Taimur Khan

Producer - Director - Editor

Taimur Khan started his career in television directing music promos, which in 1990 lead to a revolutionary new TV program in Pakistan, featuring up coming bands and artists. Over eight years Taimur produced and directed music promos, mini documentaries as well as drama. The show evolved into Pakistan’s first music channel INDUS Music, which is now known as MTV Pakistan.

In 1997 Taimur broadened his horizons to the shores of the UK and is now based in London. His repertoire includes producing, directing and editing content representing all genres from factual and documentary to drama and entertainment.

In 1998, Taimur worked as a producer for YCTV (Youth Culture Television) teaching and mentoring 11 to 22 year old youths, Since then he has delivered lectures, talks and workshops for various organisations and institutions across the UK including Connections Communications Centre, YCTV, Rose Burefor College, and Documentary Filmmakers Group.

In 2002 Taimur founded Blueberry, a post production talent management company, providing editors, graphic designers and directors to industry professionals.

In 2005 Taimur formed WIDEi Films, a production company that offers both production and post-production facilities. The company also supports young directors and editors in developing and nurturing their talents.

With expertise in Final Cut Pro, Taimur has introduced FCP to many organisations across the UK and internationally. Since he came across FCP in 1999 he has switched many Indies and broadcasters to this specific tool. Due to the clear benefits, which FCP offers in terms of functionality, WIDEi Films now specialises in FCP post-production with its very own facilities based at Ealing Film Studios in London.

Since the start of WIDEi Films he has delivered a series of projects for all major broadcasters across the board. His production experience stretches far and wide from the UK, Europe, Jordan Pakistan, India, Dubai and the USA. His work has been screened at Cannes, RTS, Emmys and nominated for RTS and various other awards.



Documentaries & Factual (selected credits 2000 – Present)

Credits for Shooting / Directing / Editing

Diversity in Motion
(Director, DOP – 35mm) 15min
A 15 min film following extraordinary young teenagers from the 5 participating boroughs for London Olympics 2012. The film is part of Olympics campaign on TV, Large screens and online to run in 2012

Mish Saheb Aflam
(Shooter, Director, Editor) 26 x 30min series of factual entertainment programs
Produced program content, links, titles, graphics and program TVC for Royal Film Commission of Jordan. The series is a pioneering TV program offering aspiring Jordanian filmmakers a platform to showcase their films and offer viewers a new form of homegrown, meaningful entertainment. Shows started airing from Saturday 4th Feb 2006 on satellite and terrestrial TV in Jordan and The Middle East.

X- Y & Z
(Shooter, Director, Producer) 12 x 45min series of entertainment programs
Presenter Lead show where three presenters following on Charlie’s angle style factual stories on current affairs and entertainment. AGG TV(SKY)

The WHO
(Shooter, Editor) 3 x 15min films
Behind the scenes of their show at Royal Albert Hall in 2001, following the band over 3 days other stars including Eddy Vader, Brian Adams, Noël Gallagher, Paul Whaler& Nigel Kennedy

Free and Fair
(Shooter, Director, Editor) 1 x 60min Documentary
Insight in to Pakistani politics through youth activism. Following election monitors and young activists in London and Pakistan we discover what democracy means to Pakistanis. BBC

Pakistan Breaking news
(Shooter, Director, Producer)
Field reports for CNN covering events that followed Bhutto Assassination on 27th December 2007. CNN

Word On the Street
(Shooter, Director, Producer) 6 x 25min series of factual entertainment programs
Covered London International Film festival with major interviews with starts including Dustin Hoffman. Further stories on Skating and urban sports, Speed Dating and Tattoo culture in UK AAG TV, Sky Channel 824


Post Production Credits:

Confessions of a Teen Angel: Charlotte Church (online)
1 x 50’ High profile documentary following outspoken diva Charlotte Church as she makes the transition from “voice of an angel” to rock chick.
2005 ITV

Just Add Moves- Documentary (offline/online)
1 x 90’ Reality programme funded by Nike as part of their Take Sport Add Music campaign.
2005 MTV Europe

Seconds From Disaster (offline/online)
2 x 60’ Documentaries exploring disasters of this Century.
“Meltdown In Chernobyl” – A nuclear power plant in the Ukraine goes into meltdown following a human error during a routine test.


