The man who got Mike Leigh's movies made

Simon Channing Williams, who died in Cornwall last weekend at the age of 63, was one of Britain’s most adventurous film producers.

Channing Williams was most closely associated with shepherding the films of Mike Leigh through the production process.

Raising finance for those movies was difficult even as Leigh’s international reputation grew, because the director’s improvisational approach to script development meant that the producer didn’t have a synopsis to offer, or even a title, when it came to pitching the projects to potential financiers.

Channing Williams, who began his career at the BBC, formed Thin Man Films with Leigh in 1988 and produced such acclaimed films as Life Is Sweet, Naked, Topsy-Turvy, Secrets Lies(which earned the producer an Oscar nomination for best picture in 1997) and Happy-Go-Lucky.

In 2000, Channing Williams co-founded Potboiler Films and made another seven movies, among them Brothers of the Headand The Constant Gardener.

He also served in a production capacity on three Irish films: Accelerator, directed by Vinny Murphy, and Man About Dogand Shrooms, both directed by Paddy Breathnach.

Paying tribute to Channing Williams, Mike Leigh said: “He was a natural-born producer – a great leader, always an enabler, a protector; never a dictator or an interferer. Infinitely generous, his life was all about doing things for people, and bringing out the best in everybody.”