The producers of the U.K.’s most successful movie franchise are being awarded with one of the British film industry’s highest honors.
Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, long-time James Bond producers and custodians, are set to receive the BFI Fellowship, the top honor from the British Film Institute.
The BFI said it was recognising the pair’s “extraordinary achievements and enormous contribution to cinema, with arguably the best loved and most enduring film franchise in the world — James Bond — celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.” The two will receive the fellowship at the BFI Chair’s Dinner, hosted by BFI Chair Tim Richards, on June 28 in London.
“We are so proud to be awarded the BFI Fellowship on behalf of all of those who have been a part of the James Bond series over 60 years and feel honoured to join such an esteemed group of distinguished industry fellows,” said Broccoli and Wilson. “We are very grateful to so many members of the British film industry who we have worked with over the course of our careers and thank the British Film Institute for their tremendous support and leadership for the creative industries in the U.K.”
At the helm of EON Productions, Wilson and Broccoli have overseen the Bond franchise for nearly 30 years and together produced nine of the total 25 Bond films, the first of which was the hit Goldeneye (1995) and includes Skyfall (2012), which went on to win the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film. Alongside Bond, they’ve also produced and exec produced films including Tom Fisher’s Radiator (2014), Corinna McFarlane’s The Silent Storm (2014), Paul McGuigan’s Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool 2017), Nancy (2018) from debut filmmaker Christina Choe and Reed Morano’s The Rhythm Section (2020). Barbara was also exec producer on Debbie Tucker Green’s ear for eye (2021) and a producer on Till, the upcoming American biographical drama film co-written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu and starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danielle Deadwyler.
Behind the scenes, they’ve both been advocates for the film industry, particular around education and skills. Broccoli is vice president for film at BAFTA, president of the National Youth Theatre, director of Time’s Up UK and a Trustee of Into Film, a film education charity working with young people aged 5-19. Wilson is honorary vice president of the Science Museum Foundation and a fellow of the Science Museum London.
“I am honoured and excited to be awarding Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli with the prestigious BFI Fellowship,” said BFI chair Richards. “I can think of no-one else more deserving particularly as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the incredibly successful James Bond franchise. With amazing insight and vision Michael and Barbara have not only re-invented Bond for today’s audiences, but No Time to Die arrived at exactly the right moment to welcome those audiences back to the big screen experience as never before. As equally, if not more, important is their commitment to our industry away from the spotlight, where they work tirelessly to open doors for others by playing a huge part in educating, supporting and inspiring the next generation of film makers.”
In 2008, Michael and Barbara were appointed Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and in 2014 they were honoured by the Producers Guild of America with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures. In 2022, they were appointed Commanders of the Order of the British Empire for services to film, drama, philanthropy and skills (CBE).
The two joins an growing list of BFI Fellows that also includes Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker, Tilda Swinton, David Lean, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Nicholas Roeg, Orson Welles, Ridley Scott, Judi Dench, Ousmane Sembène, Bernardo Bertolucci and Steve McQueen.