The Worlds Biggest Airplane: Airbus A380 (online)
2 x 60’ unprecedented access to Airbus as they race against time to build and fly their revolutionary new plane.
2005 Channel 4

CNN (Offline/online)
Various 5’ documentary stories. Covering the drama surrounding events including the Tsunami disaster and recent London bombings.
2004 / 2005 CNN

Ark Revealed (offline/online)
1 x 60’ A scientific journey to reveal the secrets of the Ark of the Covenant and the science behind it.
Dir: Bruce Burges, 2004 Discovery Channel

Iraq Britain timeline (offline/online)
1 x 10’ News feature about Britain’s involvement in Iraq since World War I.
Dir: Tony Campion, 2003 CNN


Jerry Love (part -offline/online)
1 x 60’ The story of a love affair spanning over two decades between a young British woman and a German soldier during the German occupation of the Channel Islands.
Dir: Jamima Harrison, 2003 BBC2/ 2002 BBC4

Fuji Rock Festival 2002 (offline/online)
2 x 60’ ‘Rockumentaries’ behind the scenes of Fuji Rock festival in Japan with Red Hot Chilli Peppers, George Clinton, DJ Shadow, Chemical Brothers and Joe Strummer
Dir: Jason Mayall, Steve Malit, 2002 Channel 4

In The Firing Line (offline/online)
1 x 60’ Documentary following the daily life of Basque politician Borja Sampras and his team of bodyguards, carrying out their political duties under the threat of ETA terrorism.
Dir: Bruce Burges, Bluebook Films, 2002

Hood and Bismarck (offline)
2 x 60’ (re-cut/version) Investigative documentary about the expedition to find two famous war ships from World War II and the mystery surrounding their sinking.
ITN Factual, PBS TX Feb 2002 ITN/PBS(USA)

Maggie and I (offline)
1 x 15’ feature looking into the lives of several characters affected by Thatcher during and after her time in power; Russell (Maggie fan), Paul Kelleher - recently jailed for defacing her statue and the story of a mining family.
Dir: David Model, 2003 channel 4

Prince Naseem Guide to Islam (offline)
1 x 30’ Primetime BBC2 presenter-led program on Islamic faith. Pick of the week/day by all major critics and papers in Britain.
Nominated best network programme by the Royal Television Society Awards - BBC
Dir: Amir Jamal, BBC 2001

Greatest Tombs and Mummies (offline/Symphony online)
1 x 60’ Historical tour of Egyptian treasures exploring new discoveries in light of past theories.
Discovery 2002


WWW . PORN (offline)
4 x 30’ Interview-based documentary style series about the lifestyle of porn stars in LA and UK
Princess Production. Channel 5UK TX July 2001

The Giants (offline/online)
1 x 30’ Documentary about Japanese technology giants with a view into the future.
Dir: Johnny Ffinch Sky TX January 2001


Right Stuff (offline/online)
5 x 30’. Technical review magazine show of automobiles, gadgets and gizmos.
Sky Digital TX August 2000

Quest For Gold- Egypt (Symphony offline)
1x 55’ Narrative documentary covering historical and present discoveries of Gold in Egypt with drama recreations of gold mining and interviews with Dr. Hawas and other renowned scholars
Discovery Channel. Essentials Overseas Ltd.,TX June 2000

Travel Log (offline)
1 x 30’ Documentary style travel log exploring tourist locations in Florida
Travel Channel, TX 2001

The Who (offline/online)
1 x 30’ observational piece about The Who’s last performance at Royal Albert Hall, other acts included Bryan Adams, Paul Weller, Eddie Vader and Kennedy.
Dir: Rupert Style, ABC (US)DVD release

Ramadan (offline/online)
1 x 60’ for broadcast in the Gulf, observational documentary covering the way Ramadan is celebrated in London by Muslims. Exclusive coverage of Saudi and Algerian communities.
TX January 2000 Broadcast on Arabic networks

Darwin (offline/online)
1 x 25’. Science Documentary about the theories of Darwin and other related concepts.
Einstein TV, Tim Exton USA

On the Streets (offline/online)
1 x 30’ street theatre about homeless people and how they cope with living on the street. Profiling charity organisation “Streets Alive”
TX 1999, YCTV, Sabrina Gunnies


DRAMA

MILE HIGH / HEWLAND:5 x 1 hr
Mile High is a popular drama series on Sky following the adventures of a flight crew working for a budget airline.

