Jamie Doran

Producer/Director/Author

Jamie Doran is a multi-award-winning documentary maker with recent honours including the Alfred I DuPont Award 2011 (the ‘broadcast Pulitzer’, presented by the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University); the History Makers Award 2011 for ‘Best Current Affairs Documentary’; One World Media ‘MDG Award’ 2010; One World Media Award ‘Best Documentary’ 2010; BAFTA nomination ‘Best Documentary’ 2010; AIB (Association of International Broadcasters) Award ‘Best Current Affairs Documentary’ 2010; AIB Award ‘Best Investigative Documentary’ 2010; UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival) ‘Best Documentary Award’ 2010; Grierson Award: Shortlisted for ‘Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue’ 2010.

Doran has worked at the highest levels of television film production over the past 30 years, with many of his films leading series both nationally and internationally. In that time, those films have been broadcast on virtually every major channel throughout the world. He spent over seven years at BBC Television before establishing an independent television company.

Some of his achievements in the international arena include what was widely described as the definitive film of the ‘disappeared’ in Chile; the release of political prisoners from mental institutions in Romania; an expose of the brutal regime in Burma; the extraordinary and controversial biography of Yuri Gagarin, the first human being in space, described by London Evening Standard critic Victor Lewis Smith as 'television at its finest'; and the true story of a contemporary Dr Zhivago saga, centred on the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Amongst many other notable productions are 2001: The Making of a Myth, (narrated by James Cameron) an analysis of Stanley Kubrick's epic movie and recently purchased by Warner Brothers for release on DVD; The Android Prophecy, which studied the dangerous advancements in robotic technology, comparing the link between feature-film director fantasy and science reality and Africa Rising, (narrated by Tilda Swinton) an epic film shot over two years and involving a cast of thousands showing how a huge Ethiopian community took itself out of extreme poverty…and there wasn’t a Western aid worker in sight!

Between 2006-7, Doran took charge of a medium-sized Russian national TV network, doubling its viewing figures and tripling its value prior to a successful sale.

Recent productions include THE PROMOTERS: an investigation into extrajudicial murders in Kenya; THE DANCING BOYS OF AFGHANISTAN: a horrific tale of child exploitation involving Afghan warlords and commanders; AFGHANISTAN: BEHIND TALIBAN LINES: a controversial film where one of Doran’s reporters embeds with the Taliban; and his most recent; SUDAN: HISTORY OF A BROKEN LAND, broadcast January 2011 and mapping the tragic story which has led to the break-up of Africa’s largest country.

Amongst other major credits: (original co-producers only)

Africa Rising - Recently completed: 52’

Imagine an Africa without thousands of western aid workers telling Africans what to do; imagine an Africa without billions of donated dollars, pounds and euros going directly into western bank accounts as salary payments to those same foreign workers; imagine an Africa where Africans are proving that they can take themselves out of poverty for a fraction of the cost spent by typical western NGOs.  That's the message of 'Africa Rising'.  Centred in Ethiopia and with a cast of thousands, our film will open the eyes of the world to a new dawn: Africans solving Africa’s problems themselves.

Lord of the Wing - BBC: 90’

Jimmy Johnstone was one of the world’s most admired footballers before alcoholism almost destroyed his life. Just as he was fighting and winning the battle against the bottle, the debilitating Motor Neurone Disease cruelly struck him down. With contributions from icons such as Johann Cruyff, Eusebio, Sir Alex Ferguson, Alfredo di Stefano, Sir Bobby Charlton and many others, this film marks not only his genius on the playing field but also his immense humanity.

The Need For Speed: Going To War On Drugs - ARD/Studio Hamburg: 52’

‘The Need for Speed’ exposes how the Pentagon has been issuing a concoction of mind-altering drugs to its soldiers and airmen, resulting in the deaths of allied forces, innocent civilians and, almost certainly, their own men.

Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death - UK: Five, Germany: ARD, Italy: RAI, Australia: SBS, Canada: CBS: 52’

The film tells of the horrific forced journey undertaken by thousands of prisoners who surrendered to America's Afghan allies after the siege of Kunduz and were squezzed into containers before being taken to Sheberghan Prison. According to the United Nations, more than 2,000 are unaccounted for, believed buried in the desert of Dasht-i-Leili in northern Afghanistan. In late 2009, President Obama ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Starman - BBC/Canal +: 52 & 60’

Seen in over sixty countries worldwide, Starman relates the moving tale of the young son of a peasant who became the first human being in space. This film, and the book written to accompany it, tells the extraordinary true story behind the legend of Yuri Gagarin and those secretive figures who ran the Soviet space programme.

