Nicholas Martin(I)
- Writer
- Producer
Nicholas Martin was born and grew up in Sussex. He was raised by his mother, a nurse.
He attended Brighton College, a boarding school, but struggled with academia and left without qualifications. He moved to London and worked variously as: a croupier, a laborer, a bouncer and a barman. In his early twenties he worked at sea as a deck hand and as a yacht captain. Between jobs he traveled in South America where he supported the Sandinista revolution. He helped build a school in the north of the country, which was destroyed by the Contra Terrorists the day after it opened.
He began writing feature pieces about his travels and contributing to British newspapers including:The Sunday Times, The Guardian and various magazines. In 1988 he reported from Chile on the final days of the Pinochet regime.
In 1989 Martin returned to London to take up a place at The National Film and Television School to study script writing. He graduated in 1992 and began writing for British TV. His first produced script was for the highly regarded BBC series Between the Lines, which won the BAFTA award for best series. In 1998 he wrote a total of 16 episodes of the ITV comedy drama series, Big Bad World. He continued to write for British TV, and contributed to Midsomer Murders, the popular whodunit series.
In early 2014, producer Michael Kuhn read Martin's script Florence Foster Jenkins and optioned it the same day. Within a week, Stephen Frears had agreed to direct and within three weeks Meryl Streep signed on to play Florence. Florence premiered in 2016 and garnered two Oscar and four Golden Globe nominations.
In 2017 Martin began work on Golda, the story of Golda Meir's leadership during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He interviewed many of the key figures, still living, who commanded the war including Zvi Zamir, the head of Mossad. His research uncovered a story that challenges received opinion in Israel that Meir was to blame for the "surprise" of the attack by Egypt and Syria forces. In 2019 Helen Mirren signed to play Golda and shooting completed at the end of 2021. Golda premiered at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival and opened the Jerusalem Film Festival.
In 2022 he began developing Upheaval, a true story about the creation of a music school in a Wisconsin prison in the 70s.
He lives in South London.
He attended Brighton College, a boarding school, but struggled with academia and left without qualifications. He moved to London and worked variously as: a croupier, a laborer, a bouncer and a barman. In his early twenties he worked at sea as a deck hand and as a yacht captain. Between jobs he traveled in South America where he supported the Sandinista revolution. He helped build a school in the north of the country, which was destroyed by the Contra Terrorists the day after it opened.
He began writing feature pieces about his travels and contributing to British newspapers including:The Sunday Times, The Guardian and various magazines. In 1988 he reported from Chile on the final days of the Pinochet regime.
In 1989 Martin returned to London to take up a place at The National Film and Television School to study script writing. He graduated in 1992 and began writing for British TV. His first produced script was for the highly regarded BBC series Between the Lines, which won the BAFTA award for best series. In 1998 he wrote a total of 16 episodes of the ITV comedy drama series, Big Bad World. He continued to write for British TV, and contributed to Midsomer Murders, the popular whodunit series.
In early 2014, producer Michael Kuhn read Martin's script Florence Foster Jenkins and optioned it the same day. Within a week, Stephen Frears had agreed to direct and within three weeks Meryl Streep signed on to play Florence. Florence premiered in 2016 and garnered two Oscar and four Golden Globe nominations.
In 2017 Martin began work on Golda, the story of Golda Meir's leadership during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He interviewed many of the key figures, still living, who commanded the war including Zvi Zamir, the head of Mossad. His research uncovered a story that challenges received opinion in Israel that Meir was to blame for the "surprise" of the attack by Egypt and Syria forces. In 2019 Helen Mirren signed to play Golda and shooting completed at the end of 2021. Golda premiered at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival and opened the Jerusalem Film Festival.
In 2022 he began developing Upheaval, a true story about the creation of a music school in a Wisconsin prison in the 70s.
He lives in South London.
