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Michael Cumming

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Michael Cumming

Michael Cumming has worked at the cutting-edge of British comedy since the 1990s when he directed Chris Morris’ ground-breaking and highly-controversial satire “Brass Eye”.

Michael went on to direct an eclectic mix of some of the most seminal comedy series in British TV history, including the iconic “Mark Thomas Product” and the now cult-classic “Snuff Box”, starring Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher.

Between 2013 and 2015, Michael directed the first three series of Matt Berry and Arthur Matthews’ BAFTA and Rose D’Or winning sitcom “Toast of London” – with Matt Berry starring as the eponymous “best worst actor in the world”.

In 2020 Michael directed the critically-acclaimed first series of the sitcom “Sandylands” for UKTV Gold. The show starred David Walliams, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Hugh Bonneville. Following the shows success, a second series was commissioned – also directed by Michael – which was broadcast in 2021.

In 2022, Michael reunited with Matt Berry and Arthur Matthews to direct the latest incarnation of “Toast” for the BBC in the beloved, star-studded and transatlantic “Toast of Tinseltown”. The series aired to widespread acclaim and was again awarded the Rose D’Or for Best Comedy.

Outside TV comedy, Michael has also been prolific in the world of feature documentaries. In 2017, he directed the experimental documentary “Oxide Ghosts – The Brass Eye Tapes” a meditation on his experience directing the perennially controversial and widely-adored Channel 4 satire. The film has played to hundreds of sold-out cinemas throughout the UK and Ireland. He followed this up in 2020 with the joyously anarchic anti-rockumentary “King Rocker” for Sky Arts, a loving and ever-surprising portrait of the legendary Birmingham punk-band The Nightingales. The film was presented by cult stand-up comedian Stewart Lee and features a cornucopia of comic-turns from the likes of Frank Skinner, Robin Askwith and Kevin Eldon.