ROSBEEF: 1 x 25’
A mysterious and enigmatic young butcher, Didier La Flore, played by DAVID GINOLA, whose amorous liaisons with five married women in the small village of Amulet cause
quite a stir, with fatal consequences.

Midnight 1 x 90’
A compassionate Samaritan, with a thwarted notion of euthanasia, assists callers in ending their lives. Dir: John Welwyn

King Size: 1 x 30’
Nominated for 4 x 4 award and later picked up by Film Four. A mad night in the life of a London clubber Dir Matt Harlock

Jason West: 1 x 15’
Short-listed for 4 x 4 Dir: Tom Turner

Tina Goes To Town: 1 x 15’
Starring, Nicole Cox, Brian Cox

Other Broadcast:

CNN (offline/online)
45 x 30’ Magazine format programme on fashion (Prada, D&G, Versace) architecture, cinematography and design. I have worked at CNN, as freelance editor on various factual and magazine shows produced by CNN London in the past 2 years. Setting up shows formats and style.
Promos: Living golf and Global Office, Using AVID, Final Cut Pro, Commotion and Combustion
Programs: Design 360, Business Traveller and Global Office
CNN. Design360. Following fashion, design and architecture.25 x 30’ 2002/3
CNN Business traveller.12 x 30’ 2002/3
Now.com over 70 x 5-10 min Vets covering Films, Nature, Art and Music 2000-2001
YCTV. Worked as Producer for content, editorial and training 1998 - 1999
Zee(London) 1995-1997
PTV(Asia) / Indus Music(Asia) Directed over 200 hr of music, drama (10/130 ep) and general programming. 1990 - 1997
Directed over 70 promos
TWI Coverage of International Film Festivals Exclusive coverage of Sundance, LA, BBC and British Asian film festivals 2000. TWI

Promos & Commercials : UK

Made Over
Interstitial Piece about fashion in the millennium Sky

Ian Moor
2 x Music video and commercial for an album launch.

Simply Red 1 x 15
Behind the scenes of their South American tour

Power
3 x 3’ Anti-War, Pro-war and civil liberties films for BBC
Ten Alps 2002

Gillette
Arctic Ice campaign for FIFA world cup,
SKY Promos 2002

Islam UK season
Composited time slice special effects shoots for BBC Promos
Work included stabilising, grading and rotascoping 35mm shots creating Time slice effect.

Flying Pickets
Swedish TV Promotional piece for concert performance in Sweden

Yardley 3‘
Promo style inspirational piece for new campaign and product style

Bisshi “Take Off”
Dir: Matthew Glammore

In the firing Line
Promo for documentary on police bodyguards who protect Basque politicians from ETA.

LK DJ Marki and MC Stamina
“I Like It” Dir Kola

Blessed
“Boo waa” music video UK

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant
Japanese rock band, London performance and Music video. Smash Corporation, Jason Mayall


Corporate

Production Show Live 6 x 15’.
As live broadcasts from Metro Digital and Virtual studio stands providing promotional information. London Production Show 2001
Production Show 2001, Corkscrew Productions, Jason Ahluwalia

Master Parks 3 x 4’
Promos illustrating the company’s services. I.e. dry-cleaning, security and chauffeured parking. Promotional Video

Sainsbury 4 x 15’
Coverage of a 4-day event on creative management and training samples for the day. Edited on location as live. Training seminar

ResRocket 2 x 3’
Film about how this software can help musicians to work over the Internet world wide in real time. Product Demo

British Airways 1 x 15’
The Body: promotional piece about the making of The Body exhibit at the Millennium Dome. BA In-flight entertainment

Arsenal Soccer Festival 1 x 5’
Promotional video about their services as summer camp.


