Weiland grew up in the Southgate section of London, England and attended De Bohun's school.[1] He left school at age 17 and worked as a messenger before becoming a copywriter.[2][3]
Career
Television commercials
Weiland began his directing career making British television commercials.[2] Weiland has made more than 500 commercials.[2] Weiland's most successful advertising campaign was a series of television commercials for Walkers crisps. The commercials have featured celebrities, including English football striker Gary Lineker, boxer Lennox Lewis and Victoria Beckham. The commercials became enormously popular in Britain, leading Weiland to then say, "A friend said to me the other day that they've become like little Woody Allen films – people want to appear in them. Lennox Lewis obviously didn't need the money but felt that he wanted to be more approachable to the British public. He was interesting, did a good job, as did David Seaman and Victoria Beckham."[3]
Weiland is the owner of The Paul Weiland Film Company and has become a multimillionaire with his work on television commercials.[1] In the 1990s, his company won the top British TV Awards prize for five consecutive years.[1]
Leonard Part 6
In 1987, Weiland made his debut as a feature film director with Leonard Part 6, a comedy starring Bill Cosby as secret agent who is called out of retirement to save the world from an evil genius who has developed the ability to brainwash small animals into killing humans. The film was a critical and box office bomb. The Village Voice called it "the worst film of the decade."[2] The Los Angeles Times wrote: "'Leonard Part 6' is a smug, tedious exercise in self-indulgence ... There's virtually nothing to laugh at in this film, and too much of everything else."[4] The Times noted that, although Weiland was the director, "clearly Cosby, as star, producer and idea man, is the auteur here."[4]
His direction of Leonard Part 6 resulted in Weiland's being nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director. Asked years later about his work on the film, Weiland recalled:
"It was a terrible mistake. ... When anyone gets into that position (Bill Cosby's position of power in the 1980s), they are surrounded by sycophants and no one tells them the truth. But Cosby just wasn't funny. I couldn't tell him directly. I'd say it feels slow, and he'd say 'You worry about construction, let me worry about funny'."[5]
"Cosby attributed most of the movie's problems to first-time director Weiland, whom he felt was too young and inexperienced. Cosby himself was producer and writer of the story".[6]
Mr. Bean
Between 1991 and 1992, Weiland directed several episodes of the Mr. Bean television series starring Rowan Atkinson. In 2005, The Times wrote: "The director Paul Weiland made millions laugh with the television comedy series Mr Bean and Alas Smith and Jones."[2]
Weiland was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for his direction of the film.
Sixty-Six
Weiland's 2006 feature film Sixty Six is an autobiographical comedy-drama based on Weiland's bar mitzvah which was held on the same night as England's win over West Germany in the 1966 FIFA World Cup final. As a result of the football match, guests cancelled en masse, and only a handful showed up at the bar mitzvah.
The film received generally positive reviews. The Guardian of London wrote that, "Despite the whimsical voice-over and gloopy, sentimental tone, it's a hard film to dislike and boasts a wonderfully lugubrious performance from Eddie Marsan as the round-shouldered schlub of a dad."[7]
Made of Honor
Weiland also holds the distinction of directing the last screen appearance of Sydney Pollack, in the 2008 feature Made of Honor.
Awards
Weiland has won a BAFTA Award for The Storyteller: The Three Ravens. He also won the President's Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Design & Art Directors Association.[2][3] In 1983, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for directing Keep Off the Grass.
Personal life
Weiland is married, and he and his wife, Caroline, have four children: Maxwell, Hannah, Bella and Joseph.
^ abcJohn Walsh (1 November 2006). "Forty years of hurt; For one boy, the 1966 World Cup triumph was a personal disaster. Paul Weiland tells John Walsh why he had to recreate that moment on film". The Independent.
^ abcdefSimon de Bruxelles (31 August 2005). "Leylandii are no laughing matter for film director". The Times (London).
^ abcMarcus Scriven (5 February 2003). "A crisp talent for selling millions; He's made 500 commercials. But could Paul Weiland's series for Walkers be the most successful ever?". Evening Standard (London).
^ abKevin Thomas (18 December 1987). "Cosby's 'Leonard' a Super-Inane Superspy". Los Angeles Times.
^Simon Hattenstone (22 September 1994). "Through slick and thin Paul Weiland, adman turned Hollywood film-maker, talks about stars, egos and his latest movie, City Slickers II". The Guardian.