Director Mark James has made films on many renowned artists from the first film for the BBC on Damien Hirst and ‘YBAS’ like Sarah Lucas & Tracey Emin - Pop Artist Richard Hamilton and his student Bryan Ferry for the UK’s Channel 4 television to a film on Sir Michael Craig-Martin for the ‘What do artists do all Day?’ strand, also on the BBC. In addition, Mark has directed landmark films on historic figures like Van Gogh, Picasso and Matisse, also for television.

More recently, Mark and his Widestream Films associates have also made a number of distinguished films, commissioned directly by artists, curators and galleries. This page has further information about this exciting development. Please take a look and get in touch if you have a project idea at any stage that you’d like to discuss further.

As traditional broadcast tv has reduced its coverage of the arts, social media has filled a gap for many in the arts - it offers a quick and simple way to promote new work, a show or the artist behind it.

However, there remains a space for thought provoking and inspiring longer form films that explore an artist’s work, their ideas and the personality behind them in depth.

Director Mark James and his company Widestream Films have made a number of films commissioned directly by the artist or their gallery to explore aspects of an artists work. Working in collaboration with the artist gallery or curator, Mark brings years of expertise to each subject. Having been an art student, as well as a practicing artist  himself, as well as an award winning film maker, Mark brings a unique perspective and insight to each project.

Examples include ‘Painting without a Brush’ exploring Ian Davenport’s unique working processes.  A humorous film made with sculptor and performance artist Bruce McClean based on his book ‘Lawnmower in the Loft’ and ‘William Tillyer - The Golden Striker’ - a feature length documentary following the artist at work on a number of projects to coincide with an 80th birthday exhibition at the Bernard Jacobson Gallery. We were able to place the film on Amazon, Apple and other streaming platforms.

Recently, in collaboration with curator Celine Avrahami, Widestream Films produced ‘Face to Face’ - a film about brother and sister Gideon and Michal Rubin. The film juxtaposed Gideon’s figurative paintings with Michal’s photographic portraits. Interviews with the artists illuminated their lives and work in an innovative and thought provoking format.

The film formed a key part of the ‘Face to Face’ exhibition and added a popular and inspirational feature to the show.

A selection of our commissioned films are now available by following the link below.

We would be very happy to discuss any future projects with artist or gallery, so please do be in touch if the time feels right to start a conversation.

In the meantime, please enjoy the films on show here.