Reg Hill (1914-1999) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
television producerThe primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and was most prominently associated with the work of puppet animator
Gerry AndersonGerry Anderson MBE, born , is a British producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
.
Professional life
Hill started his life life during the 1930s working in the display department of a London wholesale grocer before progressing to a role of advertisement designer. He served in the RAF during World War 2.
Post war Hill joined National Interest Picture Productions, working as a designer for Army and Air Force films, working on model maker and animator. In 1954 whlle working as an artist at Pentagon films, Reg Hill met young animator
Gerry AndersonGerry Anderson MBE, born , is a British producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
. Gerry had just formed a new production company, AP Films, and he invited Hill became a production designer. Hill was responsible for designing the vehicles (Supercar and Stingray).
Hill was script writer for episodes of Supercar and was later the series associate producer. Hill perfected the puppetry and set up the special effects department. Hill served as
art directorThe term art director is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games.-General role:...
for Anderson's television series
The Adventures of TwizzleThe Adventures of Twizzle was the very first television show produced by AP Films and specifically Gerry Anderson, after being approached by author Roberta Leigh and her colleague Suzanne Warner. Sources vary as to who directed the series...
and
Torchy the Battery BoyTorchy the Battery Boy was the second television series produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson. It was another collaboration with author Roberta Leigh and was directed by Anderson, with music scored by Barry Gray, art direction from Reg Hill and special effects by Derek Meddings...
and continued the post for the film
Crossroads to CrimeCrossroads to Crime is a British crime film released in 1960. It was Gerry Anderson's first live-action production and his feature film directorial debut. The film is unique among his works due to the absence of fantasy and science fiction.-Plot:...
. After working as associate producer on
Fireball XL5Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol...
,
StingrayStingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964-65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA...
and the first season of
ThunderbirdsThunderbirds is a British mid-1960s television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation". The series followed the adventures of International Rescue, an organisation created to help those in grave danger using...
, he was made full producer for the latter show's final six episodes,
Captain Scarlet and the MysteronsCaptain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to simply as Captain Scarlet, is a British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions Television company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...
, and the live-action series
UFOUFO is a British television science fiction series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson and produced by the Anderson's and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company...
. Hill was
executive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the filmmaking or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production. Typically an executive producer handles business and legal issues. See also associate producer, co-producer, line producer...
on
Joe 90Joe 90 is a 1968 television series concerning the adventures of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, set in the years 2012-13. Devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, a single season of thirty 25-minute episodes was completed, and it was the last show to be made exclusively using a form of puppetry...
and an additional designer for the film
DoppelgängerDoppelgänger is a 1969 British science fiction film directed by Robert Parrish. The film was released in the US as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, a title by which it is now better known. The crew of a spacecraft journey to a previously unknown planet on the far side of the Sun, only to...
.
In later years Hill transitioned into TV administration, and later still was the studio's managing director. He also worked to various TV productions including
The SaintThe Saint is a long-running ITC mystery spy thriller, that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise....
,
The AvengersThe Avengers is a British television adventure series about secret agents in 1960s Britain. The programmes were made by TV company ABC Weekend Television , and created by its Head of Drama Sydney Newman...
and
Jason KingJason King was a British television series produced from 1971 to 1972. Each episode was one hour in duration , and the series had a run of one season of 26 episodes. As well as its native UK, the series was also screened in countries as far afield as Australia, Norway, and Peru...
.
After completing the second series of Space: 1999 Hill entered semi-retirement, He was
screenwriterScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
of one episode of
Thirty-Minute Theatre and went on to produce
The ProtectorsThe Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson - his second TV series using live actors as opposed to animated puppets. It is also, to date, the only Gerry Anderson-produced television series that was not of the fantasy or science fiction genres. It was...
. He worked as
production designerProduction designer is a term used in the movie and television industries to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and...
for the
television filmsA television movie is a feature film that is produced for and originally distributed by a...
The Day After TomorrowThe Day After Tomorrow was a 1975 science fiction television special produced by Gerry Anderson between the two seasons of Space: 1999. It starred Brian Blessed, Nick Tate, Joanna Dunham, Katharine Levy and Martin Lev...
and
Supercarrier, and was also an
illustratorStoryboard artist is a profession specialized in creating storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.A storyboard artist is able to visualize any stories using quick sketches on paper at any moment...
for the
1978The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
film adaptation of
Superman and later a member of the
art departmentArt department in movie terms means the section of a production's crew concerned with visual artistry. Working under the supervision of the production designer and/or art director, the art department is responsible for arranging the overall look of the film as desired by the film director...
for
Lifeforce"Lifeforce" redirects here. For other concepts with that name, see Life force.Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson...
.
He died in October 1999.