Art Projects & Installations

War Movie 1 x 10’
Archive footage from the Second World War is assembled to produce a version of events suggesting the conflict was a consequence of decadent romanticism implicit in National Socialist ideology. It suggests that the Nazi obsession with reclaiming the German psyche inevitably led to combat: in this way the war can be seen as a doomed act of destructive creation. Imperial War Museum Nic Barclay 2002

Birds At Sea 6x 5’
Multi-monitor Installation about birds’ behaviour over and under water in continuous motion across monitors.
Museum of Scotland

World View 8 x 60’
Installation. Representation of a 24-hour life cycle in one hour featuring 8 different world cities at different times in different zones.



SKILLS

Post Production:

Non-Linear
Editing Compositing for offline/online using AVID Symphony, Media Composer/Xpress, Lightworks, Discreet Edit*, Final Cut Pro(using since beta ver.), Combustion* and Commotion.

Linear
2/3 machine linear on U-Matic & Beta-SP using Sony BVE-450 / 500, DME, DFS
Compositing and special Effects
Time Slice to rotoscoping, using Commotion, Combustion and Final Cut pro.


Production:

Producing
Developing, researching, organising and scheduling, Budgeting, Organising crews, Locations, contributors, actors, managing productions for budgets up to 500k

Directing
Gallery directing, vision mixing and virtual Studio, single camera promo film and drama.
Directed over 70 Music promos, 200 hr of weekly 1 hr Music show for PTV, Zee segments for Channel V and some drama. Working with large crews for film and TV
Camera & Lighting
Studio lighting, location lighting for promos and drama


Training
Multi Camera Directing: BBC London
Non-linear editing with Light Works: National Film School, Beaconsfield
Non-linear editing with Discreet Edit*: Discreet training, Soho
Health & Safety: BBC London
Combustion*: National Film School, Finishing School
Story by Robert McKee
Various workshops and seminars attended related to TV film post production and special FX

Trainer and Educator (Select):
1998-2000 Youth Culture Television Head of post production and training:
Responsible for post production workshops and lectures for students from Central st martins, Revensbourn and various institutions from London. Model of YCTV training was replicated across Britain and various educational institutions.

2000-2006 various workshops and training sessions for various Production companies including Documentary Film makers group (DFG), Connections media centre, Manchester University and Rose Buford College.

DFG: General FCP training and specialist course for Production managers for enhanced understanding from scheduling and workflow on major series some of the attendees included production managers from Darlow, Ginger, Channel4 and ITN amongst other freelance production Managers.

Connections Media Centre: Delivered 2 to 3 days courses for editors at various levels some of the students were freelance directors and editors. Delivered Avid and Final Cut Pro coursers.

ROSE Buford College: Music promo production and post production with simulated client cantered environment. Students worked with upcoming major bands to produce promos of broadcast quality, from conception to final delivery they were guided through the stages. This was a final year compulsory module for Music and media students, with results having direct effect on the degree score. I was responsible for Delivering lectures on Music promo production and Editing With Final Cut Pro


POST PRODUCTION FACILITIES

Apple based Post Production facilities at EALING FILMS STUDIOS with 2 x Edit suites for any format to HDcam SR online delivery including COLOR grade and PRO TOOL sound mix facility.
www.widei-films.com

POST PRODUCTION TALENT

I founded Blueberry Creative’s 8 years ago which now provides Directors, Editors, Designers and animators covering all aspects of Post production talent.
www.bueberrycreatives.co.uk

KIT:
Sony Z1, A1 cameras, Deidos, Keno flo Lights, 35mm lenses set and mounts, Radios mics.
Full online FCP suites and mobile solutions for field work.
Secure FTP site for client viewings



Other Relevant experience:

1998 – 1999: YCTV : Editing, training and managing Post production on Avid, Fast And Apple Final Cut Pro systems.
2002 – 2004: Teaching 2 week at Rose Bruford/Manchester University on DV directing and FCP editing to produce music promos
2005-present: Running workshops for Documentary Film Makers Group (DGF), for ITN, BBC and Independent filmmakers with interest in documentary or factual TV.