's Plantation (an interactive project)
• 2013 The Devil's Plantation (an app and a full-length movie)
• 2017 Voyageuse (a full-length movie)

One Life Stand (2000)

In 1999, May Miles Thomas wrote and directed her very first full-length movie, One Life Stand. This film was special because it was made with a very small budget using a miniDV camera and shot in black and white. It was one of the first British digital feature films, showing that great movies could be made without huge costs.

May did many jobs on this film, including writing the story, directing, filming, and editing. The movie received great reviews and won five Scottish BAFTAs, which are important film awards. It was also shown at many film festivals around the world, like the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Solid Air (2003)

After the success of One Life Stand, May Miles Thomas directed her second feature film, Solid Air, in 2003. This movie starred well-known actors like Brian McCardie and Gary Lewis. It was filmed in Glasgow in 2002 and received funding from several film organizations.

Solid Air was first shown at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2003. It was also selected for many other film festivals, including Cinequest Film Festival and International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.

The Devil's Plantation (2007-2013)

In 2007, May Miles Thomas won an award to create The Devil's Plantation. This was a cool interactive website and multimedia project. It explored the hidden history and secret paths of Glasgow.

Later, in 2013, this project was turned into an app for phones and tablets, and also a full-length movie. The movie was shown at the Glasgow Film Festival and in cinemas across Scotland.

Voyageuse (2017)

In 2014, May Miles Thomas began working on Voyageuse, a feature film based on the life of her late mother-in-law, Erica Thomas. Erica was born in Hungary in 1933, moved to the UK in 1938, and was a scientist during the Cold War.

The film was shot in 2016 in the UK, Spain, and the United States. It stars the famous actress Dame Siân Phillips. Voyageuse was finished in 2017 and first shown to the public at the Glasgow Film Festival in March 2018.

Awards and Recognition

May Miles Thomas has received many awards for her amazing work in film:

• Best Film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 1997 for The Beauty of the Common Tool.
• The Beauty of the Common Tool was even shortlisted for Best Live Action Short at the Academy Awards in 1998!
• She received the Nipkow Fellowship in 1997.
• Best Film and Best Actor at the New York Silicon Alley Film Festival in 2000 for One Life Stand.
• For One Life Stand, she also won Best Film, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Actress at the BAFTA New Talent Awards in 2000.
• One Life Stand received a Best Film commendation at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2000.
• She earned an Outstanding Achievement Award from Scottish Screen in 2000.
• Best Achievement in Production at the British Independent Film Awards in 2000 for One Life Stand.
• She was awarded a NESTA Fellowship in 2000.
• Her script Ringing the True was a European Screenplay Finalist at the Sundance Institute/NHK International Filmmakers Awards in 2001.
• For Solid Air, she won Best Director and Best Cinematography at the Festroia International Film Festival in Portugal in 2003.
• In 2003, HM Queen Elizabeth II named her a Pioneer to the Life of the Nation for her contributions to British Cinema.
• She received the Creative Scotland Award from the Scottish Arts Council in 2007.
• The Devil's Plantation website won Best Interactive Project at the BAFTA New Talent Awards in 2010.
• The Devil's Plantation movie was nominated for the Cineworld Audience Award at the BAFTA Scotland Film and Television Awards in 2013.
• Voyageuse won The Discovery Award at the British Independent Film Awards 2018.

See also

• Cinema of Scotland