Stuart Bernard
agent: Natalie Spanier - natalie@sternwild.com
Stuart Bernard is a highly sought after film maker and visual thinker with cinematic flair and a proven track-record in finding surprising and bold ways to tell complex stories.
He specialises in directing sensitive, access-led documentaries and has delivered to Sky Documentaries, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Netflix . From single films to limited series, he moves easily between immersive, unfolding observation, and retrospective story-telling. He is an accomplished docs DOP as well as director but is equally at home managing large crews for drama-documentary.
Stuart’s first documentary hour was for the BAFTA winning Our War in 2011, for which he gained groundbreaking access to British soldiers, using their own POV helmet camera footage for the first time. Since then his distinct visual style has been instrumental in bringing audiences to embrace difficult or unusual stories, often featuring challenging characters.
Across the last few years he has become adept at bringing drama and emotion to the most complicated narratives. That work can be seen in the highly original The Mighty Redcar (BBC), in drama-documentaries High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule and The Man Who Bought Cricket (Sky Documentaries), as well as most recently in the acclaimed BBC THREE documentary series Chloe Ayling: My Unbelievable Kidnapping, for which he was Consultant Director.
Stuart is not just a film maker, but someone who understands the creative challenges of series narratives and managing teams to execute them at a senior level . Here he works in more of a Showrunner capacity working alongside his Executive Producers. His approach embodies a flexible and collegiate management style proven to overcome challenges, without sacrificing editorial and creative ambition. Each project he has series directed has involved the management of large teams with varying degrees of experience (from C4’s 24 Hours in A&E to BBC’s Surgeons: At the Edge of Life). In particular, nurturing and promoting up and coming talent, from assistant producers to new directors, is something that he has embraced as one of the most important elements of his work.
His most recent project as series director was a reboot and updating of the BBC’s iconic Life and Death Row, currently long-listed for the ‘best returning documentary series’ Grierson Award. He has previously won BAFTA, RTS and Broadcast Awards, including an RTS Craft Award - Best Photography (The Mighty Redcar). He is currently working on a Netflix series about a major celebrity.