Mike Downey is a producer and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME),an independent UK production company he launched on the Frankfurt DAX in 2009.
Alongside producing partner Sam Taylor and company chairman Stephen Daldry, he has produced over 40 feature films since its inception.
F&ME's extensive catalogue includes UKFC-funded WHITE LIGHTNIN', Saul Metzstein's GUY X, DEATHWATCH featuring Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis, the U.S. Academy Award-nominated and Venice Golden Lion-winning BEFORE THE RAIN, as well as numerous international co-productions written by notable authors such as Günter Grass, Thomas Keneally, James Ellroy, and Clifford Irving.
The company's award-winning South African production SON OF MAN premiered at Sundance, and WHITE LIGHTNIN' also made its debut at the prestigious festival.
Additionally, the film GLANCES opened the Venice Film Festival, while Downey's books, The Film Finance Handbooks - A Guide for European Producers, are published by the MEDIA Business School.
Downey's educational background includes a degree in theatre from the University of Warwick, as well as postgraduate studies at the University of Paris III (Sorbonne) and Paris X (Nanterre).
He has taught at the MEGA European Masters programme and has held various academic positions, including being a Quondam Thomas Ewing Professor of Film at Ohio University and a member of the Film Board of Oklahoma University.
Downey is also the President of the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia and serves as Artistic Advisor to the Zagreb Film Festival.
He has collaborated closely with Amnesty International, establishing Amnesty Human Rights Awards at several international film festivals, and has served as a consultant for USAID, the American government programme rebuilding infrastructure (film) in the Balkans.
A member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Downey has served three terms on the Council and one term on the BAFTA Film Committee.
He is also a member of the board of the Berlin Golden Bear-winning South African Theatre Company Isango, alongside Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Simon Rattle.
Downey is particularly proud to be a trustee of the White Ribbon Foundation, an international charity working to eradicate women dying in childbirth in the developing world.
In 2020, he produced Agnieszka Holland's CHARLATAN, which was included in the Berlinale competition.
Downey has been an active member of the European Film Academy (EFA) since 2004, serving as deputy chairman from 2014 and chairman from 2020.
In recognition of his services to European film, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Mike Downey as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2021.
