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| Collaboration is key for Britain's foremost political filmmaker |
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However much film critics and historians like to see the director as the 'author' of a film, the truth is that film - certainly feature film - is fundamentally a collaborative medium. Without a cast, writer, director of photography, producer, editor, composer and a legion of other skilled craftspeople and technicians (often numbering many hundreds), most directors would be left stranded.
Ken Loach has never much cared for the cult of the director, and is the first to admit that collaboration is key to his success. Since his early days in television - where he was a rare example of a high-profile director in what is usually seen as a writer's medium - he has sought out and found lasting collaborations with like-minded people, maintaining professional relationships for many years with the likes of producers Tony Garnett and Rebecca O'Brien, cinematographers Chris Menges and Barry Ackroyd and writers Jim Allen and Paul Laverty.
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 | Allen, Jim (1926-99) | Fiercely political writer who was a regular collaborator with and a key influence on Loach |
 | Carlyle, Robert (1961-) | Often intense Glaswegian actor who was an engaging star of Loach's Riff-Raff and Carla's Song |
 | Loach, Ken (1936-) | The man at the centre of it all: resourceful, committed filmmaker and loyal teamworker |
 | Smith, Roger | Writer of Loach's first TV drama, who has had a role in many of Loach's later features |
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