Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, recognized as one of the premier film schools in the United States, announced today that award-winning director, writer and producer Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Midst, Coal Miner’s Daughter, The World is Not Enough, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Trader) will join the faculty as the Fall 2017 Marion Knott Distinguished Artist.

Every semester, Dodge College hosts expert filmmakers to meet with and counsel selected scholars, as part of its Distinguished Artists program. This popular program includes regular, bi-weekly meetings with the filmmaker in a one-on-one setting where the student and mentor have the opportunity to develop a specific creative project throughout the semester. In addition, the filmmakers interact with the larger Chapman community at weekly dinners open to students and screenings of the filmmaker’s films followed by an in-class Q & A.

Born in England and studying law and history at Cambridge University, Apted began his career as a researcher at Granada Television. Winning multiple British Academy awards for his television work, Apted made his directorial feature film debut with the tense war era drama Triple Echo, starring Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed before moving his work to America. Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) marked Apted’s first directing project in America. The movie garnered 7 nominations including Best Picture and won an Oscar for Sissy Spacek’s moving portrayal of country-western singer Loretta Lynn.  Apted has won a Grammy award for his work on Bring On The Night. In October 1999, Mr. Apted received the International Documentary Associations’ highest honor, the IDA Career Achievement Award.

Most prominently, Apted is known for his UP series. Beginning with a group of 14 British schoolchildren in 1963, Apted has since revisited this same group every seven years, following them through the twists and turns of life. For his work on this series, he has received multiple awards including the British Academy Award, International Emmy, as well as the International Documentary award.

Altogether, Apted’s films have received over 15 award nominations. Apted currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for the Directors Guild of America (DGA).