City of Murder & Mayhem - ITV network: 52’

This film portrays life on the edge of death in Moscow. We follow the exploits of two men: one a banker, and the other from SOBR, the Russian Militias enforcement wing. This film has already been requested by over thirty countries.

2001: The Making of a Myth - C4: 52’

The first television documentary to explore the making of and thinking behind one of the world's most famous films: Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi epic: 2001: A Space Odyssey, presented and narrated by James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator, Aliens etc) and featuring all major surviving figures, including Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

Wasps & Witches - Canal+/DOCSTAR: 52’

War is the prerogative of men, or so most men believe. But Wasps & Witches tells a forgotten story of the astonishing bravery of women pilots in the Second World War.

SEXpionage - BBC/France 3/Speigel (Ger)/A&E: 52’

A story of love, despair and manipulation; a gigantic struggle between East and West in which the pawns were young women forced by the KGB to seduce secrets from foreign businessmen and diplomats to satisfy its insatiable desire for information.

The Thawing of a Cold War Warrior - BBC/Discovery/FujiSankei: 60’

A truly dramatic love story within an extraordinary political framework. General Ivan Dmitrevich Yershov was Commander of Soviet Ground Forces which crushed the Prague Spring in 1968. He was a man destined for the very top of the Soviet military hierarchy, yet gave it all up to save the life of the daughter he loved - even though this meant losing her to the enemy. The film ends as he returns to Prague to apologize personally to Alexander Dubcek.

Single Pistol Shot - BBC/Discovery: 52’

Life on Death Row: this film examines the life of two inmates. One has committed a crime of passion (killing his wife’s lover in a mad fit of jealousy) and the other raped and murdered two young girls. For the inmates, their only contact with the outside world is the prison warden, a man of unexpectedly deep humanity.

Skeletons Have Names - C4: 52’

A film which follows three sisters on a journey home to Chile in search of their brother who had been tortured and disappeared during the Pinochet coup against Allende. A tragic and moving tale, this film was acclaimed worldwide as the definitive comment on the plight of thousands of students and young protestors who were never seen again.

The August Kings - C4: 20’

The first film involving the men who overthrew Mikhail Gorbachev. Why did they do it? What was their motive? Did they regret their actions?

Burma: The Final Stand - C4/France 2: 45’

When Burma (or Myanmar) is mentioned in the world press these days, invariably a comment is made on the democratic election victory in 1990. Doran was the only foreign film-maker to enter the country (surreptitiously) in the weeks prior to the election in order to expose junta plans to corrupt the election process. Despite a threat from the regime that he would be hanged if caught, using hidden cameras he brought the story to worldwide attention, forcing the regime to invite neutral observers to oversee the elections.

Alec The Pole – BBC: 52’

A moving film of an old soldier who had lived quietly in Scotland after the war, claiming to be a veteran of the Polish Army. At his real home in the Ukraine, Alec Krusnenko had been reported missing, believed killed in action, fighting against the Germans. He returns to discover a monument has been erected bearing his name alongside other fallen heroes of the Red Army. But Alec had been hiding a terrible secret: he had not fought for the Soviet Army at all.......he had joined the Nazi SS.

Technology Wars - C4: 52’

The technology battle between East and West: how America and the Soviet Union fought for superiority in the field of super-computers in the battle to dominate space.

Out of Order - seven-part series for ITV network: 7x30’

Doran ran this series of primetime programmes which fought injustice: populist programming, averaging 8 million viewers each week in the U.K.

Backstreet Betting - C4: 52’

An immensely successful film which told how the Italian Mafia had infiltrated the illegal gambling markets in Britain. Doran spent three months in hiding following threats related to this project.

The Red Bomb - three-part series for Discovery U.S: 3x52’

The definitive filmed history of Soviet nuclear weapons, this series has been acclaimed by scientists throughout the world. It shows how, in less than a decade after the enormous destruction of the war against Hitler, the USSR had succeeded in becoming the second superpower.

All of the surviving Russian scientists and spies agreed to take part, including Anatoly Yatskov who masterminded the theft of atomic secrets from the American Manhattan Project. Yatskov agreed to reveal his role for the first time, despite being desperately ill with cancer. He died two weeks after his interview.