Producer Simon Channing Williams’ career started at the BBC where he worked with many directors, including Stephen Frears, James MacTaggart, Mike Newell, Michael Apted and Mike Leigh.

Outside his relationship with Mike Leigh and Thin Man Films, Simon Channing Williams has produced a number of other films, including Puccini for director Tony Palmer, When the Whales Came directed by Clive Rees, and Jack and Sarah, directed by Tim Sullivan, which was an enormous hit at the UK box-office, as well as Nick Love’s debut feature Goodbye Charlie Bright.

In 2000 he formed the independent production company Potboiler Productions with Gail Egan. Together they have produced seven feature films including an adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby directed by Douglas McGrath, the rock epic Brothers of the Head directed by Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe, and the Oscar winning The Constant Gardener directed by Fernando Meirelles. Potboiler has acquired the rights to the latest John le Carre novel The Mission Song, and Simon and Gail are joint executive producers on Fernando Meirelles’ current film Blindness.

As a result of filming The Constant Gardener Simon was instrumental in setting up The Constant Gardener Trust which is building a secondary school in the desert town of Loiyangalani some 600 km north of Nairobi. The Trust is also building showers and lavatories in the Nairobi slum of Kibera as well as installing 10,000 litre water towers (www.constantgardenertrust.org)

He was given the honour of being made an elder of Loiyangalani and was awarded the Order of the Grand Warrior in recognition of both his work with The Constant Gardener film and The Constant Gardener Trust.