Norman Stone Papers
SC-13
Stone, Norman
77 Boxes (36 linear feet)
1973-2004 (bulk:1979-2004)
Introduction
The Norman Stone materials at Wheaton College cover the professional career of this award winning English producer-director from 1973 to the present. His diverse projects, both as an independent producer and as a member of the BBC Religious Department, are detailed through a variety of both print and non print media which includes papers, drawings, desk diaries, and film and video footage.
Provenance: Contact with Norman Stone was made by Dr. Myrna Grant and material began to arrive in Special Collections during the summer of 1983. The collection receives periodic shipments of new material from Stone on his current projects.
Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this collection. Duplication may be restricted if copying could cause damage to items.
Collection Description
The Norman Stone collection (SC-13) provides a look at the development of television productions from the perspective of a director/producer. Mr. Stone's materials give an overview of the entire production process starting with the inception of an idea and following through the research, writing, casting, and editing of a successful program. This collection contains a wide variety of materials including papers, desk diaries, correspondence, and non print media. Although the collection spans the period from 1973 to the present, the bulk of the material dates from 1979 forward and consists of mostly professional, not personal, data. The arrangement of the collection is completely reconstructed and the overall principle of order is chronological.
The subject files house the written work of the collection. These are arranged chronologically by project and alphabetically within projects. Within these files are a variety of materials relating to the projects including scripts, schedules, budgets, personnel, photographs, blueprints, research, and promotional/review material. Accompanying the above are Stone's personal notes, doodles, and miscellaneous jottings recorded on such diverse material as scraps of wrapping paper, notebooks, and official BBC forms and documents. Although completed in 1984, no material has been received for the production "Beyond the Floyd."
To facilitate storage, audio-cassette and reel to reel tapes have been categorized separately. These tapes include interviews, sound recordings, and dictations pertaining to specific projects. Many of the audio-cassette tapes are Stone's interviews in preparation for the drama/documentary "A Different Drummer." All of the tapes have been arranged chronologically by project and assigned a number. Tapes received in the future will be given the next random number available.
Original film footage from several of Stone's earlier projects is also stored in a separate series. These items have been assigned descriptive labels based on the persons or actions of the footage. They were then numbered without attempt at further arrangement. Videotapes of several completed programs as well as "rushes" for others are included in the collection; however, not all of these tapes are VHS formatted for American playback. The videos have been assigned identification numbers.
Drawings and prints done as freelance work by Stone are included in the "artwork" series. There is no order to their arrangement.
Correspondence is divided into two separate categories personal and business. Arrangement is chronological within these divisions, with identically dated letters alphabetized by last name. Stone's replies are not filed with the letter to which he responded, but chronologically with the other letters, as they were received. A list of significant correspondents is included later in this guide.
Other materials in the collection are Stone's BBC desk diaries from 1976 to 1984, arranged chronologically; minutes and information pertaining to the Arts Centre Group (from May 30, 1974 to July 6, 1978); and biographical information on his life and work.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
Norman Stone was awarded a first class honors degree in Visual Communication before transferring to London's Royal College of Art for a Master of Arts degree in Film and Television. He began his professional career in television as the youngest producer/director for the Religious Department of the BBC.
Moving from Everyman documentaries and a pioneering Sunday children's show into drama, he produced the highly acclaimed film A Different Drummer about the blind and deaf Cornish poet Jack Clemo (1980). His career in drama was established with the international success of Shadowlands, on the love and grief of C.S. Lewis, starring Joss Acklund and Claire Bloom, which won two BAFTA awards, an International Emmy and the Prague D'Or for Best Director. Other dramas include Martin Luther - Heretic, starring Jonathan Pryce; New World, starring James Fox; The Vision, starring Dirk Bogarde and Lee Remick, and the award-winning Burston Rebellion with Eileen Atkins and Bernard Hill. In 1988-89 he directed a three-part thriller series for BBC Scotland, The Justice Game (first series), and the television feature Pied Piper, starring Peter O'Toole and based on the novel by Nevil Shute (a Granada TV/CBS co-production).
Whilst working on the script of The End Time with Murray Watts, Stone also collaborated with Watts on a film adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Dream of a Ridiculous Man (BBC 2), starring Jeremy Irons.
Stone has won an International Emmy, Gold Awards for Best Film and Best Director at the New York Film and Television Festival, and the Monitor d'Oro for Best Drama at Umbriafiction TV '92 for the Catherine Cookson television film The Black Velvet Gown, which he directed for World Wide International Television.
Following up on his successful direction of They Do It with Mirrors, BBC's 1991 "Miss Marple" Christmas special, Stone has also worked on BBC's final "Miss Marple" adventure, The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side.
Other awards include a Bafta for the Omnibus special on the life of Dudley Moore, "After the Laughter", an Andrew Cross Award for best documentary of the year for "The Tartan Pimpernel" and a Golden Remi for his first feature film "Man Dancin'", which he created and directed in his home town of Glasgow.
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