Tom Lawes

Lawes was born in Birmingham, England. He went to Handsworth Grammar School[1] Initially Lawes worked as a roadie for the rock band Gunfire Dance.[2][3] Then, aged 19, Lawes starting making no-budget horror films shot on camcorder.[4] In 1993, aged 22, he was hired by the BBC to compose the soundtrack to the BBC comedy drama, All Quiet On The Preston Front.[5]

in 2004 Lawes bought and renovated the derelict Electric Cinema, Birmingham, the oldest working cinema in the country,[6] needed a total refurbishment to restore it to its Art Deco prime which Lawes carefully undertook after extensive research [7] prior to re-opening for business again in 2004.[7]

Lawes is also the musical director of The Electric Cinema Film Orchestra, the UK's first in-house film orchestra.[8]

In 2009, the centenary year of the cinema,[6] Lawes was congratulated in the House of Commons for his work in restoring the cinema [9] In 2011 Lawes directed and produced the feature length documentary The Last Projectionist, a film charting the history of independent cinema in the UK. The film was named BBC Radio 5Live's Film of The Week by Mark Kermode.[10] The film won awards, including 'Best Documentary' at the Cambridge Film Festival.[11] In 2010 the British Film Institute selected The Last Projectionist to be included in its permanent archive collection [12] Lawes has also directed a series of short documentaries Southside Stories which in 2012 won two Royal Television Society (Midlands) Award for Best Promotional Programme and Best Craft.[13] Most recently he has written and directed the short film 3 Sides of the Coin.

• 2014 3 Sides of The Coin - Director, Editor, Cinematographer and Composer
• 2011 The Last Projectionist - Director, Editor, Cinematographer and Composer[12]
• 1998 Demagogue - Director

• 1998 Festival of Fantastic Films, Best Independent Feature Film Demagogue
• 2005 O2/Arena Magazine UK Entrepreneur of the Year (Regional Winner and National Finalist)[14]
• 2008 Creative Business Awards, Outstanding Business Development[15]
• 2009 Birmingham Power 50[15]
• 2011 ITN Distribution Film Festival New York, Best Documentary The Last Projectionist[11]
• 2011 Take One Awards, Best Documentary The Last Projectionist
• 2012 Royal Television Society (Midlands), Best Production Craft Skills[13]
• 2012 Royal Television Society (Midlands), Best Promotional Programme Southside Stories[13]

• Southside Business Improvement District - Board Director[16]
• Shock and Gore Film Festival - Chair[17]
• BBC WM - Film Critic[18]

In 2009 Lawes married Suzie Norton.[2][3] The couple have a daughter and a son [1]

• www.theelectric.co.uk
• www.electricflix.com