John Edginton
Directing
Biography
John Edginton is an award-winning producer, writer and director of documentary films. He has made films for virtually every documentary strand on British TV as well as for the US channels HBO, A&E, the Sundance Channel, VH1. Notable investigative documentaries have included "Mumia Abu Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?" for HBO - now available on itunes - and "Chappaquiddick" for the BBC and A&E . Music and arts docs include "The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story" for the BBC and "Robyn Hitchcock- Sex, Food, Death ..and Insects" for the Sundance Channel and BBC4. John is also an executive producer and consultant on documentary projects .He has helped to guide projects as diverse as "Bellevue - Inside Out" for HBO and the Emmy-nominated series " Monty Python Almost the Truth - the Lawyers' Cut" for IFC channel in the US and the BBC in the UK. He was the production consultant on the BAFTA-nominated documentary ,"Freddie Mercury : The Great Pretender", shown in the Imagine series on the BBC in the UK. He is a regular speaker on the issues and process of documentary film-making at screenings, festivals and universities in the US and the UK.
Known For

Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.
Omnibus

The full bizarre, tragic but celebratory story of Syd Barrett, the co-founder of Pink Floyd.
The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story

The turbulent life of soul and blues singer, the late Joe Cocker. A former gas fitter from Sheffield, catapulted to world stardom in 1969 at Woodstock with his legendary performance of the Beatles song, "A Little Help from My Friends". But in the early 1970s, Joe Cocker's inner demons nearly killed him. Overcoming his struggles with alcohol and drugs, he rebuilt his reputation as "one of the great primal rock and roll vocalists of all time" (Billy Joel's description). The film mixes Joe Cocker's own words, with rare archive. His wife (Pam Cocker) & family, friends and the legendary songwriters and musicians he collaborated with, tell Joe Cocker's story. The film has raw, historic, electric performance footage throughout. Extensive interviews of key people through his life include: Pam Cocker, Ben Fong-Torres (Rolling Stone magazine editor), Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Billy Joel, Rita Coolidge, Deric Dyer, Glyn Johns, and numerous others.
Joe Cocker: Mad Dog with Soul

Wish You Were Here, released in September 1975, was the follow up album to the globally successful The Dark Side Of The Moon and is cited by many fans, as well as band members Richard Wright and David Gilmour, as their favorite Pink Floyd album. On release it went straight to Number One in both the UK and the US and topped the charts in many other countries around the world. This program tells the story of the making of this landmark release through new interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason and archive interviews with the late Richard Wright. Also featured are sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson, guest vocalist Roy Harper, front cover burning man Ronnie Rondell and others involved in the creation of the album. In addition, original recording engineer Brian Humphries revisits the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios to illustrate aspects of the songs construction.
Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here

Documentary covering the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black nationalist and journalist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer and sentenced to death in a trial marked by controversial prosecutorial and defense tactics and charges of racism.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?

A feature-length documentary about one of the most successful British bands in rock music. The film recounts their extraordinary musical story, exploring the songwriting and the emotional highs and lows.
Genesis: Together and Apart

I Often Dream of Trains in New York was recorded live at Symphony Space in New York City in the fall of 2008 during the U.S. leg of Hitchcock s highly anticipated I Often Dream of Trains Tour. Deftly shot by acclaimed director John Edginton (The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story), this concert film DVD (and accompanying audio CD) captures the cult songwriting icon recreating one of his most intimate and haunting albums in its entirety. Robyn is joined by Trains tour-mates Terry Edwards (vocals, keyboards, trumpet, soprano sax, guitar) and Tim Keegan (vocals, guitar) as well as guests Gaida Hinnawi (vocals) and Amir El Saffar (trumpet) from the Robyn-led band seen in Jonathan Demme s film Rachel Getting Married. As its title suggests, I Often Dream of Trains is a glimpse into the phantasmagorical mind of the artist himself. And I Often Dream of Trains in New York captures him fantastically raw and singularly in-the-moment in other words, quintessentially....Hitchcock.
Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains In New York

This documentary examines the battle strategies of citizens, scientists, loggers, environmentalists and First Nations people who are fighting over the liquidation of public forests and, with it, a way of life.
Battle for the Trees

This film, which includes archival footage and interviews with convicted killer James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King III and former police officers, looks back at Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968 and lingering conspiracy theories.
Who Killed Martin Luther King?

In this Under Review we look at the genius of Syd Barrett.
Syd Barrett: Under Review

A documentary that goes inside the dark, witty, surreal world of cult English singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock.
Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death... and Insects

Canaries were used by miners to alert them to the presence of poisonous gases underground. If a canary died, they knew the air was bad. This film is about human canaries - some of the first victims of a newly recognised and devastating illness emerging in America. People are being poisoned by some of the 60,000 chemicals in everyday use. A group of chemically ill people have found refuge in unusual homes in the clean air of the small Texan town of Wimberley - with painful and bizarre results.