Peter Chelsom Biography

Fast Facts

• Started out as an actor, which he believes helps him work with actors effectively as a director
• Quote: "How can you redeem a character if he doesn't misbehave?"
• Quote: "I think if I've changed over the years as a director, I think I've come to understand that good directing is good seeing․ I have to watch what's happening naturally and support it․ You have to know when to not direct․"
• Quote: "The thing about me is I've had a weird career․ I don't belong to any school of filmmaking, so people misjudge me in terms of what I will do, and what I can do․"
• When making family films, he believes that they should appeal to everyone in a family on the same level, not talk down to children or rely on including jokes for parents that go over children's heads
• Known for directing such films as "Hear My Song," "Funny Bones," "The Hannah Montana Movie," "Serendipity" and "The Mighty․"
• Ran into screenwriting guide writer Syd Field in his neighborhood in L․A․, and a few months after their meeting, Field sent him a script and asked for his opinion, even though he'd claimed he had no aspirations of screenwriting himself