From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Nick Willing is a British director, writer and producer of films and television programs. Willing is the son of Portuguese painter Paula Rego and English artist Victor Willing and was largely brought up in Portugal, but settled in England at the age of 12. He graduated from The National Film and Television School in 1982 and started directing music videos for bands such as The Eurythmics, Bob Geldof, Swing Out Sister, Debbie Gibson, Kirsty MacColl, Kim Appleby, Tony Banks and Nik Kershaw. Throughout this period he was also writing screenplays, and in 1996 his adaptation of the Steve Szilagyi novel Photographing Fairies was financed by Polgram Filmed Entertainment and made into a feature film. Photographing Fairies was a critical success and won several awards including the Méliès d’Or in 1998. Alice in Wonderland followed with a cast which included Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Kingsley, Robbie Coltrane, Martin Short, Peter Ustinov, Gene Wilder, Ken Dodd, Christopher Lloyd, George Wendt and Miranda Richardson. Alice was made for NBC television in 1999 and won 4 Primetime Emmys. Description above from the Wikipedia article Nick Willing, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 1, 1961 (65)
- London, England, UK
- Director, writer, editor and producer
- 11 on MovieCove · 16 credits in all
What are Nick Willing's films like?
Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Ideas.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 7
A split, not a type: Light 2 · Serious 0 · Dark 5
Grounded 2 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 1
Gentle 2 · Charged 4 · Intense 1
A split, not a type: Steady 3 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 2
Resolved 2 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet7
- Ambiguous2
- Cyclical1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Nick Willing's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on The Roku Channel (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Nick Willing's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
16 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Unstoppable(2019)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Paula Rego: Secrets & Stories (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Olympus(2015)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all shows
Altar(2014)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all films
Baby Sellers(2013)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
Neverland (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Alice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Tin Man(2007)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all shows
The River King(2005)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
Sea of Souls (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Close Your Eyes(2002)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all shows
Jason and the Argonauts(2000)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all shows
Alice in Wonderland(1999)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
Photographing Fairies(1997)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
The Golden Grape (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)
Career shape
A full career of 16 titles from 1982 to 2019.
Biggest box office
Close Your Eyes (2002)
Highest rated
Photographing Fairies (1997)
Most popular right now
Jason and the Argonauts (2000)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Nick Willing's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 42nd percentile, the median of all 7; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 43rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 11 titles are Mixed.
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the atmosphere 73/100 and the pacing 39/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Nick Willing work with?
People who share at least 2 of Nick Willing's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Robert Halmi Sr. shares the most, 7.
Writers
- Chris HarraldShared titles: The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001), Photographing Fairies (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Chris Harrald
- Mark SkeetShared titles: The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001), Jason and the Argonauts (2000)See all 2 shared titles with Mark Skeet
- Matthew FaulkShared titles: The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001), Jason and the Argonauts (2000)See all 2 shared titles with Matthew Faulk
Actors
- Cas AnvarShared titles: Olympus (2015), Baby Sellers (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Cas Anvar
- Olivia WilliamsShared titles: Altar (2014), Jason and the Argonauts (2000)See all 2 shared titles with Olivia Williams
- Ben KingsleyShared titles: Alice in Wonderland (1999), Photographing Fairies (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Ben Kingsley
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Simon BoswellShared titles: Altar (2014), Tin Man (2007), The River King (2005), Close Your Eyes (2002), Jason and the Argonauts (2000), Photographing Fairies (1997)See all 6 shared titles with Simon Boswell
- Sean BartonShared titles: The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001), Jason and the Argonauts (2000), Photographing Fairies (1997)See all 3 shared titles with Sean Barton
- Allan LeeShared titles: Olympus (2015), Tin Man (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Allan Lee
- Brian JohnsonShared titles: Olympus (2015), Baby Sellers (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Brian Johnson
Producers
- Robert Halmi Sr.Shared titles: Olympus (2015), Altar (2014), Baby Sellers (2013), Tin Man (2007), The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001), Jason and the Argonauts (2000), Alice in Wonderland (1999)See all 7 shared titles with Robert Halmi Sr.
- Robert A. HalmiShared titles: Olympus (2015), Altar (2014), Tin Man (2007), The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001), Jason and the Argonauts (2000), Alice in Wonderland (1999)See all 6 shared titles with Robert A. Halmi
- Michele CamardaShared titles: Unstoppable (2019), Altar (2014), The River King (2005), Close Your Eyes (2002), Photographing Fairies (1997)See all 5 shared titles with Michele Camarda
- Dyson LovellShared titles: The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001), Jason and the Argonauts (2000), Alice in Wonderland (1999)See all 3 shared titles with Dyson Lovell
