b. 1907 d. 1987

An amateur filmmaker and member of the well-renowned Film Society in London, Basil Wright was Grierson's first recruit to the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Initially he focused on editing, developing a style that reached its greatest fruition with Song of Ceylon. His work as director was eclipsed by his producing work after that film, both for Realist Films, the unit he formed with John Taylor in 1937, and for the National Film Board of Canada and the Crown Film Unit. A notable example is on Humphrey Jennings' A Diary for Timothy. He also co-directed Night Mail with Harry Watt though the joint credit has since been disputed by Wright and others. He continued to work as a director until 1960, setting up another production company - International Realist - from 1946-9, and has also written on documentary.