Bio
The inaugural winner of
"THE NEW ZEALAND ART ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR"
Timpson began crewing on feature films after bombing out of a law degree in the 80s. After creating mini film festivals when he was just 17yrs old, he has since gone on to work in all facets of the industry; production (worked on 80s feature films like Queen City Rocker), exhibition (Managed Charley Grays Theatre), marketing and distribution.
He was on the Board of the Moving Image of NZ and maintains the southern hemispheres largest personal film archive. He is the founder of multiple successful events and has his own permanent annual section in New Zealand's International Film Festival. His Incredibly Strange Film Festival has been running continuously since 1994. Over the years he has operated film events in the UK, USA, Canada, France and Australia.
His competition 48HOURS has become New Zealand's premier digital short film event that is cited by Sir Peter Jackson as one of the main creative incubators of New Zealand. Timpson also created devolved funds from the New Zealand Film Commission including HEADSTRONG and MAKE MY MOVIE. The goal was to support new talent and to produce low budget features. He brought on MPI from the US to match funds with NZ films – a relationship that exists today.
In 2010 has worked with MGM to curate a 20-week series of eclectic cinema for Sky TV. In 2012, Ant and his cohort (Austin-based Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse/ NEON) released the most ambitious anthology film ever devised with 26 of the worlds best genre directors taking part. The feature film was called The ABCs of Death and it was produced for US based Magnolia Pictures and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was a hit grossing several million. A sequel was also released.
In 2013 Timpson initiated a NZ/ Canadian Co-Pro called Turbo Kid based on filmmakers he discoveed. He produced the film in 2014 alongside Oscar nominated producer Anne-Marie Gelinas and Jason (hobo with a Shotgun) Eisener, and Tim Riley. The film premiered at Sundance and won the Saturn Award for Best International Film 2015. He also exec produced the NZ films DEATHGASM and HOUSEBOUND which played over 100 festivals and won numerous awards.
In 2016 he produced THE GREASY STRANGLER with Elijah Wood. A breakout hit again at Sundance, EMPIRE MAGAZINE named it Comedy of the year – beating out DEADPOOL and HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE – it also won the BIFA for Best Independent Film at the UK Awards. In 2017 his film A FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL was chosen as the first project by Indiegogo to launch their new equity arm. He raised the max cap of $500,000 with weeks to spare. The global folklore anthology premiered at SXSW in 2018. In his spare time he took on the contract of resurrecting the defunct NZ Film Awards.
In 2020 his debut feature COME TO DADDY premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival before being released to critical acclaim. It recently won best debut film at the FANGORIA awards. The Oscars of horrors.
His next film is called THE SALAMANDER LIVES TWICE starring Adrien Brody which will be made in 2022.