about alastair pirrie
Alastair Pirrie is a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and a writer, producer and director of over 600 hours of international network television. He is from a family line of engineers including his father Robert Pirrie (who developed the bouncing bomb for 'The Dambusters') and Lord Pirrie (of White Star & The Titanic).
An actor/singer/dancer in the musical Pickwick, choreographed by Lindsay Kemp, Alastair presented shows on Capital Radio (Juke Box Whiz Kids with Vivian Stanshell), wrote the musical Don't Wait For An Angel with Donald Swann (Flanders & Swann), LBC (week-end all-night phone-ins), BBC Radio One, Two (Wogan), Three, Four (Today) and on BBC local and commercial stations, with Imperial Tobacco & Sony award-winning work on Radio Tees including Pirrie In New York, The Whole Life Catalogue, Spaceship Disney and The Night Elvis Died.
TV shows include See You Sunday (BBC1), Razzmatazz with Lisa Stansfield (all 7 series from 1981-1987) winning the New York Film & Television Gold Award for ITV, The Roxy (ITV), the Emmy winning Supergran (ITV), Beat The Cheat (ITV), Saturday Shake Up (ITV), City Nights in Bangkok (YEY TV), The Pocket Money Programme presented by Jude Law (Ch4), BMX Beat (ITV), Highway (ITV), Mole In The Hole (ITV), True Ghosts (BBC1), The Mind Of David Berglas (Ch4), Lone Rangers Of Love (BBC1), Battle Of The Bands (ITV), Come Dancing With Jools Holland & Ruby Wax (Ch4) & Trevor MacDonald's Caribbean (Chrysalis Television).
International co-productions include We'll Meet Again with Walter Cronkite (BBC/Arts & Entertainment/PBS) and the St Lucia Jazz Festival (Ted Turner & Black Entertainment Television). Alastair wrote for the New Musical Express, authored novels and TV spin-offs (Razzmatazz, City And The Sea, House On Midnight Hill) and wrote and produced shows with Morecambe & Wise (BBC), Christopher Lee, Omar Sharif, Bob Hope, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael York, Jeremy Irons, Rowan Atkinson and Helen Mirren. He produced and directed the best selling UK comedy videos for two consecutive years - Jethro - Behind The Bushes, Streaker with Bob Mills (also script), The Best Of Jimmy Jones and Roy Chubby Brown Live In Blackpool.
He organised and hosted the Newcastle Food & Wine Festival and was music organiser for the open-air Newcastle Rock Festival. He has directed television all over the world, including New York, Bangkok, Bucharest, Miami, London, Barbados, Budapest and Los Angeles. His documentary on St Lucia was screened globally, and also featured on postage stamps. He has produced music television with Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, The Police, L L Cool J, The Eurythmics, Herbie Hancock, Mick Jagger, Abba, The Ramones, Jim Diamond, Simple Minds & Elton John.
Alastair lectured in media at Cambridge University (BBC World Service) and developed entertainment divisions at Tyne Tees Television, YEY TV, Entertainment Productions, Design For Television and Chrysalis Television, representing each at the MIP/MIPCOM TV Festivals in Cannes. He led media workshops at HM Prison Brixton (Notes From A Small Room and Call To Prayer), produced the anti-homophobic You Don't Know Me (Portobello Film Festival 2007) for InSpire Films, adopted by School's Out, the BMA Award winning A Personal View for The Parkinson's Disease Society, and Ranger, exploring experimental community police. Alastair tutored accredited Open College Network London Region media workshops at south London's The Zone, and assembled one of the largest private collections of TV & Movie Memorabilia in the UK, providing exhibits for national film festivals.
His drama Sources Of Light screened at London's 2005 Raindance Festival, and Zoned Out - a DVD featuring work from his television workshops - was published in November 2006, and the DVD Jerry Sadowitz' Card Tricks Made Easy for Universal. He wrote and directed videos for Magyar Outdoor Advertising in Budapest, DuPont Pharma and Sharp Electronics, presented by BAFTA winner Edward Fox, in addition to a BMA award winning stunt-action video for Britain's rail networks (with John Woodvine). He shot the 2006 National Street Dance Championships at the London Barbican and his prison documentary Insider was jury finalist at the 2006 Florence Film Festival.
In 2007, he directed the anti-gun crime documentary Fast Train To Fool City for Palace Films, and directed for The Butler Trust, Tomorrow's People (The Junction) and delivered media courses at HM Prisons Grendon and Onley. He developed the documentary London Transit with Colombian Nueva Generacion, directed the drama The Struggle, and music videos Letter To My Mother for lonesouljah and Tick Tock for Mz Fontaine. He also directed the documentary Hands and his novel Edge Of Heaven was recently optioned for television.
In 2009, Alastair secured National Open College Network accreditation and produced/directed the YouTube channel & DVD of documentary/dramas for The Forgiveness Project. He is writing and directing the TV pilots Dead Emily and The Recessionists. Other current clients include Waco UK, LYST, The Wates Group, Time For Families, The Clink Restaurant (video production, media support, website and sell-through DVD), Tribune magazine, H.M. Prison Service, The St. Anselm's Project, Freedom 4, Sotokoto Magazine (Japan) and Islamix for the British Muslim community. Alastair is chief executive of five media production houses (digitalRAWR, mediaRAWR, soreRAWR, tvRAWR and videoRAWR - launching January 2010) and is project director of the National Independent Film Enterprise. Alastair lives in London with wife Noy, daughters Tamasin ('Tam' in Miss Saigon) & Dominique (BBC Schools Report), son Atticus and various critters.
