RAVENOUS Director Antonia Bird Passes Away At 54

Very sad new today with reports out of the UK that Ravenous director Antonia Bird has passed away at the age of 54. Though there is no official word yet on the cause of death I was personally in touch with Bird earlier this year trying to recruit her for a project currently in development at XYZ Films. Though interested in the project Bird ultimately passed saying only that health concerns were forcing her to take the rest of 2013 off to recuperate and she has clearly lost the battle with whatever that illness may have been.

In addition to her feature film work - much of which featured her close friend Robert Carlyle in the lead - Bird also had an impressive body of work in television including such shows as Cracker, MI-5, and Casualty. Bird was a fiercely talented director with a strong, unique voice and she will be sorely missed.