Mike Leigh and Simon Channing Williams first met back in 1980, when Simon was First Assistant Director on Mike’s BBC film Grown-Ups, starring Brenda Blethyn.  They worked together again a few years later when Simon co-produced The Short and Curlies (1987) and High Hopes (1988), both for Portman Productions.

Having forged a close personal and working relationship, it seemed natural for them to form their own company.  Thin Man Films – affectionately named for their respectively generous figures – was born.

With Simon at the helm, Thin Man produced the next eight of Mike’s feature films; Life is Sweet (1990), Naked (1993), Secrets & Lies (1996), Career Girls (1997), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All Or Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004) and Happy-Go-Lucky (2008).

In 2008, Thin Man put together its own our celebration of Mike’s work: the ten-disc DVD ‘Mike Leigh Box Set’, which comprises seven of the Thin Man features, plus Bleak Moments (1971), Meantime, (1984) High Hopes (1988) and the short film written by and starring Jim Broadbent, A Sense of History (1992).

In 2009, Georgina Lowe, Simon’s long-time co-producer, debuted as Producer on Another Year (2010).  A new partner for Mike in Thin Man Films, Georgina has since produced Mike’s forthcoming short film, A Running Jump (2011), commissioned as part of the London 2012 festival.

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