:: credits
:: about the filmmakers

credits

Director & Producer
DANIEL GORDON

Co-Producer
NICHOLAS BONNER

Narrated by
CHRISTIAN SLATER

Executive Producers
JOHN BATTSEK
RICHARD KLEIN
PAUL YI

Editor
PETER HADDON

Director of Photography
NICK BENNETT

Sound
STEVIE HAYWOOD

Music
CRAIG ARMSTRONG
SISTER BLISS
HEATHER FENOUGHTY

World Sales & Publicity
PAUL YI

about the filmmakers

DANIEL GORDON (Director, Producer)
Having worked for Sky Sports and Chrysalis, Daniel Gordon set up VeryMuchSo Productions in January 2001. An independent production company based in Sheffield, VeryMuchSo is dedicated to the production of innovative, entertaining and stimulating programming. Daniel has written two books on Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, and produced programming for BBC, Channel 4 and Sky Sports. In December 2001 he was nominated for a BAFTA for producing and directing DARREN GOUH’S CRICKET ACADEMY for Channel 4.

In 2003, his debut film THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES won the Royal Television Society award for best sports documentary. Daniel was nominated Best Newcomer at the 2003 Grierson Awards, where the film received a nomination for Best Historical Documentary. In the same year, the film also received a nomination for Best Documentary at the British Independent Film Awards and won awards at film festivals in Seville and Seattle.

The following year saw the release of Daniel’s follow up feature on North Korea, A STATE OF MIND, a story of two North Korean schoolgirls as they prepare for the Mass Games, the largest choreographed spectacle in the world. A STATE OF MIND has won several awards and was screened in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, Sheffield International Documentary Festival and International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam.

NICHOLAS BONNER (Co-Producer)
In 2000, Nicholas and Daniel stopped all other commitments to make the film that they had been told could not be made: the story of the North Korean World Cup team of 1966, THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES. Nicholas has worked with VeryMuchSo Productions as Associate Producer and a North Korean specialist on both THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES and A STATE OF MIND. Since 1993, Nicholas has been based in China and has visited North Korea more than any other westerner.

Nicholas is the Director of KORYO TOURS, which is now in its fourteenth year and expert in travel, cultural and educational exchanges in North Korea. Nicholas has worked on various projects that have helped open North Korea to the outside world but none more challenging than the films made in conjunction with VeryMuchSo Productions. Together, they brought the players of the 1966 North Korean World Cup team back to Britain in 2002, North Korea’s biggest cultural exchange with the West. During the 3 week tour, the players were lauded by 120,000 football fans at four different matches.

PETER HADDON (Editor)
Peter has 18 years of experience across all genres of programme making, including documentary and drama. He is an award winning editor whose recent post production credits include the features HEADRUSH, BLOOM and GOLDFISH MEMORY. Peter was the acclaimed Finishing Artist for THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES and was the editor for A STATE OF MIND.

NICK BENNETT (Cinematographer)
Having first met Daniel Gordon when working with Sky Sports, Nick has gone on to work as Cinematographer with VeryMuchSo on both THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES and A STATE OF MIND. His experience covers a wide area of production and media, from documentary to commercials; 16mm to High Definition video. Now based in the South East of England, he has just completed shooting Gordon’s first UK based feature documentary, about an unlicensed greyhound racing track in Yorkshire.

JOHN BATTSEK (Executive Producer)
John was the Executive Producer for THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES and A STATE OF MIND. The principal at Passion Pictures, John previously produced the Oscar® winning documentary ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER, the acclaimed LIVE FOREVER (the story of Britpop in the 1990s) and ONCE IN A LIFETIME (the explosive tale of the New York Cosmos).

PAUL YI (Executive Producer, World Sales and Publicity & Marketing)
A producer and sales agent based in Los Angeles, Paul was the head of E Pictures, a production and sales company based in Seoul and Los Angeles. He produced the 2002 Cannes competition film UNKOWN PLEASURE by Jia Zhangke. Paul began his film career as a filmmaker before becoming Festival Director of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. He was advisor to the first Pusan International Film Festival, where he founded and directed the first film co-production market in Asia, the Pusan Promotion Plan, and then went onto found and directed the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum. He was the Chief of the International Business Department of the Korean Film Commission and has had films in competition in Cannes, Venice and Berlin, many films in Toronto, Pusan and other major international festivals. He was the world sales agent for THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES and A STATE OF MIND.