Jon Finn(I)

Jon had a deep connection to the story of Billy Elliot in that his grandfather was a miner so consequently he knew the mining communities very well, in fact all on his mother's side of the family worked in the pits in the area where Billy Elliot was filmed. He knew the feeling of leaving a tight knit community as he was the first of his family to leave home and go to college. In 1998 he produced the short film 'Eight' winning the Jerwood Film Prize for Best Script and was BAFTA nominated. The same year he co - produced Jake Scott's feature film 'Plunkett and MacLeane'. In 1996 he was appointed production executive for Working Title Films and in 1999 with Natascha Wharton set up WT2 which aimed to cultivate emerging writers, directors and producers in the UK. 'Billy Elliot was their first project which began filming in August 1999